The Chaos That Comes With Traveling Abroad: My Trip To Morocco

I adore traveling, but there is always a certain discomfort in exploring foreign places. When you visit a new country, you disconnect from what you know — leaving behind comfort in hopes of fulfilling that sense of wanderlust. Although you can plan itineraries, you can never truly prepare for what will happen on any trip.

I recently spent three days in Tangier, Morocco, with a few friends. While I had an amazing experience, I often felt fear, frustration, and anxiety. Although my Instagram photos showed a “perfect” aesthetic, a lot went on behind the camera. I am grateful for opportunities to travel, but some trips are bound to go astray.

Here is what happened to me in Morocco:

Road Lines are Mere Suggestions

Before landing in Morocco, I knew I would notice cultural differences. After all, I was stepping onto an entirely new continent. I knew I would dress modestly to respect Muslim culture, and I understood that the arrival of Ramadan meant I would witness different religious customs. But what I wasn’t prepared for was the driving.

After flying from Spain to Tangier, my friends and I took a taxi to our Airbnb. As someone who gets motion sick easily, I was suffering. The driver sped off as soon as we got in the car, swerving around other cars and motorcycles. There seemed to be no rules of the road. In multiple instances, we almost hit people crossing the street, and every stop sign meant a heavy slam on the brakes. It was nauseating, to say the least.

Living Life in Action Mode

For the rest of our trip, my friends and I encountered equally chaotic drivers as the first, and our fear intensified as we crossed the road. I would compare our crossing the road to the chicken in the game “Crossy Road.” The cars never stopped. We just had to run and pray for our lives strategically.

Adding to my fear of being run over while crossing the road, I was almost run over by my own taxi driver. When I hopped into a taxi after dinner, the driver pulled away while one of my legs was still outside the vehicle. Thankfully, she noticed I wasn’t all the way in and slammed on the brakes before I could be injured, but my foot was inches away from being run over. 

While shopping on our second day in Tangier, my friends and I walked down a narrow street toward the next store, only to find a man bleeding from the head and yelling at a motorcycle driver. The driver hit him because he didn’t move out of the way quickly enough. If that doesn’t give you a clear image of driving in Morocco, I don’t know what will.

Bite-Bait

As if the driving weren’t scary enough, on this trip, I was bitten many times. On our first day exploring, my friends and I were in awe of all the cats. It was heavenly. But then I decided to pet one. I bent down to pet a cat that had been lovingly rubbing up against my friend. And it bit me. I started bleeding and panicking. I was terrified of getting an infection or disease. So I put hand sanitizer on the cut, then found a sink to wash my hands. Luckily, it didn’t get infected. 

The morning after this incident, I woke up to find more bites on my body — several bug bites. They looked like mosquito bites, but were bigger. I was annoyed, but I shrugged it off because we had a fun day planned — riding camels. This is where the chaos continued.

For this camel ride, we went to the beach. When it was my turn, I walked over to my camel, and immediately another one whipped its head around toward me, nearly biting me. The only thing keeping it from doing so was the muzzle it wore. I called him Snappy. I’m not sure what makes me so tasty, but all Moroccan creatures wanted to nibble on me. 

Overall Reflections

Aside from the chaos, I am glad I got to travel with friends, learn about a different culture, and stay relatively safe despite obstacles. All the locals I met were extremely nice and respectful; the food was delicious, and the natural scenery was stunning.

During our stay in Tangier, many store owners were kind enough to show us around, leading us to different stores and offering recommendations for places to visit in their city. Their generosity was astounding and unlike anything I’ve seen anywhere else. Even though Morocco was not the kindest to me personally, I have nothing but love for it.

Featured image via MELIANI Driss on Pexels