"Every path in Turkey holds a story older than any guidebook. My job is simply to walk them — and bring you along."
Born in Konya,
Raised on the Road.
I grew up in Konya, the ancient capital of the Anatolian plateau — a city of mystics, merchants, and migratory winds. Long before I ever owned a proper backpack, I was wandering the flat horizons south of the city with my grandfather, learning the names of villages that don't appear on any official map. That early education never left me. It planted a restlessness in me that I've been following ever since.
In my twenties, after studying geography at Selçuk University, I began taking weekend trips that slowly stretched into weeks. The Lycian Way. The Kaçkar highlands. The volcanic strangeness of Cappadocia's inner valleys, far beyond where the tourist vans stop. The forgotten Byzantine pilgrimage roads of western Anatolia. Each journey added not just mileage, but a deeper vocabulary for reading the land — its geology, its people, its silences.
What struck me again and again was the gap between what travelers were told Turkey was and what Turkey actually is. The country is described in brochures as beaches and bazaars. That's not wrong — but it's a fraction of the picture. Turkey holds one of the most layered and staggeringly beautiful landscapes on Earth: glacial lakes at 3,000 metres, river canyons carved over millennia, medieval caravanserai still standing in the middle of open steppe, olive groves so old they predate the Ottoman Empire. Most of it sits completely undocumented in English.
Twelve Years of Walking, Documenting, and Getting Wonderfully Lost
Over the past twelve years, I've logged more than 14,000 kilometres on foot and by motorbike across thirty-six of Turkey's eighty-one provinces. I carry a notebook, a camera, a GPS unit, and an open agenda. Where I find a trail unmarked on any app, I walk it, record the waypoints, photograph the terrain hazards, and speak to the locals who know it best. Where I find a route that used to exist but has been reclaimed by scrub, I note that too — honestly — so you don't waste a day chasing a ghost.
The documentation process is slow and deliberate. I don't publish a route until I've walked it personally at least once end-to-end, ideally in multiple seasons. I note water sources, shade cover, mobile signal gaps, seasonal road closures, and the best teahouses within a day's walk. Every route on this site has been tested with real boots on real ground — because bad directions in remote Anatolia aren't just an inconvenience, they can be dangerous.
This work led me to collaborate with local trekking clubs in Antalya and Trabzon, contribute to academic geography projects documenting pre-modern road networks, and spend a formative six months walking with shepherds in the Taurus mountains — learning that the most reliable maps are often the ones stored in a 70-year-old herder's memory, not in any database.
I've written for several Turkish travel publications and contributed route data to open mapping projects, but I kept returning to the same frustration: the information was fragmented, inaccessible to non-Turkish speakers, or locked behind paywalls. Independent travelers — hikers, cyclists, overlanders, slow travelers on a budget — deserved better.
Regions Deeply Explored
A Public Resource, Forever Free
ALI KOCAADAM was built on a single conviction: access to good route information shouldn't depend on your budget, your language, or whether you've booked through the right agency. Every route, every note, every practical detail on this site is free — and will stay free.
The vision is straightforward. I want any independent traveler — a solo hiker from Seoul, a family on a campervan from Rotterdam, a cyclist from São Paulo — to open this site, find a route that speaks to them, and go walk it with confidence. No upsells. No tour packages. No sponsored content that tells you a resort hotel is a "hidden gem." Just honest, field-tested information from someone who genuinely loves this land and believes it deserves to be seen clearly.
Turkey is not finished surprising me. I'm still walking, still documenting, still finding valleys I hadn't imagined. As long as that's true, this site will keep growing — and you're welcome to every step of it.
Mission & Values
Three principles guide every word written and every route shared on ALI KOCAADAM. They are not marketing language — they are operational commitments that shape every editorial decision made on this site.
Free Knowledge
No paywalls. No product sales. No sponsored content.
Every route, every tip, every cultural note on this site is free — and will stay that way. ALI KOCAADAM is built on the belief that travel knowledge should belong to everyone. You won't find affiliate links disguised as recommendations, paid placements dressed as editorial, or gated content requiring a subscription. What you read here is what the author genuinely discovered, written exactly as it was experienced.
Authentic Routes
Every path personally walked or rigorously verified.
No route appears on this site unless it has been physically walked, driven, or independently confirmed through trusted local sources. There are no copy-pasted itineraries from tourist boards, no routes assembled from secondhand accounts. When ALI KOCAADAM describes a trail winding through the Taurus Mountains or a coastal path along the Aegean, it is because those exact footsteps were taken — often multiple times, in different seasons, to give you the most accurate picture possible.
Cultural Respect
Travel that honours people, not just landscapes.
Turkey is not a backdrop — it is a living civilization shaped by thousands of years of Anatolian, Greek, Byzantine, Seljuk, and Ottoman history, and by the communities that call it home today. Every guide on this site goes beyond logistics to explain local customs, religious sensitivities, traditional practices, and the meaning behind what you see. Responsible travel means arriving informed, behaving with dignity, and leaving places better than you found them.
These values are not aspirational goals — they describe how ALI KOCAADAM already operates, with every article published to date. If you ever notice a deviation, you are encouraged to get in touch.
Get in TouchGet in Touch
Have a question about a route, want to share a hidden path, or simply say hello? Reach out directly — ALI KOCAADAM is a personal travel guide project, not a commercial service.
Site Owner
ALI KOCAADAM
Address
Lale Caddesi No:16
42070 Selçuklu / Konya
Türkiye
Please Note
This is a personal, non-commercial travel content project. No paid services, tours, or bookings are offered. Messages are answered on a voluntary basis.
Feel free to write about:
- Questions about a specific Turkish route or region
- Sharing a hidden path or local tip you'd like featured
- Corrections or updates to published route information
- General feedback or site-related enquiries
Send a Message
Questions, route tips, or feedback — all welcome.
Discover Turkey's Hidden Paths, One Route at a Time.
Hand-curated travel routes through Turkey's most extraordinary landscapes, ancient ruins, coastal villages, and mountain trails — compiled by a local who's walked every one of them.
Owner: ALI KOCAADAM
Address: Lale Caddesi No:16, 42070 Selçuklu/Konya, Türkiye
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +90 500 123 45 67
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