Two cities, one keyboard
What changes and what stays the same when you split a working life between Tallinn and Istanbul.
The cab ride from Sabiha Gökçen to my apartment in Kadıköy is forty minutes if traffic cooperates, ninety if it does not. I usually finish a code review on the way. Different city, same review queue.
When I started splitting time between Tallinn and Istanbul I expected the friction. Two languages, two keyboards (one Estonian, one Turkish), two morning routines, two notions of "lunch." What I did not expect is how little of the actual work changed.
What changed
Sleep, mostly. Tallinn in winter is a long pause at noon. Istanbul in summer is a long pause at three. I plan deep work around whichever pause my current city offers. The afternoon walk is not optional.
Conversations with friends shift more than work. Estonians ask about projects. Turks ask about people. Both are useful filters.
What did not
The week. I still plan Monday, prototype Tuesday and Wednesday, harden Thursday, ship Friday. The cadence is portable. Cities are not.
The tools. My laptop does not care which power outlet feeds it. Neither does Linear, Figma, Xcode, or a Cloudflare dashboard.
The standards. Code that wouldn't pass review in Tallinn doesn't pass in Istanbul either.
What I'd tell anyone considering it
Don't try to keep two lives. Keep one life and let it have two doors. The trick isn't bilocating — it's noticing which door you walked through this morning.