Went to Morocco With a Stranger I Met Online.
A little adventure and a little spontaneity can go a long way
Fifteen years ago, I read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, and it lit a fire in me to one day journey to Spain, Morocco, and Egypt. In 2016 I made it to Andalucia, Spain, where the book’s story began. I remember standing on the coast of Tarifa looking across the water to the shores of Tanger, Morocco, knowing that that’s where the main character of the book traveled to next. Last week, that dream became real (at least the Morocco part).
Even better? I made the trip with a friend I made online. We met for the first time in person in Marrakesh.
Over 10 days, we crossed the country from the coast to the city to camping in the Sahara desert. We met strangers, followed omens, shared meals, got lost, laughed hard, felt tired, felt scammed, saw beauty, got inspired. Travel does that. It stretches our perspective, tests our patience, and gifts us with a deeper appreciation for the present moment and other people’s ways of life.
There’s something beautiful about saying yes to a little adventure and a little uncertainty. About trusting the journey and the people we meet along the way.
I’d heard mixed things about Morocco and even now I feel mixed bout it. But I’m a firm believer that it’s ways worth it to visit a place and see for yourself. Witness with your own eyes and discover it. Better yet if you can befriend a stranger to come along with you for the adventure.
Here is part 1 of the story:
A perplexed look of surprise, curiosity, and concern was glued to Daniel’s face when he was trying to make sense of my story. The older French riad owner and I were having tea in the garden of the hotel in the middle of the Marrakesh Medina where I had booked a room for my friend Reem and I. While waiting for Reem to arrive from the airport, Daniel and I were having a chat in under the orange trees.
He assumed Reem and I were longtime friends, and was very confused when I told him I’d never met her in person. “You’re about to meet for the first time right now?!” He said in disbelief. “You both live in the same country but decided to meet for the first time all the way in Morocco?!”
Short answer… yes. Long answer… Reem and I met because in 2023 I’d been in a Yes Theory YouTube video. Reem had seen the video and as a result started following me on Instagram. I followed her back, but we never started a conversation. We remained quiet ghosts on each other’s social media.
Almost two years later, I reached out to her because of the war happening in her home country. It was the first exchange of messages we had, but we both felt an instant bond. I learned she had moved from Beirut to Los Angles two years ago and was my same age. We followed up with a 3-hour video call where we learned about our shared love of travel, spontaneity, and sports.
On that first call four months ago, I asked Reem if she could travel anywhere tomorrow, where would that be? She said Morocco. Funny enough, I had the same answer. “Wouldn’t it be crazy if we went there one day?” we said.
Two months later, Reem was applying for her Moroccan visa and I purchased a $30 flight from the US to Morocco using credit card points. We laughed at the fact that we lived just a two hour plane ride away but decided to meet for the first time in the far continent of Africa.
We were also crossing our fingers that Reem’s visa was accepted. It was almost the 11th hour when finally the message came through that it was. We were good to go.
That’s how I found myself walking the noisy, crowded, labyrinth that is the Marrakesh Medina in late May. After dodging donkeys, motorcycles, snake charmers, monkeys, intense smells, and shouting vendors, I took a sharp turn into a sketchy-looking alley that Google Maps claimed led to the riad.
Riads in Marrakesh mean homes with interior gardens in the center, like a courtyard. Nowadays they are also synonymous to guesthouses or hotels. If you find yourself in Morocco, staying at a riad is a “must”.
After swerving into a dark quiet street away from the crowds, was an old wooden door you had to bend down to enter. But inside was an oasis of calm. A fountain trickling in the center, lush fruit trees providing cool shade, a cat snoozing on a chair, and birds chirping. The kind of place that feels enchanted and makes you forget you’re in the middle of a chaotic city.
Daniel and his second in command, Ali, welcomed me with the signature Moroccan mint tea and cookies while I waited for Reem to arrive. They were in disbelief that Reem and I planned such an ambitious trip around Morocco despite never having met in person.
Like anything that’s worth it in life, there’s aways a degree of risk. Would we get along? Would we have the same travel style? What if we came all this way and then got annoyed with each other?
There was also the fact that neither of us had planned what we would do in Morocco. Not a single Google or ChatGPT search as to “what are the best things to do in Marrakesh.” The only things we’d planned were our riads and a 4-day trip to the Sahara.
But to me that was a good sign. Part of the reason Reem and I get along is because we both enjoy spontaneity and seeing where the wind takes us. We are not big into the TripAdvisor or Lonely Planet “must-do’s” and we rather walk the streets without a plan, talk to people along the way, and discover the city on our own.
It’s a bit of what The Alchemist calls the “language of the world.” This sense that we can communicate with people and the world around us by way of feelings rather than words. It’s the gut feeling we get when we meet someone and instantly know we can trust them. When even the unplanned comes together as a symphony with hardly any effort. Thankfully, that was my experience traveling with Reem, my internet friend, through Morocco.
As the sun went down and the temperature cooled, there was a knock on the door. It was Reem! Daniel and Ali watched us with curiosity as we met for the first time, the dawn of our Moroccan adventure.
It’s always a fun moment when you meet someone in person after being internet friends for so long. There’s a feeling of “you are real!” Life beyond video calls means you get to see how tall they actually are, their mannerisms, etc.
Reem and I sat down to eat cookies and admire just how crazy we both are to be on the other side of the world with someone we met online, about to embark on a crazy adventure through Morocco.
Daniel witnessed our first interaction, looked at us, and laughed. “I will leave you so you can meet.”
Part 2 of the story coming soon!
In case you missed it, Reem and I recorded an audio post last week which you can listen to here!
Meeting local kids in a remote village in Morocco
Salam from Morocco! Special post today— a voicenote story from of a conversation with my friend Reem Obeid and I who are in the middle of our trip heading toward the Sahara desert. We recorded it as a reflection of the day’s experience, at midnight from the terrace of our riad in a village in the Dades Valley, Morocco under the light of the moon and stars. You ca…
Love this line that you wrote. “When even the unplanned comes together as a symphony with hardly any effort.” Looking forward part 2.