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Well, the title pretty much reveals it all. On the first day of our trip in Morocco, someone stole my phone. It was snatched straight from my pocket in Marrakech, before I even had time to fully process that I had arrived in Africa. While this unfortunate incident had the potential to completely derail the trip and leave me bitter, angry, and swearing I would never return, I eventually found moments and opportunities to retrain my thinking. Instead of sinking into a “woe is me” spiral, I tried to ask myself, what can I gain from this? Read on to find out what I learned visiting Morocco.
I didn’t let it ruin my trip by choosing adaptation over anger, leaning on the people around me and refusing to let one bad moment define ten days of travel. I learned a lot during my ten-day trip to Morocco. Not just about Islam, history, the royal family, or Moroccan traditions, but about resilience, adaptability, and the generosity of people who had absolutely no obligation to help me. What started as a stressful loss quickly became a lesson in perspective. Read on for the full story and check out my full Morocco Guide here.
How It Happened
We were on a guided tour of the medina in Marrakech. It was our first day, and it was raining heavily, one of those gray, wet days where everyone is walking with umbrellas and their heads down. We had barely started our walk through town when we arrived at the Ben Youssef Madrasa and began waiting in line to enter.
Our guide, Hafid, had an inside line. We just needed to get past the crowd, pay, and explore. Outside the Madrasa a large group of people were waiting making movement slow and chaotic. It was the perfect environment for a thief to take advantage of my petite size, the dense crowd, and the umbrella coverage that blocked cameras.
At some point, he slipped his hand into my coat pocket. I did not feel it. And just as he stepped away, I found myself trapped between groups of people, unable to move freely. Being small didn’t help the situation. Looking up and only seeing other bodies towering shifted my thinking to urgently breaking out of the group, not to where my belongings were.
Finally reaching my husband and our guide Hafid I began to notice the lightness of my pocket. My realization was, my phone was missing and so was the thief.
The Aftermath
We spent the next three hours of our tour chasing the phone via Find My iPhone and filing a police report. To my surprise, the police in Morocco are actually quite skilled at tracking down thieves and retrieving stolen items like purses, phones, and cameras. While I was told this “rarely happens,” I also heard a few hopeful stories of stolen phones and bags being recovered and returned.
To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. This happened right after Christmas and just before my birthday, which meant I was suddenly out of touch with family and friends during a special time of year. My entire life lives on my phone. And while maybe it should not, it does. I document everything, especially while traveling, so losing it complicated what was already a big, meaningful moment for me. Our first trip to Africa, no less.
Still, while inconvenient, expensive, and incredibly annoying, I was determined not to let this be the through line of our ten-day adventure in Morocco.
A Future Return
I would be lying if I said that having my phone stolen did not at least slightly break me. And honestly, it almost broke my husband too. I had him constantly checking my phone’s location, and as the week progressed and we started sharing “our phone” (his phone). As you can imagine, he loved that phrasing.
But it is the people of Morocco, thieves not included, who make me want to come back.
Our guide in Marrakech, Hafid. Our driver, Youssef. The owner of our tour company, Ismail. Even the police officer assigned to our case, also named Youssef. All of them worked tirelessly trying to help recover my phone. None of them brushed it off. None of them minimized it. A guided trip you say? Yes I took a guided tour, as someone who prides herself on excellent planning skills. You can read here how we ended up on this tour and my honest review.
The Helpers
Youssef, our driver, went above and beyond to make sure the rest of our trip was absolutely epic. We had a homemade lunch with his family, which was hands down the highlight of the trip. We rode camels in the Sahara, watched the sun set in the mountain town of Chefchaouen, and bought rugs in the souks of Fes. On top of all that we made roadside stops in canyons and Kasbahs, stayed in a luxury eco camp where I flexed my French language skills and enjoyed a bottle of wine.
Ismail kept me updated on what was happening with the police back in Marrakech and Hafid remained available in case the phone resurfaced.
What struck me most was how seriously everyone took the situation. Theft was not brushed off or normalized. It was treated as something shameful, something that reflected poorly on the country as a whole. Morocco is deeply communal and I felt that in the way people showed up for me. Not because they had to, but because they wanted to make things right. That sense of collective responsibility stayed with me long after the phone stopped pinging on a map.
What I Learned Visiting Morocco: Adaptation
Traveling the world is great for a lot of reasons. You learn about new cultures and ways of life. You expand your horizons. You experience the unexpected. You see corners of the earth that permanently change your brain chemistry.
But what people talk about less is how travel makes you a better human.
Yes, you learn appreciation. You learn to enjoy the small things and feel grateful for what you have. But travel also teaches you resilience, flexibility, and how to embrace the unknown. You learn to control what you can and adapt to what you cannot. You learn how to roll with the punches and treat challenges as opportunities to grow.
Over time, this becomes a superpower. These skills quietly bleed into every other area of life, relationships, career, family, and self-trust.
What I Learned Visiting Morocco: Protection
This situation was unusual for me. I am well traveled and thankfully, my phone had not been stolen since I was 21 and stupidly set it on a table at a club. I am generally aware of my surroundings. I listen to my gut. I keep my belongings close and out of sight.
In fact, earlier that morning while walking through the Marrakech souk, I noticed a woman walking very closely behind me for an extended period of time. My instincts kicked in, and I rearranged my purse so it was under my coat.
This situation was a perfect storm. A crowded area, umbrellas, being physically trapped within a group of people. I was so focused on not getting crushed that I did not check my pocket. I was not holding my phone. It was sitting loosely, completely vulnerable.
And yes, my phone case was neon yellow. Rookie move.
Safety While Traveling
I know this might feel like a lot of emphasis on one lost phone, but losing it abroad taught me more in a few hours than years of smooth, uneventful trips ever have.
If you have been rolling your eyes this entire post and thinking I am an idiot for being so vulnerable, I would not blame you. With my phone sitting loosely in my pocket, I was absolutely an easy target.
That said, here are a few things to keep in mind when traveling.
1. Be Prepared
Have pictures of your important documents saved somewhere accessible. This includes boarding passes, passport photos, and visa documents. These can be stored digitally, in hard copy, or shared with your travel partners.
We also learned that phones are highly trackable by their IMEI number, which you can find in your settings. Write this number down and keep it somewhere safe, just in case.
2. Secure Your Stuff
Wear a purse or bag with a strong zipper and keep it in front of your body where you can see it. Even better, American Fille (American living in Paris who outs all the scams around the city) recommends carrying a tote bag (like this cute one you can customize!). Thieves would have to reach deep into the bag, essentially into your armpit, to grab anything. It is awkward and unlikely.
3. Leave Expensive Things Behind
Leave laptops, tablets, and other expensive items locked in your hotel safe. There is no reason to carry everything you own while sightseeing.
4. Stay Vigilant
Crowds and commotions are prime opportunities for theft. Public transit is especially risky, particularly when people are getting on or off quickly. Have valuables zipped away and inaccessible.
Also pay close attention when you first arrive in a city. Looking lost while dragging luggage around is an easy target.
5. Track Your Items
AirTags are worth it. Place them in your purse, backpack, luggage, or even passport holder if it allows.
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What to Do If Your Phone Is Stolen
If you have an iPhone, family sharing is a game changer. My husband and I share locations, which allowed us to see the phone in real time and relay updates to the police. Waiting to log in on a computer would have delayed everything. Here are some steps to follow if you lose your phone (sorry Android users!):
- Turn on Lost Mode immediately to disable Apple Pay and protect personal information.
- Contact local law enforcement and file a police report. Even if nothing comes of it, having documentation matters.
- If you leave the country or give up hope, use the erase phone feature. You can still track its location afterward.
- If you have AppleCare, file a lost phone claim.
- Change passwords, especially your Apple ID.
- Set up a shortcut. There are options online that require Face ID for airplane mode or triggers alerts when a phone is stolen. Read below on how to set up an automation that would have helped find my phone faster.
Stolen Phone Shortcut
This shortcut is triggered by a message, in our case “lost phone,” and activates low power mode, takes a photo of the person holding the phone, and sends the location to a trusted contact. Make sure to give this a test run and work out any bugs with the automation before depending on it. I wish I had known about it sooner.
Why I’d Go Back
It would be easy to let the loss of my phone define my experience in Morocco. To lump everyone into one untrustworthy category. But as I told my mom before our trip, there are just as many scams and thieves in Paris.
I chose to treat this experience as a lesson rather than a failure.
The Positives
I made friends with countless street cats, dogs, and shop cats. Special shoutout to Mimi at the rug shop. After seven years of drought, Morocco finally received rain and snow. I saw more snow driving through the Atlas Mountains than I have in years. We shared a traditional meal with our driver’s family in their home. Despite the language barrier, some things transcend culture. Parents showing YouTube videos to their kids and younger siblings being glued to phones.
The food was incredible, from roadside cafes to tiny souk stalls to elaborate breakfasts and traditional tagine. I fell completely in love with Chefchaouen. I learned endlessly about Islam, Moroccan values, the royal family, colonization, and ancient history. I left more knowledgeable than I arrived.
And above all, the people were kind, helpful, and accommodating.
Ready to Explore? Book Here ↓
The Bottom Line
I will return to Morocco. For the people, the culture, the history, and because I barely scratched the surface. Not letting this experience ruin my trip wasn’t about pretending it didn’t happen. It was about choosing what I carried home with me. Not every trip is perfect, but there is almost always something meaningful to take away if you let yourself see it.
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