the diving horse guide: book a flight to paris, land in morocco first

for broke baddies + people with money to spend, i’ll try to consier all budgets. atlantic city is not the only city that never sleep i ave lived in - i know a lot of you guys are like “claire w elive here we knoow” so now, i’ll help you plan your trip. in august, a lot of europeans travel. taking off for the month, people really log off and relax. lol le sigh, need that! i am a victim of hussle culture haha. my 2027 new years resolution is to work in siestas. some spent alone, some spent with close friends, high quality food from my garden, and a nice lil somtin to drink.

first, lets get you there. if you fly from ac, you’ll be in for not fun lawovers and paying ore for it. if you fly from newark you’re in foor the cheapest flight and coolest long layovers (long layovers make it like you had a free vacation. 24-48 hours in a new city is impactful, even if you just get off the plan, walk around the market, sleep in the market or get a nice hotel snd treat yourself. or hostel. i’ve def roughed it before but ive also treated myself. both serve a purpose and hey, you gotta do whatyou gotta do to survive while also still ensuring you’re getting rich cultural experiences. because i guess that’s just part of survival.

getting to the philadelphia airport is super easy and straight forward. if it were me, i’d just hop on the trainac-philadelphia 30th st, from there hop on the airport line. i think its like $20 each eay. cheaper if you’re a student or above 65, etc. super easy, some parts scenic. i like to get to the airport really ealy to people watch, walk around, and talk to intersting people at airport bars. so if you’re into that get there early and hang out for a little in terminal c. they have the best restaurants.

you wanna hop on the same train to philly to get to newark. in an ideal world, he have hishspeed rail connecting ac - asbury - newark - nyc etc but alas, we live in hell.so here we are. unfortuely gettin to newark does add like 2 and a half to four hours depending on the route you take, so just plan accordingly. could also get a friend to drive you. or family. whatever idk or uber or limo if you wanna be bougie.

when you get to newark research your termianl - in most cases you wanna maybe eat before security unless you wanna be stuck with like something that might make your neighbor on the plane hate you. (thank god i have a travel buddy as a husband now he i can lean on lol make dealing with airplane strangers less annoying ngl)

but i digress. in this article you are the diving horse and everything i’m telling you to do is certified fun to do solo or with pals, as someone very comfy traveling alone and has done a majority of it alone lol .

honestly, i would probably at this point and wait to buy flights until i see prices down under $400 again, but for the sake of this articl, and for the sake of manifestation, let’s say we have to book it now and we have the ability to swing two weeks.

looking on the google flights map to europe, the is a nominal price difference in flying to barcelona than to paris, but barcelona issss cheaper to fly to and close enpough to paris that i could get there. but we’re also planning the perfect trip so yeah pick and choose. flights are often cheaper than this.

but in my dream world, i do something cool on my way

but if you’re booking your perfect trip set the lay over length to something super long as a minimum, like 19 hous and then throw a dart on the map.

but in our case, we are going to morocco.

boom flights booked.

now, i would hold off at this point on booking a hotel in morocco. at this point, you should be looking at maps of the city. reading about it. checking local content creators, atlatna sobscura. pin point maybe like a couple of neighborhoods you wanna walk around, figure out what the more local/vibey/normal//working class neighborhood and find a hotel there or near there, if you can. or, you can go luxurious. casablanca isn’t super pricey so we’ll see hwat gold we find. but yeah scroll, look for deals. also pay attention to what it is to book same day hotel in. Morocco - i find often prices are drastically lower same day vs not. like if i was going to paris broke, id prob book a new place every day based on whats cheaper or find like, a really cheap hostel. dead broke and id work at a hostel for a free bed lol but that becomes part of your trip. not bad if youre just trying to party, but im just not big into that kind of like, party scene. though i have had my fair share of fun nights at saint christohers gare du nord lol it was right outback from where i used to live (well, straight down a couple of otherwise sleepy blocks) and it was always open late. i became friends and later dated one of the bartenders - shout out sam love you!!! sorry it didnt work out but thanks for breaking me into cool places and things!

and dont say in the backrooms of galerie laffayete at midnight because uh… well i guess you can. they don’t guard it very well at ALL. if you’re there and find a nice working class fling, there is a good chance he lives a little outside of the city so either get familiar with the rer b, get a cab (look how that turned out for princess diana), or get creative! haha i can’t advice much more here you are all on your own journeys! especially if he’s an immigrant! you’re gonna end up in Deuil-la-Barre or some shit otherwise haha.

in this case im in the current stage of my life where i really just would went a decent private place clean enough i could lay my head. well i guess i wouldnt need to get creative because id have a husband and a hotel room. but that’s besides the point. i’m just trying to help you learn from me and my mistakes.

so i found a hotel i like on the map. $44 seems fair. i value a room with charm and history over anything else. this puts us right at gare d’lest. i don’t care if it’s old and dirty if it is cool. or it has other interesting perks. thats usually my mindset lol. i want a haunted hotel room. haunted with history and friendly ghosts nothing evil haha,

ok we know where we are staying in paris! NOTHING else is booked. if it requires a reservation i need to make too in advance, it isnt happening. usually im reserving while im waiting in line type shit but mostly i dont even really end up in situations wehre i need reservations. usually if i even have to wait i’m bouncing. i like to take things as they come lol.

ok morning of your lifhgt! get on booking.com, hotelstonight, tec google. hunt for ythe deals. you might want to splurge on the layover hotel if you’re a sleepy traveller. i’m an adventurous traveller who appreciates a little cozy so we’ll go tere. if you;re at the stge in your life you can rough it, you can stay for mad cheap.

my thought process for bookng hotels in moments like these is like, price, charm, history, location. it is imperative i can walk somewhere cool closle (just in case im tired). so on expedia like option 1:

its a quick walk from the mosque i would want to visit , i consider whats along the walk, etc. we do this for all of the hotels.

note cool places on the map and start noting where the cooler palces seem to be, places you might wanna visit, etc. esp inbetween your hotel and a major point of interest. i like a big obvious one bc i also have the choice to not go in but at least i did the thing lol. there are a ton of cool affordable hotels w different ammenities. if you wanna pass tim, go scroll around and daydream. but for the sake of the story,, we’re booking at moroccan house.

it seems like there a lot of cool markets on the inland route to the mosque. we land at 7:30am. day kinda planned?

airport early, vodka soda, people watching . then start finding poeple on your lflight and yapping to them. start gaathering advice for what to do at the airport. but ok lets think logically, we land at 7:30am. we land at 7:30 am we have an hour to make the 8:30am airport tram to town. oncw we get there, its a quick walk to your hotel (less than 10 mins). i dont usually tavel with a ton of luggae. ubut ok we go straight to the hotel. at this point if i see a little coffee stand, if i didnt get coffee at the airport, i’d probably stop for some joe.

next game plan: planned. take an edible, sleep on plane. maybe watch movie, prepare good playlist, good book. i fall asleep pretty fast. wake up for meal time. wake up again right before landing. if lucky, sun rises while you land. get to morocco. walk around aimlessly but kinda with aim. wake notes for next time, because were stopping on the way back, too. note (if while on your second layover you find a market with a lot of really good cheap food. pilows, whatever it is, you can buy a cheap suitcase at amarket to bring it back. consdier it. best decision i made in istanbul.

get to hotel, drop off bags, if applicable. come back later to check in, just have the hotel hold your bags. advantage is f youre nice to the early morning people checking you in, they can save you nice rooms lol and personally text you when its time for check in., but ill pretend check in is at 2. at this point, it is 9:30am. we’re buzzed. excited. we leave and start heading for the mosque. headphones in, but music light. sometimes we. pause it even to hear the street sounds. btu we keep headphones in just to avoid uncomfy stop and chats. stop and markets and other cool oking sites along the way. no rush, just vibing, maybe light hsopping. sbacks to eat for the rest of the trip/keep in your hotel? not that youll be lacking for pastries in paris haha.

that day i’d prob putz around, explore, go into random stores places. figure out what to do for dinner. id wanna maybe rtreat myself to omething nice to start the trip well and because food is so affordable in casablanca

afters and munchies here:

go to bed. take up, take train to airport. take edible, sleep on plance. land in paris.

get paris advice in part 2… coming after i am done making dinner or tomorrow depending on how sleepy eating makes me.

love,

claire

im so tired lol byue