Day 2
Casablanca, Morocco

It was a relatively uneventful trip from JFK to Morocco aboard Royal Air Maroc flight 7849. The plane wasn’t anywhere near full which allowed me to sprawl out across a couple of seats in the back and get a few hours of sleep. About 6.5 hours and 3,528 miles later we were touching down at Mohammed V Airport. It’s a pretty modern facility — although trying to communicate with the immigration officer made me realize that English is not widely spoken here.

It was aboard the train from the airport that Casablanca’s huge disparity of wealth became apparent. We passed through mile after mile of tin towns with dilapidated buildings, roaming donkeys and garbage strewn everywhere.

Almost a third of Casablanca’s population lives in these types of settlements — many are without running water, power or sewage systems. Those who take up home here are beyond impoverished and largely ignored by the government. With little else, they are prone to be drawn to Islamic fundamentalism. In fact, the culprits in both the 2003 and 2007 Casablanca bombings have been identified as residents of Sidi Moumen, a shanty outside of town.

I’m staying at Hotel Ibis Moussafir Casablanca, which is conveniently located just a block away from Casa Voyaguers, the central train station. Once Charlotte arrives in the next hour or so, we’re going to walk around downtown Casablanca and then get dinner at a cliff-top restaurant overlooking the Atlantic Ocean near Phare d’el-Hank. Then tomorrow, we’re joining a tour of the Hassan II Mosque, the third largest mosque in the world and one of the few that allow access to non-Muslims. We’ll grab lunch in the city’s old medina (marketplace) before boarding our 4.5 hour train to Marrakech.

3 days until departure
Washington, D.C.

As many of you have heard, after nearly three years in D.C., I’ve moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina to pursue my MBA at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. With the start of classes still a couple months away, I’m leaving later this week on something I’ve always dreamt of doing: taking a trip around the world.

Call me a modern-day Phileas Fogg.

With a flight out of New York JFK on Thursday night, I’ll embark on an 80-day journey that will bring me to 14 countries and dozens of cities (from Aswan, Egypt to Xi’an, China) across the globe. I’ll stay at riads, hostels, hotels, guest-houses and resorts and travel by train, car, ferry, bus, taxi, junk boat, felucca, funicular, camel, elephant, hot air balloon, cable car and foot. All told, I’ll take 22 domestic and international flights and have my passport stamped around 30 times. And, along the way, I’ll have the amazing opportunity to explore the cultures, customs, foods and sights (including 25 UNESCO World Heritage Sites) of countries I’ve never stepped foot in before – all with different friends and family members to experience it with.

Preparing for a trip like this in about 30 days has been a crash course in RTW travel. My flights were purchased with the assistance of AirTreks, an agency in San Francisco that specializes in these types of airfares. I’ve got insurance through Travelex and obtained advance visas from the embassies of China, Vietnam and Cambodia (visas for Turkey, Egypt and Laos are purchased upon arrival). Arlington, Virginia-based Capitol Travel Medicine has vaccinated me against hepatitis A, typhoid, tetanus and malaria. To keep in touch, I’ve signed up for an international cell phone through Telestial and am staying at accommodation with Wifi hotspots in order to check Gmail and chronicle my trip on my blog.

In less than 72 hours, I’ll be en route to Casablanca, Morocco.

Here we go.