MSIA

✨ This is what community feels like.

A beautiful Open Seminar with John Morton in Spain, filled with connection, laughter, loving, and the simple joy of being together.

There is something special about gathering in person — seeing familiar faces, welcoming new ones, sharing the Light, and remembering that the spiritual journey does not have to be walked alone.

Community is built in these moments.

In the conversations.
In the hugs.
In the laughter.
In the willingness to show up for one another.

And perhaps that is one of the greatest gifts of coming together:

we remember the loving that connects us.

Grateful for everyone who joined us and helped make this gathering so meaningful. ✨

Baruch Bashan — the blessings already are.

✨ Some journeys end on a map, but continue within us.

Our time in Bodrum gave us one more beautiful evening together, an early cruise across the water, surrounded by the beauty of the Aegean, followed by a very special celebration at St. Peter’s Castle.

We gathered to celebrate John-Roger’s birthday, to share a farewell dinner, and to remember just how much this journey has given us.

So many places.
So many moments.
So much laughter, history, beauty, connection, and Light.

And perhaps the greatest gift of a journey like this is not only what we have seen, but what we carry forward in our hearts.

The memories remain.
The loving remains.
And the journey continues within us.

With deep gratitude for everyone who walked this path with us — in person and from afar.

Baruch Bashan — the blessings already are.

TravelWithPurpose

✨ Some places remind us that what endures is not always what remains unchanged.

Yesterday in Bodrum, ancient Halicarnassus, we walked through layers of history beside the Aegean Sea.

We visited the remains of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, once counted among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and then continued along the harbor to St. Peter’s Castle, a place that has watched over Bodrum for centuries. REVISED PTS Turkey itinerary draft 8-13-2026.docx

There is something powerful about standing in a place where so much has changed — empires, buildings, names, lives — and yet something continues.

A memory.
A story.
A presence.

Later, back at our beautiful home in Bodrum, the pace softened and there was space simply to receive the beauty around us.

Perhaps that is part of the journey too:

to recognize that what changes form is not necessarily lost. Sometimes it continues in a different way.

Another meaningful day on the PTS Travelers Tour of Türkiye. ✨

Baruch Bashan — the blessings already are.

SpiritualJourney

✨ Some places invite us to look outward. Others invite us to become very still.

Today our journey took us to the House of the Virgin Mary, a place of pilgrimage and quiet reflection in the hills above Ephesus.

According to longstanding Christian tradition, Mary spent her final years in this region under the care of John the Apostle. The site continues to draw people from different faith traditions who come to pray, reflect, and simply be present. TURKEY BOOK 2026.pdf

From there, we continued into Ephesus, walking through a city that once stood at the crossroads of the ancient world.

Marble streets. Ancient ruins. Sacred history.

We also followed the story of St. John, whose life and ministry became deeply connected with Ephesus. TURKEY BOOK 2026(1).pdf

And then, as always on this journey, the road continued — this time toward Bodrum, with one more peaceful stop along the way.

Different places. Different stories. One continuing invitation:

to stay present, to listen inwardly, and to notice what each place awakens within us.

Another beautiful day on the PTS Travelers Tour of Türkiye. ✨

Baruch Bashan — the blessings already are.

✨ Some places preserve history in stone. Others preserve it in the way they continue to speak to us.

Our journey took us from the spiritual legacy of Rumi in Konya to the ancient city of Perge, where we walked among Roman gates, baths, streets, and its enormous ancient stadium. REVISED PTS Turkey itinerary draft 8-13-2026.docx

At the Mevlana Museum and Mausoleum, we were reminded of a legacy rooted in love, remembrance, and spiritual awakening.

Then, in Perge, the landscape changed completely.

Ancient stone.
Open sky.
A vast stadium that once gathered thousands of people.

Two very different places, yet both carrying something forward across centuries.

One through spiritual teaching.
The other through architecture, history, and the traces of those who came before us.

And both inviting the same reflection:

What are we building in our own lives that is worth carrying forward?

Another meaningful day on the PTS Travelers Tour of Türkiye. ✨

Baruch Bashan — the blessings already are.

TürkiyeTravel SpiritualJourney TravelWithPurpose

✨ Sometimes the only thing that needs to change is our perspective.

This morning in Cappadocia, we rose above the valleys, rock formations, and ancient landscape in a hot-air balloon.

From the ground, we see one path, one obstacle, one moment at a time.

But from above, everything looks different.

The roads begin to connect.
The landscape opens.
What felt enormous from below suddenly becomes part of something much bigger.

And perhaps the spiritual journey asks the same of us.

Sometimes we are not being asked to change what is happening.

Sometimes we are simply being invited to rise above it long enough to see it differently.

A beautiful reminder from high above Cappadocia:

When we change our perspective, we may discover that the way forward was there all along.

Another unforgettable moment on the PTS Travelers Tour of Türkiye. ✨

Baruch Bashan — the blessings already are.

in Cappadocia, we moved through layers of history and tradition — from the rock-cut churches of Göreme, to the extraordinary landscapes of Paşabağ, and finally to Avanos, a town known for its pottery tradition for thousands of years.

At Chez Galip, we met master potter Galip Körükçü, whose family has practiced the craft for six generations. Born and raised in Avanos, he learned pottery from his father and has spent decades preserving and sharing this tradition with visitors from around the world.

Watching the clay take shape by hand was a beautiful reminder that tradition survives when it is lived, practiced, and passed forward.

Another beautiful day on the PTS Travelers Tour of Türkiye. ✨

Baruch Bashan — the blessings already are.

TürkiyeTravel

✨ Some experiences are difficult to explain. You simply have to be present for them.

In Cappadocia, we witnessed the extraordinary tradition of the Whirling Dervishes — a practice of movement, devotion, remembrance, and surrender.

As they turned, again and again, the movement became almost meditative.

There was rhythm.
There was stillness within the movement.
And there was a sense of something much greater than the performance itself.

Watching it unfold was a beautiful reminder that sometimes the spiritual journey is not about doing more.

Sometimes it is about letting go, becoming present, and allowing ourselves to be moved.

Another unforgettable moment on the PTS Travelers Tour of Türkiye. ✨

Baruch Bashan — the blessings already are.

✨ Some places don’t simply tell history. They seem to hold it in the walls.

Yesterday, as our journey continued from Tarsus toward Cappadocia, we stopped at the remarkable Gümüşler Monastery.

Carved directly into the rock, this ancient monastery preserves centuries of spiritual life within its walls — frescoes of Jesus, Mary, the apostles, saints and angels, still visible after generations of prayer, silence and devotion.

There is something powerful about walking into a place like this.

The stone feels still.
The images remain.
And the presence of those who once prayed here seems somehow close.

Earlier in the day, our journey took us through Tarsus, followed by a peaceful lunch beside the Seyhan River, before continuing deeper into the landscape of Cappadocia.

Another day of history, beauty, connection and discovery on the PTS Travelers Tour of Türkiye.

Baruch Bashan — the blessings already are.

TravelWithPurpose

✨ Sometimes history isn’t something you visit. Sometimes you are literally standing on top of it.

Yesterday brought us to Antakya, a city where layer upon layer of history continues to reveal itself.

At The Museum Hotel Antakya, archaeological remains were discovered during construction works beneath the site — including extraordinary mosaics, Roman baths, and thousands of artifacts. Today, the hotel has been built around and above that history, creating the remarkable experience of walking through a modern space while looking down into centuries of the past.

From there, we visited the Cave Church of St. Peter, a place deeply connected with the earliest Christian community of ancient Antioch and traditionally associated with the preaching of St. Peter.

There was something powerful about experiencing these two places in the same day — one revealing history unexpectedly beneath the earth, the other preserving a story of faith that has endured for centuries.

History beneath us. Faith around us. And through it all, the invitation to stay awake to what the journey is revealing.

Another beautiful day on the PTS Travelers Tour of Türkiye. ✨

Baruch Bashan — the blessings already are.