Traveling alone: the most beautiful journey is the one back to yourself
I am an only child. From a very young age, I naturally learned how to spend time on my own. Sometimes, I truly enjoyed it. I loved creating, imagining, dreaming, and escaping into my own little world. But there were also more difficult moments, when I felt different, when I struggled to find where I belonged, and when I sometimes believed I had to become someone else in order to be accepted.
Throughout my childhood, I was incredibly fortunate to travel with my parents. They gave me one of the greatest gifts imaginable: the gift of discovery. New landscapes, new cultures, and different ways of living. Without even realizing it, they planted a seed that would deeply shape the woman I would become.
When I turned 18, I left France for the first time to live abroad on my own. My destination was Dublin. It was my first experience living with a host family, discovering a new culture and speaking a different language every day. Unfortunately, things didn't unfold as I had imagined. I became ill for almost three months, and my experience with my host family was far from easy. Looking back today, I realize how much that experience taught me. I learned how to rely on myself, navigate uncomfortable situations, step outside my comfort zone, and develop resilience. Even when life doesn't go according to plan, we often discover strengths we never knew we had.
Just one month later, I flew to Australia. And this time... everything changed. I was welcomed by an incredible host family who made me feel completely at home. For three months, I experienced a different rhythm of life, a different mindset, and a whole new way of seeing the world.
I still remember arriving after such a long journey. The jet lag was so intense that I genuinely felt as though I had landed on another planet. Everything was different. And that was exactly what I loved. Every single day became an invitation to learn, observe, understand, and embrace the unknown. I truly believe this is where I fell in love with traveling. I wanted to collect perspectives. To me, every culture reminds us that there isn't just one way to live.
Then, in 2021, came Barcelona. For the first time, I was living alone in my own apartment.
My first responsibilities. My first routines. My first real choices. After Ireland and Australia, I discovered a Mediterranean culture where time seemed to flow differently. Long meals. Lively terraces. The sun. Human warmth. Tapas. This ability to enjoy the present moment! I understood that happiness could also be found in simplicity. Barcelona taught me expansion. To slow down. To spend more time outside than inside. To say yes to the unknown.
Then, at the end of 2021, I moved to Edinburgh. A completely different world. A more northern culture, where winter days are very short and daylight is much rarer. I eventually stayed there for almost two years. There, I discovered another kind of softness. A quieter softness. A calmer softness. A more comforting softness. Cozy cafés. Long conversations sheltered from the cold. The pleasure of creating your own cocoon while the wind blows outside. But I also understood how deeply light influenced my energy.
Little by little, one question became more and more present.
Where do I truly feel alive?
When I finished my Master's degree at the beginning of 2024, I asked myself a very simple question:
If I could choose one place simply by listening to my soul, what would it look like?
So I started writing.
I wanted warmth. Warm terracotta colours. Sunshine. The ocean. The sound of the waves. A simpler life. Sunsets. A warm culture. Afro house music. And ever since I was little, Arabic music had this incredible ability to instantly put me in a good mood. As I reread this list, one answer became obvious.
Why not Morocco?
I started doing some research. Then I came across Tamraght. I knew nothing about this village. But something was calling me. I said to myself:
"Yallah... let's go."
And on my second day there, I felt something I had never experienced before.
A feeling of peace.
As if my body knew, even before my mind, that I was exactly where I was meant to be.
I stayed for two weeks. Then I went back home. But deep inside, I already knew I would return. One month later, I packed all my belongings and moved to Tamraght.
And this is where I understood something essential.
All the vision boards I had been creating for years. All those images of nature, the ocean, simplicity, reconnection, community...
In fact, I was looking for a place where my values, MY TRUE SELF, could finally be fully expressed.
Morocco gave me that.
And for almost two years now, I have rediscovered a more human way of living, more spontaneous, more connected to others, and closer to nature and animals.
I found again everything that made deep sense to me.
And above all...
I found myself.
All these journeys have taught me that there is not just one way to live.
They taught me that leaving your environment also allows you to leave behind the labels you have placed on yourself. Travelling alone allowed me to discover who I was when nobody expected anything from me. When nobody knew me. When I could simply BE. Today, it is this conviction that led me to create Immersion Retreats. Because I know that a journey can change the way we see ourselves. I also know that many women hesitate to travel alone. Yet, those who dare to take that first step are often the ones who experience the most beautiful transformations. Because, deep down, travelling alone has never meant being alone. Sometimes, it is the greatest gift we can give ourselves : the gift of finally meeting ourselves. And perhaps discovering that the person we had been searching for all along... was simply ourselves.
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