Before I delve into exactly why this, except for perhaps three or four people. And now anyone reading this blog. So…three or four people know about my Morocco plans.
The idea was prompted by my friend and travel addict Alma who, after several attempts to get me to travel somewhere cool and exotic with her, got me to commit to an extended weekend in Marrakech. The more we talked, the more we planned, and the more I actually grew to accept that I could (and should) pull this off. I don’t have my ticket yet, but I’m planning to buy it by the end of next month. (I’m going to sell my kidneys for travel money, but I understand they do grow back rather quickly. Cha-ching!)
There were a few benefits to this trip, other than just getting to travel. I’m looking forward to seeing Alma (who I seldom get to see) again. I’m also hoping to use this trip to generate several stories for magazines, newspapers, blog posts, etc. Nothing gets me writing about a trip like actually going on a trip. Whodathunk? And I also get to check Africa off my list of countries to visit. (Sarah Palin just called to point out that Africa is actually a continent. Fine, I’m checking it off the list anyway.)
So as the date draws nearer (tentatively Easter weekend), plans are starting to gel and my resources are coming together. My friend Maureen has enthusiastically offered advice based on her visit to Morocco years ago. (You can read a story she wrote in Chicken Soup for the Wine Lover's Soul: A Toast to the Perfect Occasion (Chicken Soup for the Soul) on page 107.) I just picked up two Morocco guidebooks, so I’ll be piecing together a rough itinerary. And I’ve logged into my account with www.couchsurfing.com for the first time in perhaps over a year (or two), looking for potential couches to crash on and people to meet.
So why is the world so small? Last week I logged into my Gmail account (also an account I haven’t used in ages) and amidst the spam and group newsletters was an e-mail from my old pal Liz. I met Liz a while ago (in 2004, methinks), albeit briefly and online, through an online travel forum. She was giving away a travel-related calendar and I was the first to say, “Gimee gimme gimme!” She gimme’d, and we stayed in touch, although sporadically at best. At that time, she was just about to take a round-the-world trip, leaving me jealous but with a calendar to remind me of all the traveling I wasn’t going to be doing that year. (Harumpf!) She got a blog and added me to her e-mailing list, but I hadn’t heard much in a while from her, mainly since her e-mails were going to an account I seldom used.
Anyway, Liz’s message was months old, but she mentioned that she was living in… (drum roll, please) Morocco! Marrakech, even! I dropped her a note saying I planned to be in the area, and she wrote back with a brief but inviting note saying she’d be happy to meet me and suggest a few things to see. So while I’m excited to have someone to show me the facets of Morocco I might otherwise miss, I’m also excited just to have a coffee with a girl I had a brief travel-related connection with years ago in a city neither of us are from but both happen to be in. What are the chances?
It's a small world after all...
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