Hi everyone today I'm going to talk about my trip to Morocco as a female
solo traveler.
I'm doing a whole another video about general tips about traveling
to Morocco and another one about what you should wear but this one
specifically is going to talk about
safety and how I felt as a solo female.
to give you a background on my trip part
of it I was completely alone well part
of it I did a group tour.
I met a lot of friends at the hostels
that I stayed at and also just out and about doing things in Morocco.
I was
happy that I didn't experience any catcalling or any shouting on the
streets.
I did have some people come up to me and say "hello beautiful, how are
you?" but I didn't feel threatened by them
in any way.
I felt like they were very
genuine and just wanted to know who I was and why I was there
so I thought
that was great because I have experienced a lot of catcalling here in
the u.s. or all across the world so
I felt like people were very respectful
to me.
If your hostel or hotel is in the
older section city usually called the
old medina just be wary that there
are a lot of alleyways there so this can
be a little bit creepy when you're
walking by yourself especially at night
so you can either just make sure that
you're never walking alone or if you are
concerned about this you can book a hotel in the newer part of the city
so that this is less likely to be a problem for you.
One thing that you have to be careful about in Morocco is strangers coming up
to you and asking if you're lost and if you need help with directions and this
is not in a threatening way but in the way that they want you to come to their
store and they want to sell you something or they want to help you and
then they're gonna expect a tip at the end.
So if you are lost,
first I would recommend not looking lost. Try and look like you know where you're
going and then you'll be less bothered. And if you do need to ask for directions
maybe ask a fellow tourist or a hotel owner
another female or even a
shopkeeper that you see their shop is right there so that they can't lead you
to their shop.
On that note though there were people that genuinely wanted to
help me and did not ask for a tip so I don't think you have to be suspicious of
everyone you meet just know that some
people that are helping you randomly do
want to want a tip at the end which isn't the end of the world if you want
to tip them but just don't feel like you have to.
So in many ways I did feel
overwhelmed in most of the markets in Morocco but I didn't feel unsafe.
There's
tons of different smells and sights and people trying to get you to buy stuff so
it's very overwhelming.
When you are getting in a taxi I would
suggest making sure that you know what the official taxi looks like so that you
know you're going with an official driver.
You can also arrange through your
hostel or hotel for them to call the taxi so that you know that you won't
have to negotiate with them.
You'll get a pretty good price maybe a
little bit more expensive because you're a tourist but better.. it could be better
than negotiating yourself.
One thing that I did notice is whenever
I was with a friend that was male whenever we were being addressed by a
local it seemed like they were talking to the male more than me and that was
definitely different than something that I'm used to.
I'm doing a whole
another video about how to dress and how to pack for Morocco but I do think
dressing more modestly did help me feel more safe because I don't think that I
called more unnecessary attention to myself because I was trying to be
respectful of the culture. So I would definitely suggest trying to fit in as
best you can just just to make things more respectful for everyone.
If you are
nervous about traveling solo that's totally okay but I would encourage you
to do it because you don't want to let fear hold you back! You will likely go
and have the most amazing time and be so glad that you did.
So I hope you decide
to do it! And let me know if you have any questions.
Be sure to comment them below
and be sure to subscribe for more travel videos in Morocco and around the world
and I'll see you next week!