Nora, the traveler’s friend

Noura Iffa

Maroc

linktr.ee

Nalas World

TRAVEL INFO

3 Months

8000 Km

Morocco, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Turkey

“Nora” is a strong young woman with a great ambition ceiling of more than 8,000 km. She set off from Morocco around the world, roaming on her bike without any support or companions. She proved that the impossible is possible despite the obstacles and difficulties. She enjoys her exceptional way of traveling. She is the friend of travel and travelers on the bike.

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Interview

Question: Introduce yourself to us from which country, your age…?
She said: My name is Nora Iffa, 34 years old, from the Moroccan city of Essaouira. My passion for travel came from living in this beautiful small city known for tolerance and peace. Young travelers often came to visit Essaouira with their bikes and buggies. , hitchhiking or backpacking. Before I started traveling through Morocco in 2013, I used to meet travelers in Essaouira, to show them the city and hear their travel stories around the world, a traveler I met once gave me the name “Nora, the traveler’s friend.” I was inspired by all these people and their stories, and I wanted to go where they went and more, so I started to discover my country to be able to describe it to the people I will meet on my way when I go to other countries, it took me 5 years, I only traveled on weekends and holidays, I hiked, I walked And I cycled everywhere.

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Question: What is your goal for traveling by bike?
She said: My goal in traveling, no matter what, is to meet people from different cultures, learn new languages and discover other countries.

Question: Is travel easy for a woman?
She said: Yes and no, in fact, it depends on how the woman travels, when I traveled alone for the first time in Tunisia in a backpack, it was easy for the first time, because I slept with friends, I rode buses, I went out with people, I was not alone, But when I rode the trip on my own…which is different from my first bike trip in Sudan, for example, I was alone on the road, and made more effort to meet people, camping on my own, and bike in the desert alone, it’s a bit scary for the first time, you have Being careful of everything that happens around you and choosing wisely where you will camp…

Question: What difficulties did you face?
She said: Difficulties may be the way, but this is not only for women, I’m talking about drivers not respecting bike lanes, also to find a safe place to camp, you can’t put your tent wherever you want When you are a woman traveling alone, the difficulties can be technical to fix The bike is something you can learn.

Question: Is travel expensive and the material an obstacle to achieving this?
She said: What is certain is that you cannot travel for free! As they say on YouTube, especially if your passport does not give you many facilities to travel, you will definitely need money or at least a sponsor who can pay for visas, flights, food and health insurance. Before I started cycling from Egypt to Ethiopia, where my trip was interrupted due to Corona, I saved money 10 months before leaving, I moved to live with my mother in order to save as much as possible.

Question: What are your most important trips and how many distances did you travel?
She said: In January 2020, I took two years off from my work to tour Africa, on my 32nd birthday (6 January) I started a bike tour in Cairo to reach the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa but three months later I just arrived in Addis Ababa Ethiopia The world closed its borders, including Ethiopia, where I was stuck for six months waiting for the epidemic to end but no! Once my country opened its borders after 6 months, I took a flight home and waited for the world to return to normal, but it took longer than I imagined, and I wasn’t able to leave Morocco before August 2021 when I cycled around Turkey for three months.
I traveled 8000 km in 5 countries (Morocco, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia) and Turkey.

Question: What are your dreams and future plans?
She said: Nora’s dream is to see every country in the world, experience different cultures, live freely, and go around the world. For my next projects I still want to finish what I started in 2020, i.e. moving from Cairo to Cape of Good Hope, I am trying to find sponsors because traveling by bike is not so cheap as we think.

Question: What are your tips for someone who wants to travel by bike?
She said: Buy a bike, get some money and take the road. The world is beautiful and safe outside your comfort zone.

Question: What is your motivational message?
She said: Do it while you still can.