After almost 24 hours of travel, bus, overnight train, and a long taxi ride, I reached Essaouira.

As my trip barrels on, more local people become entwined in my adventures, as I continue to open up to the undeniable warmth of the Moroccan people I encounter.  There is an evident sweet spot I experience in the last days of travel, where I am so comfortable in the movement and daily activities that I naturally begin meeting people on a deeper level and having really meaningful conversations.

In Essaouira it was the lawyer turned watercolorist, the two Arabic surf guides from Agadir, the fisherman gearing up for his day on the boat, the gentleman who saved a turtle from a chlorinated pool, a young man riding a horse at sunset, and Mourad the friend I needed to find on a recommendation from Marina in Marrakesh.  Each of these conversations were about life choices and expectations, and how any experience can be affected by the energy a person walks with.  The confidence and value we all can have in other people.      

A lot happened in Essaouira.  I embraced an authentic hammam experience all wrong but with compassionate and patient women around me.  I met a friend who I will always be in touch with, and a possible plan to go back and visit very soon.  I decided that the energy and desire to live in Morocco at some point in my life still felt very alive at the end of my trip, as it did at the beginning. 

One thousand chokram, Morocco.