Ipek

& Selim

Travel information

We are currently

Description

We are a traveling family from Istanbul, Turkey. My family roots are from Anatolia, Armenia, Georgia, Pontic Greek and Italy. My husband Selim is half German, half Turkish/Kurdish, but his roots go back from Norway to Mongolia, Italy to Russia. So colourful :) Apart from this DNA stuff, we always felt like a citizen of the Earth, not of one country.

I was an editor in a popular history magazine for years. After my daughter was born, my life style has changed. First I started working remotely, then I took classes for being a cook which was my dream. I graduated with honourary degree from Culinary Arts department in Anadolu University in June 2023 and officially became a vegan cook. I am also so much interested in "funghi". I took Natural Mushrooms Training which includes edible, inedible (not toxic but not tasty either, just the medicinal ones from blood stopping to wound healing) and poisonous mushrooms, and collecting/cuItivating and so on...

I am also so much in love with natural dye printing which I was lucky enough to have a training with ecoprint master Beste Bonnard. Now I know that you can create wonderful prints with so many plants.

Besides all that, I am so interested in meeting new people, talking about cinema, music, art, history, animals, nature and sustainable ways of living to protect the wonderful life on our mother Earth.

On September 2023 we decided to travel more and moved to Pietralunga (PG), Italy. We stayed with a wonderful host Antonella for 6 months and when the season started in April we moved to San Gimignano because of my work in Vegan Agrivilla I Pini as an assistant chef. During that time we stayed (and are still staying) with another wonderful host Giovanni through Wwoof. While I am working at agrivilla, my husband Selim voluntarily worked in this paradise. But the end of season is coming and we want to travel again.

Selim (47) is running a family company on natural latex. He travelled the world since his childhood. He is a very positive and calm guy who loves talking about sci-fi, sports, games and so on. He is a digital nomad and also an experienced Workawayer & Wwoofer now.

We have a daughter, Defne Silke (8). She is an easy-going, sweet and polite girl. She can speak English and Italian fluently and she loves dancing a lot.

I am 53 years old with a young and curious soul. I've been vegan for 7 years and I am good in Turkish/Greek and Mediterranean/Asian street food & mezze (like tapas) as well as so many different tastes from all over the world. I teach vegan cooking and nutrition to friend groups. And when an event is organized I create my very own little guerilla event there. If they make barbecue, I lure the carnivores with tasty grilled vegan baits :) I am not a radical though. Selim and Defne are omnivores and I am an easy-going, positive vegan who is so much in love with animals and nature. For me it is impossible to work in a farm where animals are killed or treated inhumanely. But I am ok in a place where people eat however they like. And don't be scared hosting a vegan. Since being a cook, I can feed myself perfectly without any struggle or problem.

We are experienced volunteers in our network (two of them were in Chianti), on Workaway (Germany), Helpx.net (Greece) and years ago on Wwoof Turkey which was called TaTuTa at that time. I have references from my reliable network, including permaculture practitioners, animal rescuers, cooks, life coaches and kids :)


We are hard workers, good talkers and easy learners.

My Instagram account: @jpegsent (Ipek Cent)
Selim's: @merkezekrem (Selim Atas)
Our new account as a family dedicated to travel:
@onewaybiglietto

Languages

Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Turkish: Fluent
Italian: Beginner

More details about my language interests
This workawayer has indicated that they would be interested in sharing their language(s) or learning a new language. You can contact them directly to discuss this.

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Skills and knowledge we'd like to share or learn

We're interested in:  

Babysitting and creative play

Life at a Farmstay

Animal Care

Hospitality/Tourism

Art Projects

Teaching

Charity Work

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Some knowledge of:  

Gardening

DIY and building projects

General Maintenance

Eco Projects

Helping around the house

Being an elderly companion

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Able to teach about:  

Creating/ Cooking family meals

Languages

Helping with Computers/ Internet

More details about your skills

I am good in cooking, recycling, upcycling, repairing toys and simple stuff, mending clothes, sewing, composting, DIY, internet, social media and so on. Since I worked in a monthly magazine for years, I love doing fanzines and basic magazine projects with kids as well. It is so fun!
Selim is good in wood work, house repair, computer repair, DIY, general maintenance, all kinds of games, sports (mostly football, tennis and skiing) and so on. He is also a very experienced automobile and van driver. He built a lovely tree-house in our backyard. The most popular secret club in the neighbourhood :)
We all love board and card games a lot. And we are good at it. Beware the king of Catan and the queen of Skip-Bo!
We all are good in taking care of animals. I am a registered animal rescuer in my country.
We both love garden work.
I know about permaculture and eco farming, but I want to know more about it.

Age

54 & 48

What else ...

We do not believe in borders yet we are so excited getting to know so many different cultures.

Some more information

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  Smoker

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  Driver's licence

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  Allergies
  No

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  Special dietary requirements
  I am vegan.