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I didn’t expect the Atlantic to feel so familiar.

When I landed in Agadir, the air was different from back home in Pakistan—lighter somehow, salted by the ocean, carrying a breeze that didn’t ask permission before brushing against your face. I had traveled alone before, but this time felt different. Maybe it was the distance, or maybe it was the quiet thrill of stepping into a place where no one knew me, where I could exist without expectations.

Agadir surprised me.

I had imagined something more chaotic, more like Karachi’s restless energy, but instead I found calm. Wide roads, palm trees standing in quiet lines, and the steady rhythm of waves rolling onto the shore. The beach stretched endlessly, golden and soft, dotted with people who seemed in no rush to be anywhere else. I walked along it that first evening, sandals in hand, letting the cold water kiss my feet. For a moment, I forgot how far I was from home.

Traveling alone as a Pakistani girl comes with layers people don’t always see. There are the questions—Is it safe? Why alone? Don’t you feel scared? And yes, sometimes I do. But fear is not always a stop sign. Sometimes it’s just a reminder that you’re doing something that matters to you.

In Agadir, I found kindness in small places. A café owner who patiently explained the menu in slow French and broken English, smiling as I tried to respond with the few Arabic words I knew. A woman at the souk who adjusted my scarf gently and told me I looked “like a local.” I held onto those moments—they felt like quiet affirmations that the world is softer than we’re often taught.

The mornings became my favorite. I would wake up early, before the city fully stirred, and walk to the beach. The sky would slowly turn from pale grey to shades of orange and pink, the sun rising confidently over the horizon. Back home, mornings often feel rushed, filled with responsibilities waiting to be picked up. Here, they felt like a gift I could unwrap slowly.

Of course, not everything was perfect. There were moments of loneliness, especially at night when the city dimmed and the noise faded. I missed the familiar chaos of home, my mother’s voice, the comfort of speaking in Urdu without thinking. I missed being known. But there was something powerful in that loneliness too—it taught me how to sit with myself without distraction.

Agadir isn’t loud in the way some cities demand your attention. It doesn’t overwhelm you with history at every corner or insist that you look at it a certain way. Instead, it lets you arrive gently. It gives you space.

And maybe that’s why I needed it.

This trip wasn’t just about seeing a new place. It was about proving something quietly to myself—that I could navigate unfamiliar streets, trust my instincts, and create my own sense of belonging, even thousands of miles away from Pakistan.

On my last evening, I went back to the beach. The wind was stronger, the waves louder, as if the ocean had decided to speak before I left. I stood there for a long time, watching the horizon blur into the sky, thinking about how strange and beautiful it is that the same ocean touches so many different worlds.

I came to Agadir alone, but I didn’t feel alone when I left.