Several months ago I was offered a job in North Cyprus.
It was a tough decision to make as it would have meant missing out on that wonderful period in the UK when the nights begin to draw in, trees begin to shed their leaves and the first frost of winter arrives.
Anyway, I decided to give it a go.
And, with a growing economy, relatively low cost of living and a summer which - even as I post this on the last day of November - my initial research seemed to suggest that I'd made the right choice.
What many people don't realise though is that the long term prospects are good only if you happen to be living to the south of an 112 mile-long UN buffer zone which bisects the island.
The north, on the other hand, is an entirely different prospect.
The so-called Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC) is recognised internationally only by Turkey.
If you wish to visit from the UK, you’ll either have to fly to Larnaca or Paphos, in the south, and cross at one of a number of border gates manned by police.
You can fly into North Cyprus's airport, Ercan, but you'll first have to land in Turkey as direct flights from Britain to this part of the island are not allowed.
And neither is direct trade, come to mention it.
Which is a shame because, geographically, the North is without question the most beautiful part of the island.
And, more importantly, the Turkish Cypriots living here deserve to be given the chance to prosper.
So this is a blog about my personal experiences and perceptions working and living, as the title puts it, in a country that technically doesn’t exist, which makes things difficult when the likes of J-Lo want to visit.
It is a country currently going through a period of tumultuous upheaval which may or may not yield dramatic change in the coming months.
I don’t pretend to be any kind of expert when it comes to political or social commentary, so my aim will be to keep the blog entertaining and informative, without it becoming bogged down with too much in heavy stuff.
After all, I’m a monoglot Brit who’s been living here all of five minutes. What do I know?
Very little, but I’m going to carry on anyway…
