Off to Morocco!

Hi there! My name is Kelcie Pollinger, and as I am writing this, I am waiting to board my direct flight from Dulles, Virginia to Casablanca, Morocco!

To preface, I am a current junior here at USC and studying International Business and Marketing at Darla. I decided to spend my next three months in Casablanca because I wanted something out of my comfort zone, but still gave me the ability to travel to various countries. As someone who is studying abroad for a second time, I have to admit the nerves do not get any easier the second time around. While I am excited, I am also filled with a ton of nerves revolving around moving to a new country with not as much cushion as the affiliate programs.

As for preparation, I have been slowly putting the pieces together since August, when I found out I got placed in Morocco! This includes looking into visa details (which I thankfully do not need due to the 90 day grace period in Morocco), packing, ensuring I am good on potential vaccinations and medicine, living arrangements, and booking my flight! The hardest part of prepping was definitely figuring out where to live. For my exchange program, living accommodations were not included, and I had to find my own roommates and apartment details in Casablanca. This included figuring out what neighborhoods I wanted to live in, transportation, distance from school, amenities and pricing. Finding a roommate was the most difficult task, and I ended up finding a student apartment complex just ten minutes from my university that would do roommate matching for me. My landlord has been extremely fast with responding and welcoming with exchange students. I am super excited to see my place!

Making sure I eat all of my favorite foods before I leave!

As for packing, I am usually a light packer. I do not intend to buy a ton of clothes while abroad, so I made sure to bring my favorites and pack light with casual clothes like T-Shirts and Pajamas. I ended up only packing one side of a suitcase with clothes, however I did bring lots of toiletries and full bottles to ensure I do not run out of my products while I am abroad. I also made sure to buy hair tools and electronics that would work in Africa and Europe. This included buying a brand new hair tool on top of some travel adapters. This, toiletries, along with medications and my one heavy jacket, ended up bringing my one suitcase overweight! As a result, I did end up bringing two suitcases instead of my plan of originally just one suitcase and a carry on.

Waiting in line to check my luggage with Royal Air Maroc

I am only here until the end of March, and I am super excited to not only explore Morocco but Africa as well before I start my backpacking journey in April!

My mom and I struggling to be under the weight limit with just one checked bag