From Texas to Marrakech: American Impressions of Morocco

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Eric: [00:00:00] It was like going way back in time and I think that's, that's one thing I didn't appreciate is just that the nomadic culture, how it's still in the Berber culture.

_Yes_. How it's so interwoven throughout, and really how people think about life and what's important to them. _Exactly_. And the, and family and connections and personal relationships, and welcoming people and all of that. So, that's the thing that you would never get from - like you just have to experience it. 

Allison: Well, and each place, kind of along both of those lines is I will remember from each [00:01:00] place a, a different but specific feeling, but some of it the same. like how the Moroccan spirit of the people is everywhere. Yes. And in everyone, but then each place having a very specific feeling.

That was all of the senses to me for each place. that I can go to, it just feels so specific to each area. 

Azdean: One thing that we did for you guys is the nomad, right? 

Allison: That was very special. 

Azdean: And again, I completely agree with you, Eric, because there's certain things you just have to experience and feel yourself, no matter how, I watch videos, I watch, I see pictures, but when you're at that place, when you're at that moment, everything changes. Right.

I mean, it just, it. you, you truly feel it. I mean, it's just incredible. And that's how I felt today going through, the palace and museum, I went through, [00:02:00] all the the attractions and the museums that we did. It was just amazing. It was beautiful. Yes. So the question that I have really for you is, why Destination Morocco? 

Eric: Sure. So again, the podcast was just huge because you could go online and find a whole bunch of tour operators and very hard to distinguish, one from another, especially in, in the very short period of time.

we're very busy. Yep. Yep. Everything's a little last minute. It's the end of the school. There's a lot of other things competing for our time, but it was great to be able to listen, to four or five episodes and really get a good feel of you, Azdean, and then the company and the way you go about - it just resonated what you're 

Allison: trying to create for your clients. 

Eric: It struck us as like, Hey, this is a really good fit, or it seems really interesting. And then be able to reach out and have a [00:03:00] call with you and then feel really good about it. I think 

Allison: also like we, none of us are big tour type type travelers, and so for us to feel like in a place where we wanted to go so many places, see things, get a good feel, move around,

in a way that felt comfortable not having any idea about, true idea about the place, but that it felt very personal. Yeah. Yeah. The way you all do it, and the way you all set up building an itinerary. And even taking our feedback into consideration as we're building it, and the way that that worked. Because we are very much like a get into the heart of a place, don't go somewhere and just only do it one way and only see these things, and[00:04:00] 

hop on a bus with a hundred other people. Get into the heart of the culture and the people and, I don't wanna be comfortable all the time, right? I don't wanna be comfortable necessarily. I wanna be comfortable some, yes, but I also wanna feel like I am not at home.

I want to be uncomfortable in a safe way, yes. when I travel. And that's how we all approach travel. And so I feel like that's how your company also approaches bringing people into these experiences. So, that really, yeah, spoke to us. And especially came through when we read the itinerary, when we were first putting things together.

The 

Eric: itinerary is awesome. We have the videos embedded and just great detail. Very 

Allison: detailed and personal to - it's, it's funny because a lot of people, 

Azdean: they don't go to look at the [00:05:00] itinerary, I swear to 

Eric: you! 

Azdean: Because when you, you get picked up and the leader sits with and say, Hey, this is what we have today, tomorrow, day three.

Sure. They're like, oh, wow. 

Allison: But we wanted to go somewhere -that was also part of it. Like we haven't gotten to go anywhere in a long time. We wanted adventure. Yes. 

Azdean: I, I totally agree. Because it's really common in, for the, in the US for people to go, run to Mexico.

Yes. 

Allison: Just go somewhere easy. Yes. 

Eric: We had such a unique experience because we were with a customized kind of private tour, to be able to actually interact with people and meet people in a way that if it was just us, it would've, everybody would've been friendly and welcoming but some of that would've been lost. 

Azdean: It should be a lot of fun because a lot of people, that's how they travel. So when you present to them the organized tour, the tour leader, the local guides, and they just, sometimes they don't understand it or they don't [00:06:00] communicate, whether not for you to understand it, but everybody travels differently.

But in, in my opinion, this is the right way to do it. ' Cause you really immerse yourself in the culture. The culture in Ouarzazate is different than when you go to the desert, then Merzouga, then Marrakech. Then when you go to Fes. It's a very diverse country. So, the other question that I have for you is, I know this is a big one, perception versus reality. Before and after.

How did you think of Morocco before you visited Morocco? Then when you came to Morocco, visited Morocco, and from this moment and back and forward all the way the time came to Casablanca, how was it for you, 

Allison: how did 

Azdean: you perceive Morocco? 

Allison: I think I knew somewhat that it was a melting pot.

Yeah. But I don't think I had any true perception of [00:07:00] how, what a melting pot it is, how many cultures are represented, and through the history and through, the food, the architecture, the music, the, all of that. That really came through in a way that I don't think I could perceive, from the outside, and on the front end.

And that really came through to me. I guess I also was like, again, going back to that, like unsure of safety and, just it felt very from outside coming, like it was gonna be a very, very foreign experience. And just how much to be on guard. And then pretty quickly felt like very at ease.

Yeah. Wow. 

And, and everyone we met [00:08:00] put me at ease, and so I think that was, I felt like I'd be a little bit more day to day just figuring it out, and didn't feel like that was near as much as expected.

Yeah. 

Eric: I think for me, all of what Allison said but, I mean, really what I didn't appreciate at all, I didn't have the history again, because it was a little bit last minute,

we were like, "Maybe we'll go here, maybe we'll go there." And just talking with Matthew and we landed on Morocco, and then felt like within, within a few days, like we had booked this whole trip. _Oh my goodness._ So it, 

Allison: it did feel like it just very quickly we got it together. Kind of 

Eric: fun not having too many preconceived notions.

But I knew that we were gonna see mountains and deserts and oceans. What I really didn't appreciate was just the people and the, that's really what sets Morocco apart, is just the culture of the people. And that you can't get again from a book. You have to just experience [00:09:00] it. 

Just that very deep, it's such a good lesson or a good experience for coming from our lifestyles, where everything is so fast paced. _Absolutely_. I mean, here, the way people just slow down and have those interactions. 

Allison: Eric and I have said this many times, but the Moroccan people have _time _for each other. Every time that Sheraf or Hamid would run into somebody, meet somebody, we always were like, "Have they, did they just meet that person, or have they known them forever?"

Because I can't, I can't tell. Because they're going to have a conversation that way, whether it's a close friend or someone they just met. And so, I think that's just a beautiful place. 

Azdean: so Matt, how was the perception versus [00:10:00] reality for you? Because I'm not sure how long you lived in London, but Morocco to Europe is different than Morocco to the US. Sure. Oh, definitely.

Yeah. 

Matt: Yeah, definitely. And, I think, and so I've traveled pretty extensively in Turkey, so that's kind of where a lot of my just natural comparisons went. Yeah. And I think for me, a lot of it was the natural beauty of the country. Some places that, like Rabat for instance, they vary. The city design and city planning and things like that were really, it did feel kind of European and interesting, but then as you move along, it's just, it is the diversity. And I think it is, it's deceiving when you're looking on a map or just like you're looking at, as the crow [00:11:00] flies, how big the country is, how far some things are apart. And yeah, just kind of the day to day differences. The diversity of the food was different, or more than I expected.

I definitely expected some differences. But yeah, that was, that was great. _That's awesome_. 

Allison: It's been trip of a lifetime. _Thank you_. It really has 

Azdean: been. It's a bucket list country. It's not a country you go to every other year or so. Sure. We have memories and that's it. - 

Oh! 

I'm like, "

Allison: Oh no, I don't feel that way. I'm coming back!" 

Eric: She's been planning, 'cause thank you so much for the tea set. _Yeah_. It's like, what a great tradition. Oh 

Allison: my gosh. I mean, I am now, I'm [00:12:00] addicted to the mint tea! I am like, I love it so 

Eric: much!

It's my favorite 

Allison: tradition, 

Eric: I 

Allison: am so excited. I've been trying to, so we've all been talking on how in Houston am I gonna grow enough mint? Because like it's hard, because it's so hot in Houston. 

Azdean: It does grow actually, and it grows fast. 

Allison: Okay. But like with the amount of rain? _Yes_.

And like, how much sun, I'm like, I've been planning it! I think most importantly to me is, again, going back to something I said earlier, but

the feeling I'll take home with me, and the heart of the people of Morocco is just, I have things that, on a day to day basis, I will think about how can I receive [00:13:00] people and show that heart to the people in my life. And around me. 

Eric: _That's really deep._ Well, I wanna say just a lot of gratitude for everybody. You Azdean, and Sam, and the entire team at _Destination Morocco_. The people you have are really, really special. _Thank you_. We built a special friendship with all of them. Our tour operator, Hamid, now we've got our own - we're sending each other music videos separately, even though we haven't seen him for five days! And sharing pictures, and he's now a personal friend. So that's really just very special and touching, and just a lifetime experience. 

Azdean: Thank you.

Matt: Yeah and I think for me it's, I've traveled a lot of places and this is definitely one of the most, back to [00:14:00] what I was saying earlier, the senses, and you can read all about it. You can see pictures, you can watch movies, but until you actually sit down in the middle of the medina, eating food with smoke. And having the drums in the distance, maybe call to prayer in the distance. It is a completely, completely different experience that no book, that no movie could ever capture. Those are some of the experiences that I'll take away.

It's different than a lot of places. That's really incredible. 

Azdean: Thank you so much. Really, really appreciate you. Allison, Eric, Matt, we're very grateful. Thank you for sharing your experience with our audience. I didn't do any of the beginning of the podcast, but [00:15:00] I'll do the ending now.

This has been a lot of fun. _Yes_. Thank you to the listeners. We are doing this because of you, and we appreciate everybody who has traveled with us. We cannot do this without you. Hundred percent. Thank you. 

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