On the night between March 6th (Wednesday) and March 7th (Thursday), around 2:00 AM, Tolga came to my side. (He had sweetly fallen asleep again on the couch in the living room. When he woke up and came to our room, he quickly checked his social media to find out Gürkan was in Philadelphia, just posted his location at a park very close to us @garmincycling.)
Excitedly, he said to me:
“My darling, I know it’s 2 AM, but I’m going to find Gürkan, a world-tourer, at the park. At the park next to Dalessandro’s here. It’s -10°C. I can’t leave him in the park, I’m going to pick him up.”
I said, “What?!” and thought, “Either Tolga has gone crazy, or I’m having a strange dream.” I decided it must be a dream and went back to sleep.
By morning, Tolga had already gone to work, and Alpisko and I were starting to get ready for school. At that moment, Tolga called and said he had spoken to Gürkan in the morning, and when he couldn’t find him at the park last night, he was worried. Fortunately, he found out that Gürkan had spent the night with a cyclist family from @warmshowers_org, and he invited him to stay with us tonight.
What I heard was not a dream! Honestly, I didn’t know what to say at first because Gürkan had been very sick, and Tolga didn’t want him to leave before he got better. As a mother, my concern in this situation was the possibility of Alp or us catching some illness. Because if Alp got sick, it would mean both physically and emotionally that we would be devastated. If I got sick, it would disrupt the entire household. If Tolga got sick… Hmm, Tolga rarely gets seriously ill, so we thought he might get over it more easily.
We measured everything, weighed it, made plans in our minds, and reorganized the rooms.
We even called @nesli_manasseri and found an Airbnb as a backup plan.
Finally, we invited Gürkan to our house with the most hygienic and comfortable plan we could come up with.
I didn’t know Gürkan as well as Tolga, but he was now our guest. We were unprepared to host him on the first day, but fortunately, Nesli brought us tomato soup, chicken, and dessert. For the first few days, Gürkan ate with us. We had lovely conversations as much as his throat allowed, and he rested well. He met his doctor, Sine Akten Aras, my father Selçuk Onart, and my father’s assistant Fikret Kasapoğlu, and took his medication.
It was as if he was slowly recovering, like an injured bird. As the day approached for Gürkan to leave us, we became very sad because we had grown to love him so much in such a short time.
Alpisko had a new “older brother Gürkan” now.
Every morning, Gürkan would come to my side to help me dress Alp because Alp would throw tantrums, refusing to get dressed. I would end up in a sweat every time, but Gürkan and Alp got along so well, and they got dressed beautifully and even went to school together.
On the days when Gürkan felt better, we showed him around Philadelphia.
We treated him to our Philly Cheesesteak. We showed him the famous Rocky statue at the top of the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s stairs.
We had Vietnamese Pho soup at the Asian market and ate soft tendons, boosting our collagen.
One day, we went to a Turkish restaurant, and despite being a traveler, Gürkan treated me to the meal with all his gentlemanliness.
Gürkan seemed to open up more and more each day, like a Matryoshka doll, with new conversations coming out each time.
He had seen so much, learned so much, read so much, met and talked with so many people…
It was as if he had transformed into a superhuman traveler while exploring the world piece by piece on his bicycle.
I didn’t want March to come because, last year, on March 24th, 2024, we lost my beloved mother, Nilay Onart, to a sudden heart attack.
One morning, while Gürkan was staying with us, my soul felt so dull that I didn’t have the strength to leave the house.
I sent him an apologetic message saying, “How about we eat at home today, stay in, and not go out? My mom is on my mind.”
While I was silently crying on the couch, Gürkan came over to me.
He wasn’t expecting me to be crying.
I wasn’t expecting to be caught crying either.
We talked for a long time.
I talked about my late mother, and he told me about his late father, Şeref.
Gürkan was not only a traveler, but also a traveler who had reached the level of a psychologist.
And even a Messiah or a guest of God…
But I think Gürkan is all of these!
As we spoke about his father Şeref, we discovered many similarities between him and my grandfather, Şeref Demirel.
Both of their names came from Şerafettin to Şeref,
My grandfather was an architect, and his father was a construction engineer…
They had built buildings and planted forests without giving their names to them…
Two generations raised with the same philosophy…
The conversation kept opening up.
Gürkan was such a wonderful person, and he had such a beautiful family.
We had also come to know his mother Ayşe and his brother Gürhan, even from a distance.
There’s much more to write but believe me, it wouldn’t fit here.
But listening to his stories, especially in his narration, is very enjoyable.
If you come across one of his talks, be sure to go, absolutely go!
As I write this, his next talk will be on March 15th, 2025, Saturday, in Washington, D.C., USA, at @turkishcoffeelady.
If you’re around, don’t miss it!
You can read his memories and follow his route live at
https://eur-share.inreach.garmin.com/gurkangenc
Finally, I would like to add,
Gürkan Genç didn’t just pass through Philadelphia…
He also passed through our hearts…
We’re so glad he came!
Spending 10 days with a living legend who will go down in history is an indescribable wealth.
He is the exact Turkish youth as described by our Great Leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Gürkan Genç!
We wholeheartedly support all his present and future dreams, and we are always with him!
We love you so much, Gürkan.
Our home is your home.
See you again,
Onart – Çetinkaya Family