After my holiday in Morocco, I popped over to Switzerland to visit my dear friends from my days of living in Geneva.  But after three weeks in Morocco, I missed the chaos.  I remember being shocked when a car stopped to let me cross at the cross-walk. The quietness as I sat with my friends by Lake Geneva chatting while enjoying a glass of wine. I told them about my life-changing holiday and plans to return to Morocco, if only for five months to learn French before returning to Canada.  They were concerned, but heard me out.  So I knew it was time to make a plan and set some timelines.

I gave myself six months.

I needed to figure out if this were really the decision I wanted to make. To pay off some debts and save some money to live while I settled in.  I needed to do a skills inventory and determine what skills I had and what would make me more “employable” once I arrived.  I needed to sell my furnishings in my apartment, arrange storage for stuff I may want if I returned, and get rid of clothes, shoes and bags.

I enrolled in a French class, and obtained a TESOL certificate. I started living with less and putting more money towards a debt repayment. I started valuing my time in the city more, with the dear friends I would soon be leaving. I had to tell my employer that I didn’t want my contract extended, I was moving to Morocco with no career prospects at the time.

It wasn’t always easy.  I extended my contract by a month, for that extra bit of security.  There were moments of wondering what the heck I was doing, and why.  After all, I was leaving my family and some amazing people in my life. But I’m not one to make irrational decisions on such major changes.

But I knew I had to do it. 

It took me six months, but I finally left. And I was full of excitement and fear. I felt like I had endless opportunities. And as I stepped off the plane in Casablanca in January 2011 I was ready to take on the world! I quickly hopped on a train to Marrakech, a city I never imagined I would live in, to start my new life!