One of the best perks of being a model is the opportunity to travel, and this swimsuit catalog shoot brought me to an exotic island off the coast of Turkey. From start to finish, this was of the most exciting and memorable adventures of my entire career in print.

Being selected to model for the Ay Yildas catalog shoot was an honor in itself, since some of their previous models included supermodels Cindy Crawford and Vendela, so admittedly I was hoping to receive superstar treatment, and the clients did not disappoint!

After a 36-hour trek across the world, the other model (Malou) and I arrived at a five-star hotel built into the side of a mountain. Each day, and several times per day, we ascended and descended over 200 steps to get from our room to the lobby level for hair and makeup, meetings with the team, and shooting over 75 swimsuits apiece over the course of a week.

In addition to having all the comforts of home, one of the things I loved best about the hotel was the amazing buffet served for lunch and dinner – of course since we were shooting swimwear it was hard, but I had to control myself. There was also a gorgeous swimming pool overlooking the sea, and we were surprised to learn that the crystal clear, odorless, clean blue water that filled it was actually sea water – and so dense with salt that it floated your body for you effortlessly!

The shoots were strenuous and we were under a tight schedule, but the clients made up for it during downtime by taking us on fun excursions all over the island. We took a boat tour, dined and danced in quaint villages, had our fortunes told, and even stopped to meet some roadside camels along the way. It was a blast!

After a long week of shooting we flew to Istanbul, where we drove across the bridge to Asia – visiting two continents in one day! And after all was said and done, the clients were pleased with the results and all the images. It was the perfect ending to one amazing adventure.