luke wilson
The Living Force
Hi Guys,
I thought I'd share my travel experiences in Morocco. I am not one that has done extended travel and so it is one of those things I was keen to do. In fact I am pretty keen to see more of the world as I believe getting away from where you are truly expands your mind. This is now one of my aims in life.
In Morocco, my friend and I travelled up and down the country. Our trip wasn't planned down to the details, we just had a rough itinerary of the towns we wanted to visit. I have to say I met people who truly blew my mind, both in the audacity of their dreams and in their warmth of heart. I'll describe some below
Two really cool mexicans
So on the first day of checking into our Riad in Marrakesh, we found that we would be sharing our room with a mexican guy and mexican girl. We got to know each other really quickly. The guy was travelling for a whole year, he was middle aged, really cool and had got to a stage in his life where he had worked hard enough to create enough space to travel. In his earlier years, he worked multiple jobs in the US, crazy hours, bought a bunch of houses which he fully paid off and now act as a source of income. In fact, he advised me to aim to do similarly. His family also started a business in america which now had multiple stores across the US.
He basically got to a stage where he can now relax. He has hired a property management company to manage his houses and he overseas his family business when in the states. In the meantime, he is travelling the world. He's pretty much been everywhere now, when I met him in Morocco, he had a bit of europe left, then he'd go to Asia and once done that would be the world seen.
The girl he met in Spain. She was the first solo female traveller I have come across. She left mexico to travel Europe and North Africa. It just so happened that she ran into a compatriot and they were now travelling together.
I truly enjoyed both their company and learnt quite a lot from the guy and girl, regarding life as mexicans in the States, regarding aims, regarding ambition, regarding being sensible etc.
American Nurse
In the second night, an american nurse in her 20's checked into the Riad. Again, we became close. She was supremely cool and also another solo female traveller. She was on a 2 month journey of Europe and North Africa. I learnt quite a lot from her, about letting go off expectations.
Basically she told me how she was living her life before based on expectations e.g. at this age this should happen, at that age that should happen etc. She told me how this led her to always be disappointed. At some point she just decided to shift her mental view and approach life differently. It was at this point that she started to travel and living life for her. She worked super hard again, to build up enough vacation days and build up enough money. She travelled through the states and hawaii solo then now she is doing the same on this side of the planet.
We spent a lot of time talking about life, american politics, guns (lol), the welfare system, Medicaid etc. Supremely interesting person.
American Law Student and Australian Lesbian Couple
We eventually ran into an american law student doing an internship in Morocco and 2 australian girls who appeared to be friends but were actually in a relationship as per what they told me in the end. Again, learnt a lot from all of them. From the american student from Harvard, I simply learnt not to judge people based on prejudice. At first, I didn't like him because he came across as quite typical and quite immersed in the brainwashed culture of the states but he turned out to be a really solid person who was funny and had many interesting things to say. I was quite impressed by his pursuit of his dreams and his love of learning.
I got really close with 1 of the Australian girls who we shared an intellectual connection. She was really interested in the culture and I noticed her always asking questions in the most open minded way possible. One lunch time we were sat at this cafe with a local guy who was showing us around a town called Fez and we started to talk about terrorism. The guy was quite angry at how the west portrays the whole thing, where if a muslim does something he is labelled a terrorist whereas the same standard isn't applied to other groups etc. He made his arguments quite eloquently and I was in agreement. To my surprise she also engaged in the discussion. We later spent time talking and playing board games against each other which was fun. She also tasked me with protecting her around the city... LOL. I have to say she was getting quite a lot of grief from the local male population some of who were quite overt in their expressions. However, all it took to stop anyone hustling her was to be next to her.
Colombian Guy and South Korean Girl
We also ran into a colombian guy who now lives in the states and a girl from S.Korea who was surprise surprise travelling solo.
The colombian guy was supremely interesting, not to dissimilar to the mexican guy I mentioned earlier. He ended up in america through a sports scholarship but now worked in finance. He quit the corporate world and started his own small consultancy company where he helped individuals (most of which are latino) and small businesses. He spoke to me about helping your own and the responsibility on our shoulders to do so, given that our 'own' i.e. minorities are struggling generally to survive. Unlike the mexican guy, he only took 2-3 months each year to travel whilst the rest were spent working. He has been through most of the world and is quite interesting character to be around, he really does push your buttons and makes you think.
The girl is supremely young, early 20s and has been travelling alone since 2013. She spoke to me about asian culture and how she wanted to let people know about south korea. It is generally a beautiful country but there were things she didn't like about it. For example, the education system generally is quite tough and leads children to commit suicide due to how severe it is. Work is very hard to find due to excessive competition. Gender roles exist. The country is quite conservative regarding roles. Alcoholism is rife etc.
Hands down, she is the bravest person I came across. She had no fear for such a small person and she had a humongously huge heart. Her next destination was Egypt, by herself. You'll be glad to hear she's safe. She's very grateful to God for keeping her safe in all her travels.
Swedish Girl
I briefly also ran into a swedish girl. She was young as well and was basically travelling indefinitely. She came across like she didn't know what she wanted. To me she came across as abit sad and alone which is why I went to talk to her. TBH, I don't remember much about our interactions but I was surprised to find a letter in my belongings from her where she was basically very grateful for our conversations. She said I basically told her what she needed to hear and she will now make her way back home and that she wished me all the best.
Staff at the Riads, the Desert, basically everywhere....
All the people who were working where we stayed were SUPER interesting. I now am friends with nearly all of them on FB. We had such a wonderful time. We joked around, there was sadness everytime we had to leave.
Basically, what did I learn?
People are amazing and there is such an amazing diversity of stories. I met a lot more other people who all had interesting stories but the above are the ones who really struck me.
The country - Morocco
What can I say? This country went above and beyond my expectations. Best place I have been thus far in my life. Mind blowing. One downside that I did see is how the men sometimes treat women. I saw it in numerous occasions to be able to say it was a pattern. It wasn't violent but some of the comments were quite in your face. The one thign to experience though are the ancient Medinas in the various towns and in specific the Markets... The market in Marrakesh is hands down a beautiful assault to the senses.
What did I love the most:- Travelling through the changing landscape, I enjoyed the sahara desert and the endless sea of dunes but most of all, I enjoyed really getting to interact with people who had so much to give and share. It was really a priceless experience. So much so that I wish to see even more of the world and experience more of people from many other places.
Cool Music that I heard, some of many
Ismael Lo - Afrika
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLeBi3s7Uw0
Cheb Khaled - Aisha
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8be8zBJWDJw
Saad Lamjarred - LM3ALLEM - filmed in marrakesh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Fwf45pIAtM
Ismael Lo is a really cool artist.
I thought I'd share my travel experiences in Morocco. I am not one that has done extended travel and so it is one of those things I was keen to do. In fact I am pretty keen to see more of the world as I believe getting away from where you are truly expands your mind. This is now one of my aims in life.
In Morocco, my friend and I travelled up and down the country. Our trip wasn't planned down to the details, we just had a rough itinerary of the towns we wanted to visit. I have to say I met people who truly blew my mind, both in the audacity of their dreams and in their warmth of heart. I'll describe some below
Two really cool mexicans
So on the first day of checking into our Riad in Marrakesh, we found that we would be sharing our room with a mexican guy and mexican girl. We got to know each other really quickly. The guy was travelling for a whole year, he was middle aged, really cool and had got to a stage in his life where he had worked hard enough to create enough space to travel. In his earlier years, he worked multiple jobs in the US, crazy hours, bought a bunch of houses which he fully paid off and now act as a source of income. In fact, he advised me to aim to do similarly. His family also started a business in america which now had multiple stores across the US.
He basically got to a stage where he can now relax. He has hired a property management company to manage his houses and he overseas his family business when in the states. In the meantime, he is travelling the world. He's pretty much been everywhere now, when I met him in Morocco, he had a bit of europe left, then he'd go to Asia and once done that would be the world seen.
The girl he met in Spain. She was the first solo female traveller I have come across. She left mexico to travel Europe and North Africa. It just so happened that she ran into a compatriot and they were now travelling together.
I truly enjoyed both their company and learnt quite a lot from the guy and girl, regarding life as mexicans in the States, regarding aims, regarding ambition, regarding being sensible etc.
American Nurse
In the second night, an american nurse in her 20's checked into the Riad. Again, we became close. She was supremely cool and also another solo female traveller. She was on a 2 month journey of Europe and North Africa. I learnt quite a lot from her, about letting go off expectations.
Basically she told me how she was living her life before based on expectations e.g. at this age this should happen, at that age that should happen etc. She told me how this led her to always be disappointed. At some point she just decided to shift her mental view and approach life differently. It was at this point that she started to travel and living life for her. She worked super hard again, to build up enough vacation days and build up enough money. She travelled through the states and hawaii solo then now she is doing the same on this side of the planet.
We spent a lot of time talking about life, american politics, guns (lol), the welfare system, Medicaid etc. Supremely interesting person.
American Law Student and Australian Lesbian Couple
We eventually ran into an american law student doing an internship in Morocco and 2 australian girls who appeared to be friends but were actually in a relationship as per what they told me in the end. Again, learnt a lot from all of them. From the american student from Harvard, I simply learnt not to judge people based on prejudice. At first, I didn't like him because he came across as quite typical and quite immersed in the brainwashed culture of the states but he turned out to be a really solid person who was funny and had many interesting things to say. I was quite impressed by his pursuit of his dreams and his love of learning.
I got really close with 1 of the Australian girls who we shared an intellectual connection. She was really interested in the culture and I noticed her always asking questions in the most open minded way possible. One lunch time we were sat at this cafe with a local guy who was showing us around a town called Fez and we started to talk about terrorism. The guy was quite angry at how the west portrays the whole thing, where if a muslim does something he is labelled a terrorist whereas the same standard isn't applied to other groups etc. He made his arguments quite eloquently and I was in agreement. To my surprise she also engaged in the discussion. We later spent time talking and playing board games against each other which was fun. She also tasked me with protecting her around the city... LOL. I have to say she was getting quite a lot of grief from the local male population some of who were quite overt in their expressions. However, all it took to stop anyone hustling her was to be next to her.
Colombian Guy and South Korean Girl
We also ran into a colombian guy who now lives in the states and a girl from S.Korea who was surprise surprise travelling solo.
The colombian guy was supremely interesting, not to dissimilar to the mexican guy I mentioned earlier. He ended up in america through a sports scholarship but now worked in finance. He quit the corporate world and started his own small consultancy company where he helped individuals (most of which are latino) and small businesses. He spoke to me about helping your own and the responsibility on our shoulders to do so, given that our 'own' i.e. minorities are struggling generally to survive. Unlike the mexican guy, he only took 2-3 months each year to travel whilst the rest were spent working. He has been through most of the world and is quite interesting character to be around, he really does push your buttons and makes you think.
The girl is supremely young, early 20s and has been travelling alone since 2013. She spoke to me about asian culture and how she wanted to let people know about south korea. It is generally a beautiful country but there were things she didn't like about it. For example, the education system generally is quite tough and leads children to commit suicide due to how severe it is. Work is very hard to find due to excessive competition. Gender roles exist. The country is quite conservative regarding roles. Alcoholism is rife etc.
Hands down, she is the bravest person I came across. She had no fear for such a small person and she had a humongously huge heart. Her next destination was Egypt, by herself. You'll be glad to hear she's safe. She's very grateful to God for keeping her safe in all her travels.
Swedish Girl
I briefly also ran into a swedish girl. She was young as well and was basically travelling indefinitely. She came across like she didn't know what she wanted. To me she came across as abit sad and alone which is why I went to talk to her. TBH, I don't remember much about our interactions but I was surprised to find a letter in my belongings from her where she was basically very grateful for our conversations. She said I basically told her what she needed to hear and she will now make her way back home and that she wished me all the best.
Staff at the Riads, the Desert, basically everywhere....
All the people who were working where we stayed were SUPER interesting. I now am friends with nearly all of them on FB. We had such a wonderful time. We joked around, there was sadness everytime we had to leave.
Basically, what did I learn?
People are amazing and there is such an amazing diversity of stories. I met a lot more other people who all had interesting stories but the above are the ones who really struck me.
The country - Morocco
What can I say? This country went above and beyond my expectations. Best place I have been thus far in my life. Mind blowing. One downside that I did see is how the men sometimes treat women. I saw it in numerous occasions to be able to say it was a pattern. It wasn't violent but some of the comments were quite in your face. The one thign to experience though are the ancient Medinas in the various towns and in specific the Markets... The market in Marrakesh is hands down a beautiful assault to the senses.
What did I love the most:- Travelling through the changing landscape, I enjoyed the sahara desert and the endless sea of dunes but most of all, I enjoyed really getting to interact with people who had so much to give and share. It was really a priceless experience. So much so that I wish to see even more of the world and experience more of people from many other places.
Cool Music that I heard, some of many
Ismael Lo - Afrika
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLeBi3s7Uw0
Cheb Khaled - Aisha
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8be8zBJWDJw
Saad Lamjarred - LM3ALLEM - filmed in marrakesh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Fwf45pIAtM
Ismael Lo is a really cool artist.
