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Old 5 Apr 18, 10:27 PM  
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scottishnellie
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Scottishnellie Goes Girly In Turkey - Pre Travel Day


So - in 2 sleeps I am heading off to (hopefully) sunny Turkey for a week, and although we don't normally do trip reports for our Turkey holidays, I have decided to try to do one for this trip.

Some of you might know us from my previous Florida trippies. We are the McNicols



Kevin, Helen, Hannah and Kieran. And that's our usual posse.

Our best friends are the Eastons



Andrew, Dianne, Matthew, Evan and Emma. Who some of you might recognise from our 2015 trip to Florida when the Eastons joined us.



We did also go to Turkey together last year and hope to be able to do this type of holiday again in the future.



To try to give some background to this holiday I will need to try to explain how it all came about! The Eastons have 3 kids as you can see. I won't go into too much detail here but to cut a very long story short, their eldest, Evan, has had a really tough year. He has recently been diagnosed with Aspergers and will hopefully start to get the help he needs. But as it stands now he is in a position where he will no longer fly abroad and can only be left at home with a parent. This means Dianne and Andrew can't take their other 2 kids, Matthew and Emma, abroad together. And having had that tough year, they really do deserve a good break.



Having considered all their options Dianne had eventually said to me at the turn of the year that the only way they could do it would be for Dianne to go away with Emma at one point, and Andrew to take Matthew away at a different time.

When I mentioned this to Kevin there was really only one option for us. The thought of Dianne going alone with Emma was just about ok, but the thought of Andrew going alone with Matthew was slightly heartbreaking. Andrew is a people person and he needs company! I just couldn't picture it. So we sat the kids down and had a chat. Kieran said he didn't care and would do whatever everyone wanted. Hannah said that we are really lucky to have big family holidays anyway, and knowing what the Eastons had been through, we really should do this.



And so it was - we decided to split the Easter holiday we usually have as a family and Hannah and I would go with Dianne and Emma, and then at a different time Kevin and Kieran would go away with Andrew and Matthew.

Following so far?!

We arranged a big Saturday night pow wow at ours around dinner to thrash out the details. What a laugh that was! We needed to make sure we came up with something everyone was comfortable with - otherwise it just wouldn't work. We all had different priorities and the funniest part of the night was us all trying to negotiate with Andrew around the budget. The girls would have to go during school holidays as Hannah is in high school now and Dianne works as a dinner lady. The boys would go during term time as Matthew goes to a special needs school with less restrictions and Kieran is only in P5 and is streaks ahead in his class so won't suffer from a week away. Therefore the girls needed more budget to account for the school holiday price difference.

Then, the girls going so early in April would be risking the weather not being so nice, so we really needed a good quality hotel in case we had to spend a few days inside. So the girls needed more budget again. See where this is going...



Dianne and I (well me really) wanted the Voyage Belek, the hotel we went to last year which is one of my absolute favourites. But the price was more than Andrew wanted to pay. We looked and looked at the boys options which were obviously coming in much cheaper but the overall total was still more than Andrew wanted. We had to keep reminding him that if we couldn't agree we would have to abandon the whole plan and he would be going away with just Matthew. That swung it for him (well, that and the copious amounts of alcohol we plied him with).



It helps that they really are true friends, and we can all be very honest with each other without anyone getting offended. Thank the lord! Well Andrew might be when he sees the photo I just used...

Over the next week we got both holidays booked up. So the girls are going here in 2 days



Then we come home and, 8 days later, the boys all head to the Titanic Hotel in Lara Beach. Also a lovely hotel.



I so wish I could be a fly on the wall to watch these 2. The laugh we have had over their plans this past few weeks with serious chats about what kind of man bags are acceptable for the airport, and how it is highly likely everyone will assume they are a pair of gay dads. The pair of them have never held the passports or tickets, and have never really dealt with all the children stuff as Dianne and I have always been there. It will be like something out of a carry on film! If they actually reach the hotel without losing one of the kids it will be a miracle!



Kieran and Matthew are buzzing at the thought of a boys holiday with no girls



Anyway - back to the girls trip. We love this hotel. It has lots of different restaurants, a lovely spa and great entertainment. This is where we all went last Easter and we did indeed have a few days of rain, but the hotel is so good we were able to pass the time just fine.

We intend to work our way through the extensive cocktail menu



And spend a lot of time lounging around just relaxing - as I explained Dianne is need of a good chill out. I am too to be honest having just been told of some huge changes at work. I work for a major bank and have done for 28 years. They are having a senior management restructure that means after 14 years of working 4 days a week, I now have to choose between redundancy or applying for a even higher grade job full time. I've not slept a full night since it was announced 3 weeks ago.



Given that we won't be doing much on this holiday is highly likely this be a very boring report so I apologise in advance! But if I am honest it's a great way for the boys to keep up with us while we are away so that's one of the main reasons for doing it. It will hopefully also give me a bit of practice on the dibb reporter app for my Florida trippie too, as I feel a bit rusty. But hey - it's a whole new holiday experience so who knows what we will get up to eh?

Today we have been packing which is getting me all excited. Dianne and I have been whatsapping each other outfit choices, which is more complicated than it sounds as it is quite chilly at night. I asked Hannah to lay all her things out nicely folded for packing. What did I get? This



So for the first time I have just chucked her a case and told her to pack it herself. So she came in and watched me pack mine then did a fairly decent job of her own.

I have to go into work tomorrow (Friday) then it's one more sleep and we are off

Can. Not. Wait!

So follow along with us if you fancy 😁


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Here's a link to all my previous trip reports since 2015
trip report list by year
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Old 5 Apr 18, 10:36 PM  
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app
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New Photo Added by scottishnellie - 5 Apr 18 10:36 PM.
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Old 5 Apr 18, 10:42 PM  
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jools1302
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Oh love, love, love Voyage Belek! Fab hotel... so thoughtful of you guys to do this for your friends I hope you all have an amazing time 😀😀
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Old 5 Apr 18, 10:45 PM  
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DisneyDaffodil
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We loved the Voyage Belek when we visited 7 years ago, would love a return trip. Hope you have a great time.

We are flying out to Tenerife tomorrow, all packed and ready to go now, exciting to be going now, same as you 😀
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Old 5 Apr 18, 10:48 PM  
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Gryff
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What great friends you are I'm sure you will all have a great time
I wouldn't trust DH to get anywhere on a plane on his own without causing a major security issue and all he'd take would be his golf gear
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Old 5 Apr 18, 10:53 PM  
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beegnjasmum
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Hope you have a fantastic time, have loved your previous reports. What great friends you are too. Hope the men survive ok whilst you're in turkey x
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Old 5 Apr 18, 10:54 PM  
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Megandllsmum
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Helen hope you girlies all have a great time... what a lovely way to include your friends ❤️, hopefully in time Evan will be able to fly again , Lilly has Aspergers and anxiety but over years and with right support and help we can see improvements so fingers crossed with his diagnosis he can access support and help.
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Old 5 Apr 18, 10:54 PM  
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spectrolee
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Have a wonderful time Helen, and best of luck whatever you decide with work xxx
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Old 5 Apr 18, 11:26 PM  
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mrsdjh
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What a great friendship you all have. Have a fab holiday and I look forward to following along.

I hope the dads and lads will also be doing a live report for our entertainment! 😂
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Old 6 Apr 18, 07:05 AM  
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yellowrose78
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What a lovely thing to do for your friends, bet you'll have an amazing time
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Movieland Hotel IDrive - 2002 / POR - 2012 / 3 Weeks at OKW - 2014 / Villa at Highlands Reserve - 2016 / New York and Orlando - 2018 / Caribbean Cruise MSC Seaside - June 2019 / Orlando Covid cancelled 2020 and 2021 / Planning for Orlando 2024
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