Day 34 – Istanbul to Frankfurt

Fundraising Tour 2025 1 Minute

I got some work done in the morning and enjoyed the breakfast on the roof terrace one more time. Then I packed up and took an Uber to the airport.

I found a wrapping service and my total luggage was just a couple of grams within the allowance.

In the waiting lines for security, I saw a lot of men with freshly shaved heads. Most were wearing black bandages around the head.

I first thought of a religious background since today was the first day of Kurban Bayrami. I had smile at myself when ChatGPT was finally giving me true backstory.

Turkey is a global hub for hair transplants, particularly Istanbul. The country offers high-quality procedures at a much lower cost compared to the US, UK, or Europe.

The procedure often involves shaving the entire head. After surgery, patients may have visible scabbing, redness, or bandages, and are advised to avoid sun and sweat, which is why many go straight from the clinic to the airport.

Clinics often arrange group packages, including airport pickup, hotel, surgery, and aftercare—resulting in clusters of similarly shaved men traveling together.

It’s such a visible phenomenon that it’s often jokingly referred to as “the bandage brigade.”

The flight was uneventful. In Frankfurt, I got confronted directly with Germanys infrastructure problems.

I had to wait 1 hour to receive my luggage because bulk luggage is obviously handled manually.

Some elevators did not work. There are buckets everywhere in the luggage area because the AC seemed to loose water.

The train was delayed by 45min. It was just the usual.

Samuel picked me up in Mannheim at the train station. Together, we managed to carry all my gear to the car.

We drove to Wiesloch where I would pick up Carolin with her right lower leg tied up in air cast.

It was good to see, hear and feel her again.

Also Tabea was there and we were all happy to be together again.

Later, we drove to our house In Meckesheim.

Now, the integration back into normal life could start.

I was looking forward to it. Also, I was looking forward to continuing my tour next year.

Published by Karsten Drath

About 30 years ago, two zis scholarships helped me to broaden my horizon, expand my understanding of what is possible, and develop more self-confidence. zis is a non-profit organization that has been awarding scholarships for study trips to young people between the ages of 16 and 20 for more than 60 years. Today, the word we use for tenacity and grit is resilience - and I've made it my profession, to help managers around the world to develop more of this inner power. In retrospect, the experiences I've had on these trips to Scotland and Iceland have been priceless for my development. After having had a childhood with some challenges, I learned that I could cycle 1,700km on my own and get wet every day without despairing. I have learned that I was able to get along with only 300 € for 4 weeks and still had a good time. I have learned what it's like to be threatened with deportation and how to get an interview with the President from such a crisis. I have understood that limitations are primarily constructs in our heads, and I want to make these insights available to as many adolescents as possible.

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