Her First Trip Abroad: A journey with my niece from Paris to Marrakesh

Life on the road from Paris to Marrakesh with my 17-year-old niece…

I believe in all kinds of travel:  solo travel, family travel (with my husband and 2 sons), with friends, for business or with other family.

Though my niece has been to Vancouver and New York City and has already started a love for travel, this will be her first trip abroad. I am happy to be the one to take her on her first trip to Europe and Africa. We have talked about doing a trip together when she graduates high school since she was a young girl.

We will embark on an amazing trip over 16 days that will take us from Paris, France south to Marrakesh, Morocco in North Africa by plane, train and ferry.

We’re doing it alone, in other words, without a tour company. Our schedule has been set as far as transportation that we need to catch and when, but I left the itinerary open so that we can do whatever our hearts desire…within the cities I planned of course 😉

my niece at 5 years old in Wasaga Beach, Ontario
my niece at 5 years old in Wasaga Beach, Ontario

 

If you’d like to follow along, join us at wandering iPhone on Instagram,  Twitter and/or Facebook for images and thoughts from the road. When she was 2 years old she called me “Auntia” as she couldn’t pronounce Auntie Andrea, it  was a name that stuck for many, many years. In honour of that name that I’ve always loved, I will hashtag this trip as #TeamAuntia on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

We arrive in Paris
next Tuesday, July 30th, 2013. I can’t wait to introduce her to life on the road, to see Paris again and to visit the other cities for the first time. In thinking about this trip I am reminded of all the mini “adventures” we’ve had together and the things we’ve done. She’s my ‘Arts buddy’ as she is usually the one I call and take when a theatre show comes to town or for Nuit Blanche and she’ll now become a travel buddy.

My niece and I
My niece and I circa 1996

 

We’ve walked the wee hours of Nuit Blanche, the route of a Zombie Walk and the track at Relay for Life and have had some fun and laughable antics along the way. Can’t wait to walk the streets of Paris, Nice, Barcelona, Granada, Tangier, Chefchaouen and Madrid together as we have stays in each of those cities.

My niece and I
My niece and I at Relay for Life

 

I am looking forward to sharing this journey with her before she sets out on her own as a young adult as she is off to university in September. I couldn’t be more proud of who she has become as a young woman and all that she has accomplished thus far in her young life.

I can’t help but feel that this trip is my little way of sharing some of life’s lessons and especially lessons in ‘globe-trotting’ to prepare her for her future travels!

Until next time,

Andrea… and my wandering iPhone

Andrea is a professional travel and portrait photographer, photography educator, founder of The Heart of a Woman Project, a women's mobile photography initiative and publisher of wanderingiPhone.com. Andrea began her photography career in 2003 in Toronto, Canada. Her work has been featured on CBC, W Network, Splice Network and in national and international print and digital magazines including Shutterbug magazine.