The last 10 days have been a whirlwind (in a good way). I’m writing from a plane bound to Vienna, Austria from Malaga, Spain.

After our month in Agadir, we took trains and buses all the way up through Morocco, then yesterday we crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and landed in southern Spain for the next leg of our journey.

Our first stop after leaving Agadir was Marrakesh. We spent a weekend with Kirsten’s cousin, who lives an hour outside the city. Morocco has seen a ton of much needed rain over the past few months, so traveling through the country in spring was beautiful.

After Marrakesh, we rode a train north to Rabat, the capital city, and a place I lived from ages 14 to 17. Over our 3 days there, we went by our old home, my old school, ate Syrian food at our favorite restaurant from back in the day, and took the kids on long walks around the old part of town.

From Rabat, we traveled to Fez to spend a weekend. Our Airbnb was in the heart of the medina, which is a bewildering maze of alleys and too easy to just wander and get lost in (we did many times).

From rooftop cafes to a donkey ride for Oz’s 7th birthday, we loved our time there and the kids really started to show us how much they’ve adapted to the chaos of crowds, packed taxi rides, hot trains, baking sun, late night tire explosions (two of them - the spare blew too - within 30 minutes), scorpions, tons of walking, and the general ‘we don’t know what we’re doing next’ that happens when exploring new places.

After a weekend in Fez, we made our way to Tangier on a 4.5 hour train ride across northern Morocco. We were only in Tangier for 1 night as our ferry was going to leave first thing the next day. Tangier is one of my least favorite cities in Morocco, maybe because it feels so western with its proximity to Europe.

The yesterday, after our ferry was cancelled because of windy conditions, we scrambled to find another way across the Mediterranean.

We rebooked on a different ferry leaving from a port a 45min taxi ride away. With our carryon bags bungeed to the roof, we squeezed in and made it to a deserted port (yesterday was a big Moroccan holiday to mark the end of Ramadan) and waited to board.

Fast forward a day of waiting, ferrying, car-renting and walking and we arrived at our Airbnb in Benalmadena, home for the next month. The kids love the little apartment we have and, in general, are thriving on this trip!

So why this trip to Vienna? Well, we’ve met up with my parents (who are on their own trip in Europe) because they graciously accepted our request to watch our kids in Spain while Kirsten and I explore a new city, visit my uncle (who lives here), and have an early celebration of 17 years of marriage this August.

The hardest part of the last 10 days was just life on the road. I’m still working, and so it’s meant many late nights, working from trains, buses, living rooms, and roofs, and generally being on my phone and computer a lot to write clients, chat with my team, and much more.

But there's good news in that regard. This time with Kirsten in Vienna is an actual break, and I’ll be doing my best to disconnect from the world of work.

I’m excited to spend time with my beautiful and adventurous best friend. If I’ve learned anything on this trip so far, it’s how incredibly blessed I am to have a person like Kirsten in my life.