Dear NextTriber,

At the farewell dinner on every trip, I ask travelers to talk about their highlights of the journey. The comments are usually heartfelt and lovely, but in 2025, at the end of our first trip to Morocco, I wasn’t prepared for the depth of emotion my question elicited.

Some of the travelers cried. Hands were held over hearts. There were many sighs and dreamy looks. (I even wrote a story about that night.)

An example of one of the tear-filled comments, from Melanie.

I’m a wimp. [Pausing to wipe tears.] I thought I wanted to come to Morocco to see tile. That’s what I thought. I thought that was on my bucket list–to see landscaping and tile. But what did I know? I didn’t even know what kind of bucket list experience I was going to have. The lodge in the Berber village and the family that we visited, that was life changing. The camel was icing on the cake.

I’m sure plenty of people have loved Morocco but have not been moved to tears by the experience. I think there are several elements that make our trip different, more impactful.

The Atlas Mountains. We spend three nights at an ecolodge in a small Berber village in the High Atlas Mountains without any other tourists in sight. We walk the streets next to women and donkeys that are laden with sticks and brush gathered for fires. We meet up with men carrying hoes as they head to the fields. We interact with children who are on their way to school. We visit a family in their home and are greeted with bread and mint tea and endless hospitality.

These wonderful people welcome us and are happy for our interest in their lives. It’s so refreshing and gratifying to get a glimpse into a community where people have been going about their daily routines like this for generations.

The women you’ll meet. On every trip we make a huge effort to put you in touch with women who live and work and play in that destination. We want you to walk away feeling a connection with a greater sisterhood; we find it adds so much depth to the experience. In Morocco, we’ll meet women in their kitchens, in their weaving rooms, their businesses and their hammams.

Our local guide. As many of you know, we always try to work with women-owned businesses and have women guides on our trips. On our first trip to Morocco, our female guide had to drop out and her replacement was a man named Mohamed, our tour company’s top guide.

We could have not have been more blessed. Mohamed is kind, considerate and so very knowledgeable. He filled us in on so many aspects of life and history in Morocco, and he did it with such grace and enthusiasm. We will not do this trip ever again without him.

Come with us April 10-23, 2027

Check out the itinerary

***

Few countries change shape this fast. In two weeks you go from the lantern-lit alleys of a thousand-year-old medina to green terraced fields under snowcapped peaks, then through palm groves and mud-brick kasbahs to Saharan dunes that turn copper, rose, and gold as the sun goes down.

Morocco is also a crossroads in the truest sense. Amazigh, Arab, Andalusian, Berber, and sub-Saharan African cultures all meet here, and you can taste, hear, and see that mix everywhere, from the spices in a tagine to the trance rhythms of Gnawa drums to the patterns knotted into a village carpet.

Mostly, though, Morocco is a place where hospitality is close to sacred. Tea is offered before questions are asked, and that opens doors most travelers never get through: into a shepherd’s kitchen, a weavers’ cooperative, a nomad family’s tent. It’s exotic without being unreachable, and with the right people beside you, it’s one of the most generous places on earth.

🎨🏺 The Marrakesh medina, with a local at the lead. Our guide takes us through the souks of spices, leather, and lanterns, and into artisans’ workshops. Then local women artisans teach us to shape and decorate our own pottery.

⛰️ Three nights in the “Happy Valley.” The Aït Bouguemez is a High Atlas valley the tour buses never reach. We’ll hike to a shepherd’s seasonal home, where his wife bakes bread we eat warm with mint tea. We’ll also see dinosaur footprints pressed into the rock and climb to a fortified granary with views across the whole valley.

🧶 Weaving, pastry, and real conversation with the women of Tifawine. The name of this village women’s association means “the light of the women.” They teach us carpet weaving and Moroccan pastries, and over tea we talk about their lives and their passions.

🐪 Three nights in a private, luxury Sahara camp. We arrive by camel and sleep in private tents with real beds and our own bathrooms. Past travelers loved the desert so much that we added an extra night.

🥁 Berber pizza, sandboarding, and Gnawa by the fire. In the Sahara, women show us how to make medfouna, a stuffed bread, and we eat what we bake. Then it’s sandboarding down the dunes (or cheering from the bottom), and an evening of hypnotic Gnawa drumming under a sky crowded with stars.

🛁 A hammam to finish. Back in Marrakesh we steam, get scrubbed, and end with a ghassoul wrap, the Atlas mineral clay Moroccan women have used for centuries. You’ll fly home softer than you’ve been in years.

We believe that to get a true sense of Morocco, you have to put in the time.

We start in Marrakech because it is the most dynamic city in the country and the gateway to parts west. People ask why we’re not going to Fez or another well-known Morocco city, and I always say that there’s not that much difference between Marrakech and Fez or Rabat or Casablanca. But there is a world of difference between Marrakech and the Berber village in the mountains and Merzouga in the Sahara. That’s a difference you want to experience.

It’s true that to get to the Atlas and particularly the Sahara, you’ll spend time on the road. We can’t sugarcoat that. But here’s what we can do: make the travel time in the van as easy as possible…breaking up the journey, making frequent stops and—most importantly—giving you the pay off you deserve once you arrive in the Sahara.

We stay in a small, luxury camp among the dunes. You won’t have to share the camp with other groups. And the rooms are truly some of the nicest of the trip. Plus, in 2027, we’re adding a third night in the desert, because so many travelers have requested that. (BTW, we have added the extra night without raising the overall price of the trip!)

Pacing is important—and we give you the bustle of Marrakech, then the remote beauty of the Berber Village, then the serene splendor of the Sahara. With stops at an oasis and a trading outpost mixed in.

Time of year is key, as well. In the past we’ve done this trip at the end of January, but we’ve learned that winter weather in the Atlas Mountains can wreak havoc on our schedule. So we’ve moved the trip to spring—meaning you won’t have to shiver at breakfast during a snow storm in the mountains, but you’ll still get reasonable temperatures for your escapades.

Early Bird Price till 11/6.

Book today with a

$500 Deposit

then

4 payments starting November 10

As subscribers, you’re getting the heads up on this trip as it is released to the public.

So if you’re interested, don’t hesitate! Save your spot for $500!

Jeannie Ralston, Co-founder and CEO