Following up and next trip booked!

Note: I wrote most of this months ago and never finished it. And now I'm less than a week away from Morocco!

I've been meaning to write a follow up post for my Iceland/Norway trip. I've been back almost a month, so this is overdue. Plus, I just booked my next adventure!

Yep, Morocco is the next trip. I don't know why, except it's always appealed to me. I'm not comfortable doing this one on my own, so I'm doing a group excursion with Gate 1, the same travel agency I used for my trip to Turkey ten years ago. I know I'll get antsy on a tour bus, but I'll cope. This particular trip is very active, with lots of walking, which will suit me. So, in February, I'll make my first trip to Africa.

October writing: But, back to the past. I'm working through all my photos from Iceland and Norway. It's a slow process, and I'm only up to my first week in Norway. My original goal was to finish my photos by the end of October. Now, I'll aim for the end of November and be happy if I get them finished before I leave for Morocco. I post all my photos to Flickr, but I'll put some links in a blog post and an Instagram post, in case anyone is interested. I throw away 75% of the pictures that I take, something for which everyone should be grateful. (It may be exciting for me to see a new bird, but no one else wants to see an out of focus bird picture.)

Late January update: I finally finished my pictures about a week ago. So much for my grand intentions! If you are interested in seeing the pictures, they are linked on the home page of my blog, at the bottom. Just click on the map for Iceland or Norway and it will take you to my Flickr album for that country.

The lessons learned from my Iceland/Norway trip were (in no particular order):

1. Four weeks is pushing it. I enjoyed my last week in Iceland, but I was ready to go home after 3 weeks.

2. Take less stuff! Again, this is something I had to experience. I'd read so much about what to take to Iceland, especially since I was going to be in a campervan, but I overdid it. I won't duplicate as much next time. For example, I took 2 pairs of waterproof boots, a pair of sneakers, and flip-flops, and I wore only a single pair of boots the whole time. For Morocco (which will be quite a bit warmer than Iceland and Norway), it's going to be one pair of walking shoes and a pair of sneakers.

3. On the positive side, I was fine traveling on my own. There were always people to talk to, if I felt the need. I met people on hikes and at the campgrounds. But I was never lonely or frightened on my own. For the latter, it helped that I chose two of the safest places in the world to visit.

4. I still need to discover the perfect carryon option. The problem is that I have contradictory needs. I want something with wheels for hauling it through the airport, but I would prefer something versatile that would work as a backpack while I'm at my destination. Sigh. It's not possible to find one bag that does both. I guess I'll take my hardside carryon and pack a small backpack—this is how my suitcase gets too heavy! But I'll also have to take the tour bus into consideration for this trip, since they'll have rules about what has to be stowed and what can be carried on the bus. January update: I bought an Osprey backpack with wheels. It's a little larger than I would like, but it meets both my criteria and will work as a carryon on the tour bus too.

5. I'm sure I had more lessons learned, but it's been over 3 months and I can't remember them.

I have started packing for Morocco, since I'll be driving to North Carolina next Wednesday (2/1/23) and flying out on Thursday. I'll fly Raleigh to NY to Paris to Casablanca. (On the return, I'll fly back directly from Paris to Raleigh.) Even though I'm flying into Casablanca, I won't spend any time there—I transfer to Rabat that afternoon. That will be Friday, February 3rd btw—it will take me a day to get to Morocco.

The weather in Morocco looks like it will be mostly in 60s in the day and the 30s at night, though that varies around the country. There could be some rain, though I've been watching the weather there for the last month and there have been few rainy days. Fingers crossed! I'm very excited about the trip. This will be my first time in Africa! I'll try to do a blog post every night. I did pretty well with it on my last trip, so I hope I can keep it up. On the positive side, I won't be trying to write my posts and upload pictures in the back of a campervan being rocked by the wind!

Thanks for coming along for the ride!