Days ran into months as we awaited the final signing of contracts before travel arrangements could be made, about a year after Yvonne first applied for this project. But now, it’s really happening! We are leaving for Morocco for 2 months, on April 18!
Yvonne is nervous about how to successfully train new career advisors at 3 Moroccan universities, collectively serving a few hundred thousand students at any given time. I am nervous about how I’m going to avoid feeling obligated to buy a really expensive fez, in some shop I never would have entered had the proprietor not invited me in for a cup of “the best mint tea you’ll find in all of Marrakesh.”
At least, that’s what I keep reading can happen. On the other hand—well, there’s remembering to eat with my other hand. I still remember the horrified stare I got from a sadhu in India as I sat across from him, absent-mindedly and left-handedly scooping up some curry with a piece of chapati. Left-handed people don’t get no respect!
I intend to keep up this blog to share our adventures as we travel the world. First stop:  Morocco, where I will explore the cities and medinas while Yvonne works her tail off. I haven’t had the opportunity to travel in this way since I was 20 years old, and this time I have the resources to really enjoy it. For most of this trip, the cities I’ll be staying in are out of my control. But the day is mine to do with as I will. I’ll be like Anthony Bourdain, but without the connections and the street creds. And I have to carry my own camera.
Weekends and evenings will be shared adventures, or perhaps just a shared glass of wine in our hotel room once in a while. When Yvonne’s work is completed, we’ll spend a couple of weeks touring outside of the main cities in a somewhat more organized fashion.
One of my intentions for retirement was to take up writing again and you, dear reader, will be the beneficiary of that dream.