Amanda’s Morocco Trip with OWR Travel

Sometimes, life nudges us toward unexpected adventures—and that’s exactly what happened for Amanda on her OWR journey to Morocco. With a mix of nerves and excitement, she dove into a group trip with strangers, a leap of faith that became one of the best decisions she’s ever made.

From awe-inspiring architecture tobelly laughs on winding mountain roads, her story is a reminder of how travel can heal, surprise, and connect us in ways we never imagined. This is Morocco through her eyes—filled with humor, growth, and the kind of memories that last a lifetime.

My Moroccan Journey 

Morocco wasn’t just on my travel bucket list; it had some real meaning.

I went on the trip both over prepared (my A type personality couldn’t help it!) yet also with no idea what to expect.

My only prior “group tour” experience from when I was younger in my 20’s didn’t go as well as I had hoped… So I definitely had some major nerves signing up for another wild ride through a country I didn’t ever expect I would ever go to, with a group of people I had never expected to meet.

Now a week after arriving home I can confidently say that booking this trip was one of the best decisions I’ve made in a long time.

Not only was I fascinated with the beautiful Moroccan country, its fused history, spectacular buildings and unique culture.

It also just happened to be a place my husband said he just flat out never wanted to visit.

Fast forward to 2024 and I’m turning 36 and getting divorced – completely blindsided.

Now that the dust has settled, it is clear I am not the only 30 something single woman facing the conundrum of “how to travel when you want to see the world but you are totally solo and aren’t ready to travel completely on your own” awkward situation.

In comes OWR – and really, thank you to my Instagram algorithm for finally pitching me on something that was actually worth every penny.

It kinda felt like fate when I saw the Morocco option because it was a place that always topped my list.

The tour seemed like the perfect way for me to go somewhere I had always wanted to go – without a partner or friend – and still feel safe doing it.

I wanted to get the most out of my time spent travelling but I didn’t have 3 weeks of PTO to use.

I was sold on the fact that this was a more mature trip, not focused on partying but more on experiencing the true culture and traditions of the country with like-minded people – and that was exactly the experience I got.

“THE PICTURES DON’T DO IT JUSTICE”

FYI “no partying” for me means delicious wine shared on our Riad terrace overlooking Fes one night as the sun went down. The pictures don’t do it justice. Didn’t want to make it seem like I did a full detox on this vacation 😉

Our journey started off in the lively city of Casablanca.

I arrived around 3pm, so I had a bit of time to unpack and check out the hotel/surrounding area before meeting the rest of the group in the evening.

I was relieved to find the hotel to have all my creature comforts from Canada. A comfy bed, modern room, TV, great shower etc.

I booked a solo room because I was already unsure about the tour, so I didn’t want to add a roommate dynamic into the mix.

Better safe than sorry? (in the end I realized this precaution was totally unnecessary).

I knew this first hotel wasn’t one of the most authentic Moroccan accommodations we would stay in throughout the tour, but I certainly wasn’t unhappy to start out with something that felt like a pretty easy transition from home.

Remember solo travelling isn’t my wheelhouse, so once I left the hotel to explore I made sure to stay close by so I wouldn’t risk getting lost.

I love taking photos so I know I looked like a real dorky tourist in my bucket hat pointing my phone at everything to snap a picture.

The funny thing about this whole Morocco trip is every single day I either said to myself or to one of the other amazing women on the tour – “I think I got my best photo of the trip today.”

And every single day I was wrong.

We would arrive at our destination the following day and there was seemingly always something more beautiful or unique to top yesterday’s photo with.

I’ve come home with dozens of my “lifetime favorite shots”, all from a trip that lasted under two weeks.

After my little adventure around our hotel’s neighborhood, I went up to the rooftop “bar” to get a drink and see the panoramic views of the city.

I had about 30 minutes to kill before I met the rest of the group so I took a breath and reminded myself that even if I didn’t like a single other person on this tour, I could still have a good time.

I decided to order a drink – alcoholic – to calm the nerves.

Wait, they don’t serve alcohol at this modern hotel bar?

Really?

I think I got my first hit of culture shock. I settled for what was only one of the many delicious Moroccan juice blends I would have over the next 10 days and mentally prepared.

“ALL OF THESE PEOPLE IN THEIR OWN WAY WOULD BE THE ONES TO MAKE THIS EXPERIENCE WHAT IT WAS”

Looking back, all I can do is laugh.

I was so determined to not let the people on the trip “interrupt” my mini ‘Eat, Pray, Love, Africa’ experience that I didn’t even consider that some of these people – all of these people in their own way – would be the ones to make this experience what it was.

It ended up being a group of 12 of us, all women + shout out to Kevin!

That evening I learned we were all between the ages of 34-44, most of us single, divorced, coming out of a long term break up, or thriving in their solo journey.

We all sat down for dinner at the hotel restaurant later that night and ended up talking for hours despite the jetlag. The fact that the restaurant was incredibly slow and our food took forever to come started our group bonding experience right off the bat.

We also had a chance to chat with our tour guide Mustapha before dinner.

He was mostly down to business telling us about what to expect on the tour, guidelines to follow, any rules and all that kind of intro stuff.

He immediately came across as knowledgeable and warm – another positive start to the trip.

Something about the twinkle in his eye when he talked about all the amazing things we were going to see over the next week and a bit gave me bubbles of excitement.

I went to sleep that night feeling 10x more comfortable than I expected. Both physically and mentally.

It wasn’t until I found myself keeled over laughing in the bus less than 2 days later that I realized we didn’t just have a tour guide – we had the most kindhearted comedian leading us on this adventure.

For the rest of the tour he would seem to notice what we all individually wanted and needed, then try to do everything he could to keep us all feeling peaceful and happy.

I got anxious at the cooking class (long story, cooking isn’t my thing) but he quickly noticed, was empathetic, took me outside for some air, and made sure I had everything I needed to feel better.

I watched him do the same for other people on the trip as some of us were pushed outside of our comfort zone at one point or another.

I had the feeling of safety and care with him and that’s because he definitely went above and beyond what I would expect of a typical tour guide.

“THE NEXT 8 DAYS WERE A WHIRLWIND OF NEW EVENTS, TASTES, SIGHTS, AND ENCOUNTERS”

The next 8 days were a whirlwind of new events, tastes, sights, and encounters.

I know the website already does a great job of breaking down the itinerary, so I won’t go into tons of detail but here are some of my personal highlights:

Day 2 – Visiting the Hassan II Mosque 

This was our first Mosque and the biggest, so I was totally blown away with the architecture and ornate detailing in every inch of the building.

The best part?

Our tour guide got us there before any of the crowds so we felt like it was a private tour and the photos were next level.

Day 4 – Camel Ride in The Sahara

Actually, the whole Sahara portion of the trip.

I had high hopes for this experience, and it lived up to expectations.

The bus ride was seriously long but completely worth it the second we arrived. I was hoping for the classic shot of the camels against the sunset but as they say, sometimes you just can’t choose the weather!

We ended up driving through chunks of rain on our way (mini panic that this might impact our camel ride) but when we arrived it wasn’t raining but instead had this overcast of layered clouds.

Riding on the camels looking at nothing but sand and sky on the horizon as far as you can see is as spectacular as you would expect it to be.

“WE ATE AN ESPECIALLY AUTHENTIC TAGINE DINNER IN A LUXURIOUS CAMP DINING TABLE”

Then back to the camp at night, where again I was so pleasantly surprised with the accommodation.

Me happy in a tent? Shocking.

It had a shower and proper toilet, decent bed, impressive! We ate an especially authentic Tagine dinner in a luxurious camp dining table and then listened to our guides play drum music under the (still overcast-ish) star speckled sky.

I ended up sharing a room with one of the other ladies that night and we stayed up way too late talking. 😊

In some ways the most memorable part was a bunch of us waking up super early to watch the sunrise.

It was colorful and gorgeous and glowing, just like you would expect a Sahara sunrise to be.

We played in the sand like children, slipping and sliding and rolling around and taking candid pictures and laughing.

Watching the sunrise solo would have been super cool too in its own way, but it was nice to have a bunch of friends to share this moment with. 

“THE DAY I REALIZED I TRULY HAD 11 NEW INCREDIBLE FRIENDS”

Day 6 – Altitude and Motion Sickness on the Bus

There were a few of us not feeling great from the drive but yes it was me that finally tossed the cookies.

The road to Marrakech through the mountains really twists and turns. Plus being up so high above sea level doesn’t help the nausea either.

Why was it a highlight though?

Because that was the day I realized I truly had 11 new incredible friends.

Everyone pitched in to take care of me, sharing what they had that might help.

Our tour guide and bus driver (sweetest man!) tried their best to find somewhere to pull over for me – not easy on the side of a mountain.

Turns out they chose to pull over beside a dead animal and the smell made us ALL want to start puking.

So much for some fresh air.

We ended up dying laughing about this until the end of the trip. Totally worth the stomach-turning experience.

Day 8 – Shopping with the Ladies in the Winding Maze of the Marrakech Medina

We found amazing treasures, ate some interesting street food, and watched the snake charmers from a distance (watch out, they will make you pay them if you take a photo).

We finished off the day sitting by the pool having cocktails and snacks, chatting away like old friends before meeting for the final group dinner where we got a surprise belly dancing show!

If I have one piece of advice to share before you go on the trip it would be the same piece of advice our tour guide gave us night one and I’m glad I listened – unless you really know you love Moroccan food already, maybe hold off on eating Tagine until later in the trip when you have no other options?

LOL.

Most of us agreed that we can’t smell or taste anything with the 35-spice blend again for a long time.

In all seriousness though, go into the trip with an open mind and ready to vulnerably jump out of your comfort zone then OWR will do the rest.

Sit back (really you have no choice because there are some really long bus rides ahead) and let the country, people and experiences blow you away.