Recently I went on a spontaneous solo travel journey to Morocco, and it was everything I expected, plus more. And in this article, I share my experience and story of how it all went.
Weekends are for whims
Working full-time can put a toll on your energy in more ways than one. So whenever someone asks me, “Any plans for the weekend?” the response “sleeping” is understandable. It so happened to be one of those Saturdays, and I had woken up from my mid-afternoon nap in time for the West Ham match.
But, before watching, I thought to myself.
“Can I book a last-minute trip for next week?”
I had annual leave starting the next week, and I had to use it, so it made sense. Scurrying to the left side of the bed, I flipped open my laptop and started doing some research. Skyscanner and Google flights are my flight search engines of choice. Type your dates, click “anywhere” in the search bar, and out comes the cheapest flights for you on those dates.
Always use incognito mode when booking flights because companies use cookies to track prices from other websites.
Poland, Iceland, and Germany were a few destinations on offer for £65, which is less than a train ticket to Newcastle — I know crazy, right!
I was so close to picking Iceland instead, but I wanted to go somewhere warmer for the Christmas period.
Finally, I picked Marrakesh in Morocco for a return flight of around £85. I had never been to North Africa, and I didn’t know much about what to do there. So again, I researched solo travel in Morocco and found various vlogs and articles from people who had made the journey before.
A Normal Tuesday
I booked a five-day trip, and my flight from London Gatwick was for the coming Tuesday (talk about spontaneous). The first thing I remember when arriving in the country was just how sparse the airport was. This was pre-covid time, so seeing empty popular spaces was quite odd. Nonetheless, I passed the border security and got in a taxi towards my hostel.
Marrakesh felt lively. People on bikes, street vendors, music, and the warm weather to top it off. The driver, who I tipped extra for chatting with me, dropped me off at the location and pointed towards a dimly lit street, saying, “it’s down there, brother.” I was cautious as the road was quiet, and in addition, there were a bunch of cats sitting spaced ideally in front of each door. It was quite a sight. Here is a photo I took.
Top cat lane
Airport
Hostel swap
Things were even sketchier when I checked into the hostel. Unfortunately, the hostel I booked was the worst one I had ever visited. It had this damp odor I couldn’t shake off, and the beds looked like they belonged in the 1800s. Though the people who checked me in were friendly, their hospitality failed to extend to the hostel. There was no way in hell I was going to sleep there. So I quickly searched for any nearby hostels and found one a ten-minute walk away with amazing photos and positive reviews.
Soon after, I had packed my items and, well… I made a run for it. I wasn’t that concerned about my deposit I would lose for the booking. I should have known what to expect in hindsight, as the booking was too cheap to be true. It was about $6–7 or thereabout per night. So I guess people who stayed there were on the tightest of shoestring budgets.
Wow!
The new hostel was called the Rodamon hostel was breathtakingly beautiful. In all my hostel stayings, I had never seen a place so clean and stunning to date. It had a neon-lit pool in the middle, an open roof, a minibar, and the rooms were super clean with a fast-powered shower. Oh, and the bunk beds had curtains; I love beds with curtains for privacy.
While gladly paying for my $95 room of four, I bumped into a guy I saw on my flight from London called CJ. We recognized each other immediately and had a quick chat about our planned trip. Talk about a coincidence, ey. But an even stranger coincidence happened on another solo trip to Denmark, but I’ll save that for another article.
Soon after my shower, I went on the quest for food. I read online, the Moroccan cuisine is flavorful and has a strong Arabic influence, so I was eager to try it for myself. I ended up eating a local dish called “tagine” with vegetables and chicken.
Tagine
The people you meet
During my stay, I got to explore the city and talk with various locals. One who sticks out called Ali, a Moroccan native from Casablanca, I met at a restaurant in the town square. One of the best things in my opinion about solo traveling -I have written about here– are the people you meet along the way. They can make your experience that more enjoyable only if you connect with the right people. I found Ali such a likable character. He was always casually dressed, about 6ft, curly long black hair, and spoke over five languages — German, French, Spanish, Arabic, English, and Italian.
He showed me around the city, introduced me to his friends, and even helped me bargain the price of some goods I purchased.
Activities
Before coming to Morocco, I questioned what I would even do, but I soon found out, the list of things to were endless. I experienced the adrenaline rush of quad-biking and the calmness of drinking tea in a village near the mountains. Moroccans love tea, and so do Brits. I also spent a good chunk of time with CJ and got to know more about him. As we both were football fans, we would hang out at restaurants that were showing the matches. Another fantastic activity was going to the famous Majorelle garden. The plants and the architecture were stunning, with a blue and yellow theme throughout the area.
Quad biking
Back in my hostel room, I got to chat with my three roommates. Two were from Germany and one from Australia.
“Germans are the new Australians of travel; they’re everywhere.”
One of them, in particular, was Kathrine, whom I spent time hanging out with and having engaging conversations. She invited me to Germany to see her city in Dortmund and watch a football match which is a big thing there. Towards the end of my trip, I went for a group dinner with other solo travelers in a nice restaurant a short walk from the hostel. We laughed, ate, and each took turns sharing our exciting travel experiences and stories.
Group Dinner
CJ and I
Finally, on a Sunday evening, I took my flight back to London, and while on the train journey back home, I thought to myself of how fortunate I was to travel and experience yet another culture.
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