It’s a fascinating country, Morocco. I’ve been to at least 70 countries now, and I’m always keen to add to the list.
The whole trip started with a social acquaintance telling me I just “had to visit” a remote hotel 90 minutes south of Tanger owned by an Italian family who spared no expense in the style category. Sign me up.
That meant I had to build the rest of the trip around that, including a few nights in the former home of deceased iconic fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, and several nights in a hotel rumored to be owned by the Moroccan king.
When you see pictures of the king everywhere, you wonder what people really think. But they seem to like him, even love him.
He’s 61, and evidently lived a hard 61. He doesn’t leave the main palace in Rabat these days. Has a heart problem, other health issues, and probably lived 80 years in the 61-year-old body. Making matters worse, he’s distraught over the Western Sahara issue.
Now keep in mind, I’m a few days on the ground when I crack into the Western Sahara issue. All I know is down by the border with Mauritania, there’s a perforated line on all the local maps. And while most national borders hug a river, or at least a highway, this one looks like someone drew it with a ruler.
Plus, the line shoots right across barren desert, like, sand dunes of Biblical proportions. Outside reports call the border a “large sand berm covered with land mines.”
It’s hard to imagine a dispute over resources. Western Sahara has none. With regular temps of 113 f for a chunk of the year and virtually zero rain, there isn’t much growing.
Offshore oil exploration is its only hope. Somewhere south of the Canary Islands, pictured on the map below, just west of where the perforated border meets the coast.
Again, I’m just an east coast gringo who gets around, far from an expert on African political skirmishes. But I’ve seen a thing or two closing in on touching dirt in half the world’s recognized countries. If there was a functioning border, free of land mines, I’d make Western Sahara my next country visit.
You Never Know Who You’ll Run Into
And while the king apparently can’t leave the house over this, and his temperamental health, etc, his brother evidently can.
The king’s brother Prince Moulay Rachid showed up for dinner at the Royal Mansour. Nice guy… and full entourage. Clearly French influenced, yet still authentically Moroccan, these guys had style. Several of them smoked Cuban cigars at dinner, which isn’t the typical accompaniment for full, authentic Japanese omakase. The Cubans come from the lobby lounge, which has a huge humidor pegged to a perfect 71 percent in defiance of dry, desert conditions.
The Prince, or at least his family, owns the hotel. So, he can do what he wants. And it’s already odd he chose authentic a Japanese restaurant for the left side of the opulent lobby. The right side has a French restaurant, and top-shelf for that matter. I had dinner there the night I arrived and it rivaled anything I’ve had in Paris. Plus, I was one of two customers. That put the staff to guest ratio around 15-to-1.
As for the Japanese, the sushi masters carved away like they didn’t notice the cigar-smoking entourage, or didn’t care. You can only imagine what they think of this. The delicate appreciation of sea bream with yuzu zest compared to ebi (shrimp) sashimi is, I’d say impossible to distinguish mid-cigar.
A friend from Quebec joined me for dinner. She smoked Marlboro Golds between courses. The developing world is way more relaxed in that way, and it’s nice. I’m tired of people crossing the street when they see a cigarette in my New York neighborhood. Get over it, the king’s crew is doing just fine, and having more fun.
Go See Something in 2025
TTL subscribers know I’m on trips like this all the time. I see and learn so many things on every one of them. I meet people, learn about territory disputes, local customs, and situations I’d never read about in the Financial Times.
Travel opens your mind. It helps you see things you’ve been walking past without noticing. The more you see, the more you notice. Yet people don’t do it.
I think they don’t know how. That’s why the TTL postscript at the end of every issue is so valuable. It’s where I share about these trips. I share how I do it, my hacks, if you will.
I stayed in the king’s hotel for less than the price of a Courtyard Marriott hotel in midtown Manhattan. I couldn’t get away from the staff, they wouldn’t let me move without helping me, offering assistance, or making sure I was happy. You can’t get that in the west… and if you do, it’s often pretentious.
And the real point you see reading the TTL postscripts is, the more you live, experience, and explore, the easier it is to make money. I know it’s a paradox, but you’ll need to try it for yourself to see.
There’s something about letting go of the way that doesn’t work, hoarding up Marriott points to go on a mediocre trip to a place that doesn’t excite you, that’s a tired way of living. And it’s expensive.
Overall, the west is way too expensive… and I think people don’t know because they don’t go anywhere.
To be clear, TTL is not a travel blog… in the slightest. It’s market commentary, a biweekly look at how I see the changing world, and how I make decisions…
Longtime readers know it’s also much more than that. It’s a look inside how I do virtually everything. How I live my life, and how I slowly set up the life I wanted, years ago. And how you can use that to help you do the same.
It’s not out of reach. But I want to put it more in reach. Between now and year end, step inside the circle for a year, at a very discounted rate.
We periodically edge prices higher at TTL. It’s a normal part of any business. But the rate at the time you join is your rate for good. As time passes, it’s a perk of staying around. And we’re OK with that. We can’t write if you don’t read.
And that’s why between now and year end we’ll discount that rate so you can step into 2025 armed to benefit from the shifting market, the change we all sense in the wind right now. And at the same time, enhance your personal life in the process.
Come with us. If you’re aren’t enjoying the journey, cancel anytime by clicking the cancel button in your account, or emailing us through any of the regular issues. This is a come and go as you please publication.
Be sure to use this link to access this year end special rate.
Thank you for a great year in 2024.
Back with more next Thursday January 2 at 9:00 AM EST.
E.B.