Before leaving, I had my images neatly arranged in my head: the colorful souks, the dry heat, the breathtaking landscapes. The kind of clich\u00e9s you create unintentionally by scrolling endlessly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And as is often the case when traveling, reality took care to qualify all of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I'm not talking about the big moments here, the kind that end up in stories and on travel blogs. No, it's more about the accumulation of little things I wasn't expecting at all. Those details that fly under the radar but, in the end, really define a place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first thing that struck me was the pace. Or rather: the absence of constant running.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Things take the time they take. Conversations too. At first, with my deeply ingrained European habits, I almost lost my temper two or three times. And then, without really realizing it, I slowed down. As if the country had a different frequency, and my brain had finally synchronized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is one of the most confusing, and most precious, things about traveling to Morocco: you don't just change scenery, you change tempo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I imagined something quite noisy and continuous. And indeed there is life everywhere: the city, the markets, the car horns, the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But what I hadn't anticipated was the contrast. Because there are also pockets of truly striking calm: in a riad, early in the morning, in certain secluded alleyways. Moments when the city seems to hold its breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This back and forth between energy and silence is something I hadn't seen coming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It's been talked about so much that I was afraid it had become a marketing ploy. And yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What touched me wasn't the grand, ceremonial welcome. It was much more discreet than that: an impromptu conversation, advice given unasked, help offered simply on the street, without expecting anything in return. Exchanges that sometimes last five minutes but stay with you for much longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It's this very human side, very rooted in everyday life, that I hadn't really anticipated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n