Citizen of the World
Marrakech 2016
I had come downstairs from the Riad rooftop where Jon and I had dinner, the Riad has a way of cooling your warm body as you descend lower into its stone and zellige tiled walls. Courtyards full of lush green plants and trees - always water trickling from a fountain nearby. It was 2016 and we were at the end of our two months traveling through Europe and Marrakech had always been on my list of places.
When we arrived no keys were given to our room, when you stay, you are family. The door locks from the inside and for most this might be a uncomfortable concept but quite honestly I never felt more relaxed than I did during my stay at El Fenn. For the first time in two months I felt such peace. Perhaps it was the invigorating experiencing of the last two months of travel slowly sinking in as Marrakech acted as a refugee from traveling. A place to spiritually reconnect and relax with everything we had just experienced up until that point.
We had made friends with some of the hotel staff and would stay up late talking over mint tea. It was refreshing and warm. The mint wasn't pungent as one might assume, it was soft and sweet and begged you to take a sip more. We answered questions about America- some whom had never been and asked questions about Marrakech. It was all so refreshing to be visiting with each other, not just staff to guest but as friend to friend-guienuley.
You may wonder why I am starting my first entry in Marrakech- for me it seemed the most pivotal moment in my travel when I realized that I didn't want my life to know boundaries or state lines, friends only in a few zip codes. I wanted more experiences, more friends from further places, wonderful conversations over tea or coffee. Little moments together from people I may or may not see again riding a train, or passing by in the airport-some of whom left a impression on me and perhaps I myself was able to leave behind a little inspiration. I didn’t leave Europe with many collected gifts I left with a greater understanding of who I was or rather who I knew I wanted to be. I knew there was more to this feeling, some might call it a travel bug but for me it was the yearning to discover who I was in these different places and perhaps one day call somewhere else home.
On the last evening of our stay the young man had surmised our conversations about life and travel. He looked at me as we were saying our goodbyes and said “Eryn, you are now a Citizen of the world”. I smiled at him and walked away not quite understanding the meaning of it in the moment, but as I sat with his comment on the days to come traveling home and the words he said to me felt like the tug of the plane taking off -pulling me further and further away from the yesterdays of my travel I had a very strong feeling that perhaps deep down inside I did know exactly what he meant.
