Good People of vitruta: Pelin Geyik

Can you tell us a little about yourself?

Born in Ankara, I am someone who is from corporate life, but also from outside with his spirit and what he does outside of work, whose main goal is to enjoy life and what he shares with his loved ones. Before starting the Department of Business Administration at Galatasaray University, where I graduated, I lived with a family in Sweden for about a year through AFS. This is exactly where my love for Scandinavia and my interest in different cultures began. I enjoy cooking for the people I love and gathering them around a table. I am interested in food movements with a philosophy such as Slow Food. I read different recipes, examine food styling and try to apply it.

vitruta is the place where I opened my eyes to business life. I got involved in Vitruta's story in its early stages, and then went to Bordeaux for Erasmus. When I graduated from Galatasaray, I did a master's degree focused on research on consumer culture and consumer behavior in Lille. When I returned to Turkey, I started working in an international corporate company in parallel with this education. Even though my job takes up a significant portion of my time and energy, I can somehow make time for whatever I enjoy and want to try.

This summer I took a few lessons and started tattooing people around me. Apart from that, with a great partner who motivates me, I started sharing recipes again via my @lagomist.co account on IG, which I took a break from last year. Lagom is a Swedish word. I think I could talk at length about his philosophy. To put it briefly, it means "neither too little nor too much, just right." In other words, in order to be healthy and fit, I try to produce recipes that will not make you faint from boredom but will not drown in calories. We will soon be selling homemade granola and small-scale catering initiatives from this account.

In addition, I have a project where I design children's books for adults. I am also sharing here a sample drawing from a book I recently finished. 🙂

What is a pleasant day in Istanbul for you? What do you do?

The first neighborhood I moved to in Istanbul was Ortaköy. No matter how far I got away from here, I always looked for Ortaköy when I returned to Istanbul. Many of my friends do not like it, due to traffic and confusion. But it is definitely one of the places where I feel most comfortable in Istanbul. The most enjoyable days are naturally the weekends. I shop for the meals I want to cook by going in and out of many shopkeepers' shops in Ortaköy without any hesitation, I really like it. I love spending time with my friends at my own home. When I want to go out, I like to go to Sirkeci with an excuse and then escape from the crowd and come to Pera and Galata. If there is an enjoyable exhibition around here, I stop by. When I want to start the day early and continue the rest at home, I go to the market in Bomonti.

So if we go out a bit, what's an ideal holiday for you? What are your favorite places that you have seen so far? Is there any advice you can give us about them?

Now that I have lived and traveled in Europe for a while, I am trying to draw different routes. For example, a trip to Beirut at the end of February is the ideal plan for me right now. I went to Tbilisi at the end of the summer and enjoyed it very much. There I recommend Factory; It looks like Bomontiada, you can spend a few hours with pleasure. If you are interested in photography, I recommend C/O in Berlin and Fotografiska in Stockholm. I love everything in the Marais district in Paris. Lastly, for a mystical atmosphere that you cannot feel in any of the cities I mentioned, go to Mardin, especially the Mor Gabriel Monastery.

Another recommendation I have for travel is Moovit and Mapster applications. Fortunately, I am no longer a control freak during travels, as I was 3-4 years ago. However, in order to use his time efficiently, he likes to mark the points I am curious about on Mapstr and make a rough plan.

So, what are your must-have items when packing your suitcase for this holiday? What do you take with you?

Of course, it may vary depending on the length of the trip, but I try to take as few and useful items as possible. My veteran Kanken Fog, my fanny pack, my Levis vintage denim jacket that I've worn for almost 10 years unless it's winter travel, my Dr. My Martens and my Birkenstocks are indispensable in nice weather. It's good for me that the clothes I wear both feel good and are useful. Other than these, I don't take many books with me; I try to draw while traveling. Wherever I go, I buy magazines that I have difficulty finding in Turkey and flip through them. Even though I'm not much of a collector, I buy a children's book in the language of that country from every destination.

Do you have any book/music/film recommendations that have influenced you recently?

The Vendredi Sur Mer concert I went to in Zorlu a few months ago. It was already a band that I loved very much, but I had incredible fun at the concert. I think it's a must to go when they come back. There is Siddharta by Herman Hesse, which I read last year, but not recently, and which still has an impact on me, and which I look at from time to time. From healing books. Lately, I've been most impressed by Parasite, which everyone has been talking about. If you haven't watched it yet, I recommend it.

There are platforms in all of our lives these days; Netflix, Youtube, audiobooks, podcast applications... Which of these are in your life and to what extent? Maybe you would like to share your favorite channels, podcast series or favorite TV series-documentaries with us?

Netflix and YouTube are the channels where I spend time every day. I find 140journos from Turkey extremely successful on YouTube. The topics, the treatment, especially those music choices! I follow the Circle. As a foreigner, I like Nowness and Vice channels.