October 27, 2013 - Written by: Lauren Williams

Sometimes You’ve Just Gotta Say Yes!

It’s one of those things that’s been drummed into us since we were old enough to be allowed to play in the road outside without constant supervision: “Don’t talk to strangers!”

Then you get older and you start getting a little cockier and you take a random home after a night on the vodka and it’s just fine (if a little cringey).

And then you watch Taken and making new friends and trusting new people when travelling goes straight out the window. (Sex trafficking? In PARIS!?)

But sometimes, just sometimes, you’ve got to say yes! Yes with a scream, with a hurtling shove that sends your whole being throttling into life and leaves you teetering on the edge of your comfort zone.

It was Ray Bradbury that said,

“Stuff your eyes with wonder. Live as if you’d drop dead in 10 seconds. See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories. Ask no guarantees, ask for no security, there never was such an animal.”

I once found myself completely trusting a stranger I met on a plane. Completely, 100% trusted him and got in his car to the Moroccan Sahara. And it was (almost) the best yes I’ve ever said.

I’ll set the scene.

I was writing an article about budget travel, we were flying to Marrakech with our trusty snowboard boots on our feet (we weren’t paying to put them in the hold, have you seen how much Ryan Air charge!?)

The voice: “I’m really sorry girls, but are you going snowboarding?”

Me: “Yeah…”

The voice: “Right. OK, you do know you’re going to Africa. Not the Alps, yeah?”

Me: “Yeah, there’s this place called Oukaimeden in the Atlas Mountains where the snow is pink because of the sand from the Sahara! Can’t wait!”

The conversation progressed, the usual chit-chat of travellers and frequent fliers in airports who are so used to being in them they’re not sure they belong anywhere else.

The voice (now has a name – Toby): “So let me get this straight, you’re a journalism student and you’re both into extreme sports?”

Me: “Yeah, pretty much!”

Toby: “Awesome. I’m actually just setting up a paragliding company just two hours south of Marrakech. If I pick you up and take you out for a flight, could you do my photography*?”

Us: “Hells YES!”

So there we had it. The Thursday after he picked us up in the middle of a chaotic Marrakech and whisked us off to the middle of absolutely nowhere.

We dumped our stuff in a small home-stay where the Sahara and the Atlas Mountains met, threw on our walking boots, hiked up a mountain, had a few cups of whiskey Morocco (tea to the rest of us), strapped onto Toby and jumped off the mountain.

Hold the front door! I just trusted a complete stranger to pick me up in Morocco, drive me to the desert, strap me to himself and let him drag me off a mountain, 1,500m above sea level.

And it was frickin’ amazing.

The cliched breathtaking that we experience when we do something new and see something spectacular. Yeah, it was there. Another of those moments when I found myself rendered speechless. These things always happen at high altitude…

The Sahara stretched for miles in one direction, the High Atlas range rolling and poking the clouds to the other – Mount Toubkal, Morocco’s highest peak, dominating the ever rusting sky.

We then spent the night under a sky that was unpolluted by civilisation, wrapped up in layers of adrenaline, local wine and warm Moroccan hospitality to keep us toasty in the chilled desert.

We snuck off to a hammam at 2am and woke to a glorious sunrise, homemade pancakes, fresh fruit and the sweetest, most delicious coffee I’ve ever tasted.

All because we said yes.

I still wouldn’t have jumped off a mountain if that tiny bit of me that wanted to shout no to the world had won the fight. My mother would be less worried about my obviously care-free attitude to getting the best out of life, but hey, I’d have no stories to tell the grandkids (or you lovely people!)

I’m not saying to trust every stranger you come across on your adventures in life, but I do encourage you to say yes to the little things and to absolutely stuff those eyes with all the wonder you can find – exploration is as near as your backyard.