Most snowbirds journey south during the winter, a privileged escape.
Not Ahmet, my friend’s Turkish buddy, whom I had the indulgence of connecting with on my getaway from the icy Poconos.
Ahmet and I in his condo
Ahmet’s first migration was from Europe to Northeastern Pennsylvania.
A work-placement agency found him a job in the hospitality industry back when tie-dye patterns and bell-bottom pants were the norm.
After having worked in the Poconos for almost a decade, the owner sold the business Ahmet worked at.
“I was asked to stay. The new owner was Greek and I was Turkish. I just did not see that working back then,” said Ahmet.
With his savings, he took a break and embarked on what started as a one-month journey across North America via Greyhound buses.
“Back then a bus pass cost $150 for a month of travel. It was the 1980’s, No cell phones, no GPS, nothing like today. I used paper maps!” Ahmet reminisced.
“I wish I were young again to experience what travel is like today.”
He shared a story of visiting a colleague’s contact in Ann Arbor, Michigan. There was no social media or any introduction.
“I was just given this number of a girl my friend had met in London and was told to call it if I find myself in Michigan. Well, here I was in Michigan. I called and got her father.”
“Where are you now?” bellowed a deep voice.
Nervously, Ahmet replied, “Ann Arbor,” and the deep voice gave him directions on how to get to their home.
“I was treated so well,” he recalled. “However, they insisted I stay a week. A week was a long time for a one-month trip.”
“Our son is getting married and we would like you to stay for wedding,” explained the father.
Ahmet had no choice.
Like a scene straight out of a Greek Tragedy, the son’s fiancée died in a car accident three days before the wedding.
“I had stayed for a wedding and ended up at a funeral,” he said morosely.
After visits to Chicago and quick jaunts to San Francisco and Los Angeles, Ahmet opted to buy another Greyhound one-month bus pass.
“I still had some savings and was having a great time.”
This time the pass only cost $100.
“When I asked them why, they told me I was now a ‘repeat customer.’ Those times were different, things like that just happened,” he fondly told me.
He intended to go to Mexico, but after a month of visiting border towns, he found himself in Miami.
“I had friends down here from my time in Pennsylvania. Many of these contacts were now spending their retirements in Florida. The first buddy I rang up got me employment the same day I called. The place hired me sight unseen!”
“But, summers were just too hot in Florida. I quit my Florida job that summer and went back to the Poconos.”
“My work ethic was not forgotten, so I was given a warm reception on my return to the Poconos,” he shared while beaming with pride as he recollected the pattern of his life for over two decades.
Ahmet never enjoyed the cold climate and when the seasons changed, he returned to Florida where he was rehired, a flip-flopping arrangement that repeated for about 10 years.
As another annual transition back to the Pocono summer was occurring, Ahmet received a phone call from a New Hampshire hotel offering employment.
“The owners just bought this property and were building a new team. Your name has come up for recruitment,” said the hotel director.
“They are lucky they reached me. I was leaving for Poconos that day.”
Ahmet was ready for something new.
For several years this New Hampshire hotel was his summer locale.
One year, the maître d’ had unexpectedly quit mid summer.
“I stepped in and excelled. The management promoted me, gave me my own hotel room, I could order food off the guest menu, and I had no commute!”
But, it came with a catch.
Ahmet had to agree to stay on through the winter.
He declined, but after some additional persuasion, he was convinced to attempt a winter. He could opt to return to his previous seasonal position if the cold climate still encouraged his nomadic tendencies.
The call of the snowbird was too strong. He left for Florida the following cold season.
In 2003, an acquaintance that worked as a professional limousine driver, told Ahmet that his boss had an unusual circumstance: A one-time job that required thirty-two individual drivers.
Ahmet agreed to assist.
Inadvertently, Ahmet was sent two paychecks of different amounts. Not being sure which to cash, he called the owner.
The owner, grateful for Ahmet’s honestly, told him if he ever needed work to give him a call.
Ready to embrace another change, he took the offer shortly there after, managing to arrange it as a seasonal job.
This type of business requires discretion and confidentially, but some of his clients have included politicians and celebrities.
His snowbird way of life has made him a life-long bachelor.
Inside Ahmet’s Bachelor Pad
“I like being a free agent,” he grinned explaining, “However, I have 96 nieces and nephews that help fill that void in my personal life,” proudly showing me pictures as we enjoyed Turkish tea in his condo.
A Sophisticated Way to Have Turkish Tea
As we parted ways, he hugged me whispering, “Today, I have met a new nephew to keep tabs on.”
// Oliver – Day 9 – Miami