Last Updated on July 12, 2025 by Travelationship
May could not have been more opposite of April. We went from laid back and slow to go, go, go. We admit it was a bit weird to get back into the swing of being on the move. We had been idle for two months and didn’t think the inactivity would affect us as much as it did. However, the stillness allowed us to re-evaluate our methods and re-energize our perspectives. We enjoyed housesitting and look forward to more caretaking opportunities in the next year.
For our second year, we had agreed to approach the blog and our daily events in a less stressed and frenzied way. And we have to say – So far, so good! By actively prioritizing our travel and our relationship before the blog, we have been able to minimize some of our daily stress. Of course, we still have arguments, and we only wrote one post for the month, but overall things are progressing much smoother.
Not sure if all of our mental changes contributed to our feelings of time slowing down, but May felt much longer than 31 days. Most of our time has flown by, but May seemed to last forever. It’s not a complaint by any means, but rather a peculiar observation we’ve noticed, especially from the 20th onward.
We spent most of our time in Spain and Morocco, and pretty much loved everything we saw and ate. We both knew we would like Morocco, but we both left feeling impressed by our experience. Unfortunately, I was sick for a considerable amount of time, and it necessitated changes to our plans, but my illness didn’t detract from the overall adventure.
The Stops
Spain: Madrid (2x), Toledo
Morocco: Fes, Meknes, Moulay Idriss Zerhoun, Chefchaouen, Tangier, Marrakech, Essaouira
Botswana: Gaborone, Francistown
The Great
The food in Morocco! The spices! The freshness! Everything from the hand-squeezed juices to the slowly simmered tagines was deelish. We even found a taco and quesadilla place in Marrakech to fulfill our Mexican food cravings somewhat. Oh, and the pastries and cake slices were divine. I think we had at least one sort of almond, citrus, or other nutty pie pieces a day.
Matt was finally able to get a great-tasting burger from La Cantina in Essaouira, Morocco. We ended up eating there twice because Matt was so in love with their food. They also served baked potatoes, so I was in food heaven, too.
While researching responsible desert treks, we discovered an organization called SPANA. Two British travelers founded the Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad to help protect working animals in Morocco and educate local people on how to better care for and raise animals. We were able to visit two of their locations, one in Tangier and one in Marrakech, and were impressed with their work. In Marrakech, one of the local veterinarians, Dr. Boubker, took the time to show us around and explain how SPANA operates throughout the country to improve the quality of life for working animals and their owners. We hope to publish a full post soon, sharing more about this organization. In the meantime, if you want to learn more, please visit their website at SPANA.
Moulay Idriss, located just outside Meknes between Fes and Errachidia, houses the ruins of an ancient Berber and Roman city called Volubilis. The location was known as the capital of the kingdom of Mauretania and is an absolute must-see when in Morocco. Volubilis is one of eight UNESCO World Heritage sites in the country, and out of the eight, it is the most uniquely distinct. The highlights of the remnants are the beautiful, original mosaic tiles still visible in many of the building locations. The rainstorm during our visit couldn’t deter us from enjoying this site.
Essaouira, also known as the “Wind City of Africa,” was lovely. We spent three days in the city, and every moment was filled with color, vibrancy, and interest. Located on the seacoast, Essaouira is a fishing town made famous by surfers, kite surfers, and several movies and TV shows. Some of you might recognize their ramparts as the land of the Unsullied in Game of Thrones. During our stay in Essaouira and Marrakech, we saw the filming for the Bollywood movie, Jagga Jasoos, with Katrina Kaif and Ranbir Kapoor.
The architecture, doors, windows, colorful markets, and interesting people of Morocco kept us in awe. We particularly liked the architecture of Medersa Ben Yousse, a former university located in Marrakech. Morocco turned out to be better than we anticipated. We both look forward to returning and exploring more of the country.
We’re all about meeting locals, but we tend to look at Airbnb as a last resort. We love the concept of Airbnb, but before we utilize their services more extensively, we need to educate ourselves further about the controversy surrounding how Airbnb may skew rental prices for locals. As home renters ourselves, we don’t want to contribute to the growing rent problems. Recently, local tenants in areas with a high concentration of Airbnb hosts have argued that the daily rentals are contributing to an increase in permanent rent charges. The higher rents then force people to move because they can no longer afford to live in the neighborhood. To the best of our knowledge, no one has proven or disproven the argument. Until we learn more, we will choose to use Airbnb sparingly. If you have more information about this subject, please share it in the comments or contact us directly.
With that said, we found ourselves in Toledo, Spain, during their busiest religious event, Corpus Christi Day. We couldn’t find a reasonable and open room anywhere, so we turned to Airbnb for a room. Our hosts, Patricia, Roberto, and their two children, were terrific. Their home was comfortable, and our private room and bathroom were huge. Patricia was full of helpful information and easy to get along with. The family took the time to drive us around, showing us the most incredible views of Toledo. Also, Roberto is a painter, and their home was filled with stunning art. If you find yourself in Toledo or need some beautiful artwork, be sure to check out their website.
Spending time with our friend, Rafa, in Madrid. We met Rafa in Kigali, Rwanda, where he was volunteering at Les Enfants de Dieu at the same time as us. Luckily, we arrived in Madrid the night of the Football Championship League match against 2 Madrid teams. Matt was able to experience the game with the locals and had a great evening. We also spent a day walking around, viewing some colorful street art, and stuffing our faces with paella and the best Chinese food we had in quite some time. If you ever find yourself in Madrid needing some Spanish/English tutoring, contact Rafa at HobbyLanguages.
This month, we met Cate from NYC while we were in Chefchaouen. Our travels coincided with a visit to Tangier, and we shared a taxi and spent a couple of days exploring the city together.
The Not So Great
While in Fes, we witnessed a donkey that had fallen on the slippery pavement. The owner had taken most, but not all, of its load off its back and was trying to get the donkey to stand up. The poor animal was in shock and, as far as we could tell, had no broken legs, but we were not sure of ribs or any other bones. The owner was yelling, hitting, and dragging the donkey by his ears to get him to stand up. We should have done more to help. I yelled at the guy to stop, but, of course, he didn’t know what I was saying. Our guide hustled us to move forward quickly. We should not have listened to him and should have stayed to help the donkey. We later were told the abusive behavior was not typical for Fes or Morocco. We’re not entirely sure we agree with what we were told, but we still feel ashamed that we didn’t do more to help.
I was sick for a good two weeks of our time in Morocco. I seemed to have picked up an intestinal bacterial infection, which rendered me room-bound for a few days. My being sick led to us canceling our desert trek, which was a huge disappointment. On the upside, we thoroughly enjoyed Morocco and look forward to returning. Next time, a desert trek in a dune buggy will be our first stop.
BTW, we weren’t able to find a responsible camel trek provider during our short search. When we return, we will opt to “trek” the desert via dune buggies or quad motorbikes.
Our continued bad luck with luggage damage. We have both had to replace our roller luggage recently, and Matt’s first time checking his new luggage, it arrived with the entire top corner bashed inward. The airline advised us that they only fix wheel issues and proceeded to “fix” the corner by hammering the edge outward using the end of a stapler. We will have to wait and see if the luggage will hold up or not.
We were so busy in May that we had no time to write any posts. We have so much to catch you all up on and tons of photos to share. Hopefully, mid-to-late June and July will allow us more downtime.
The Oops!, WTF?, LOLs – Lessons learned, head scratchers & hilarities
Oops! Let’s not do that again lessons
Apparently, we didn’t learn a damn thing this month because we can’t think of anything to write.
WTF? Did that really just happen?
Iglesia Patolica in Madrid, Spain. I am not even sure how to describe the “Duck Church”. The location is a small, two-room operation run by a man who believes his God is a duck. His family also has connections to working with Charlie Chaplin and shares stories of Mr. Chaplin’s political beliefs. His sermons are in Spanish and last approximately 45 minutes, followed by a charming 6-minute video of his grandfather and great-uncle as performance clowns from the late 1800s. The entire experience was quite silly, but the 6-minute video made up for the previous 45 minutes.
While in Essaouira, Matt got taken out by a kid on a bike. As the kid rounded the corner, his bike handlebar got caught in Matt’s pants pocket. The bike stopped, the kid hit the ground, and Matt and his Canon 5Ds went down pretty hard. Luckily, all were ok, and Matt came away with just a scrape on his side.
LOLs our laugh out loud hilarious moments
Matt read about Hammams upon our arrival in Morocco. He was adamant that we try one, as he said it was part of an authentic Moroccan experience. Moroccans typically visit their local hammam at least once a week as part of a cleaning ritual. The more I read about the experience, the more I was dreading it, as many of the accounts made the whole thing sound torturous, particularly when they spoke of the rough gloves scraping your dead skin away. My impending dread only seemed to delight Matt, as he was constantly talking about it to see me squirm. In the end, it really wasn’t that bad, and Matt got a little dose of karma when he got some soap in his eye.
The Posts
- Maynard’s Street Art Obsession – Phoenix, Arizona
- Our Travelationship in Review: April 2016
- Ireland – A Travelasics Guide
The Features
Door on Tv_doorsandwindows
Our Ears and Eyes
Heather
“Flowers for Algernon“ by Daniel Keyes
Matt
“Bad Luck and Trouble” by Lee Child
“Morning Star” by Pierce Brown
“Golden Son” by Pierce Brown
Podcasts: The Adam Carolla Show and The Nerdist
Up Next
We are in Botswana for the first part of June and will head to Namibia for the end of the month. For July and beyond, we hope to find a few house sits or volunteer opportunities to occupy us through mid-September.
Do you have any suggestions on where we should go next? Let us know in the comments!
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