Top things to bring when moving to Morocco

So, I will be completely honest. I had never lived outside of the United States when I moved to Morocco. Sure, I had traveled to other countries, but traveling is VERY different from moving. I was freaking out; I had never realized how much I took for granted the fact that I had a Target or a Walmart within driving distance of everywhere I had ever lived. It may seem silly, but I was nervous and I had no idea what to bring when moving to Morocco or any foreign country for that matter.

Adding to my stress was the fact that I didn’t even know how to ask my then-boyfriend about specific products. He had never heard the word “Tylenol.” There were some products that I didn’t even know how to describe, much less figure out if they had them or how to find them.

Good news for moving to Morocco: the country has pretty much everything you’ll need!

There are plenty of stores, souks, and even online shopping options (though Amazon and most retailers are crazy expensive, and most won’t ship to Morocco).

However, it’s essential to be aware that there is not a fantastic selection like there is in the United States. In fact, I have found this to be true pretty much everywhere. The United States has an unreasonably ridiculous amount of brands, and you will likely not find that anywhere, even in places like Europe. So, if you are super brand loyal, prioritize those things over anything else. FYI – there are affiliate links 🙂

Here is my list of what you should bring when moving to Morocco.

I ended up bringing way too much clothing. A lot of what I wore back in the states doesn’t really work for daily Moroccan streetwear. In fact, I wish I had used a lot less of my luggage space on clothing and had prioritized other things. After first moving to Morocco from UK or US (or elsewhere), you will likely buy a lot of pajamas, djellabas, and other gorgeous Moroccan clothing to blend in. And there are other retailers like H&M are available in the country, so you don’t need to worry about it that much.

I would, however, definitely prioritize high-quality shoes, underwear, leggings, socks, and other essentials with an emphasis on the shoes. I have not found great options for high-quality shoewear. While you can find a wide range of clothing in Morocco, it has been my experience that they wear out faster, and the quality isn’t quite as high as in the States.

Plus-size clothing when moving to Morocco from US

Another side note, if you are plus size, then definitely bring the essentials. I have been able to find some plus-size clothing, but I would still encourage those more on the voluptuous side to bring the bras, underwear, undershirts, and leggings needed for a good long while.

Medicine to bring when moving to Morocco

There are pharmacies all over Morocco that carry many different medicines, but I’ll be honest, I don’t necessarily want to rely on those. In part, because the names are in French, but I’ve also found that Morocco is very quick to prescribe antibiotics. During my first month after moving to Morocco, I got a cold. My husband went to the pharmacy where they gave him amoxicillin, which seems like an extreme reaction to a simple cold.

After that, I realized how important it would be to carry my own medicine back from the states. On my first trip back home to visit, I went to Costco. I stocked up on Tylenol, multivitamins, cold medication, Benadryl, Mucinex, omeprazole, allergy medicine, and pretty much anything I thought I would need for the next year or so.

Toiletries to bring to Morocco from the USA

Other things like menstrual cups and reusable pads are great to bring too (I brought these). I’ve found pads and tampons here without a problem, but that’s a lot of wasted plastic.

The other thing I always bring a lot of whenever I leave Morocco is lotion. They have lotion in Morocco, obviously, but I found that it’s a lot of Nivea and Neutrogena, and I’m not too fond of either of those brands, but Morocco is also really dry, so I need lotion pretty constantly. I always stock up on Aveeno, Lubriderm, First Aid Beauty.

Deodorant is another big one. I haven’t found many “safe” paraben/aluminum-free deodorants, so I bring a ton of them. Native is my favorite for sure.

Sunscreen is another thing that I bring a lot of. Yes, they definitely have it in Morocco, and they even have some higher-end brands. But I am very loyal to what kind of sunscreen I use (this one), so I bring a lot of that because I can’t find the brands that I like.

Like with clothing, Morocco has pretty much everything you will need for cooking. However, I always prioritize cooking spices, water flavoring packets, and Stevia coffee syrups. I haven’t been able to find the water flavoring at all, and while I have found Stevia sugar, the actual flavors themselves are impossible to find.

As far as spices go, Morocco does have a good selection at Marjane, but there are some spices I can’t do without. The ones I always, always bring are:

• Ranch packets
• Taco seasoning
• Old Bay seasoning
• Lawry’s seasoning
• And whatever other blends and packets I can stuff in my suitcase 😆

As far as things like cooking gadgets, I wouldn’t bother. Morocco has everything you’ll need. The only kitchen things I brought were a high-quality set of silverware and measuring spoons/cups.

OK, so, in my mind, this is the most important thing. Technology and tech accessories are incredibly important to bring to Morocco. You will have a hard time finding reasonably priced tech accessories pretty much anywhere in the country, but particularly out of the major cities. I brought my MacBook, iPads, phones, headphones, adapters, chargers, honestly anything you will need, is worth bringing two of if you plan to be in Morocco for any length of time.

First of all, things like Apple products (I’m an Apple fangirl) are very expensive and hard to find. Virgin Megastore and Electroplanet will carry some Apple stuff, but it’s pretty much twice as expensive or more. I also wouldn’t recommend buying technology secondhand, because a lot of times it’s either counterfeit or of poor quality. I’ve even heard horror stories of people buying products, only to take them home and find out that the actual technology itself has been replaced with a much inferior product. I’ve also heard numerous stories about people taking their computers to get repaired, and they’ve been returned to them gutted and replaced with broken, faulty, or cheap parts. My husband and I won’t get our tech repaired if we can’t physically watch them do the repair.

If you plan on working online here after moving to Morocco, as many expats do, make sure you have backups and backups. As my mom always says, “two is one, one is none”. I actually had a fly out of Morocco once because my keyboard stopped working (Morocco is REALLY dusty) on my Macbook Pro, and I couldn’t find anywhere that sold external keyboards that weren’t French keyboards (which have a different layout). I brought back several external keyboards and use those pretty much exclusively now.

Tech things I usually restock:

• European power adapters (these are my favorite)
• Charging cords
• Phone cases and screen protectors
• High quality adapters
• Keyboard cover (A MUST! the dust is killer)
• Extra headphones
• Power banks!!! You will need them constantly (this one is my favorite)

Everything else, in my opinion, just comes down to personal preference. Whatever you use a lot, bring it when moving to Morocco. For example, I brought notebooks, my favorite writing pen, dog supplies for my puppy, purses, perfumes, socks, a camera, water bottles, and more.

International shipping to Morocco

The main reason I strongly recommend you maximize your luggage space is that international shipping to Morocco is insanely expensive. Like, so expensive I absolutely refuse to do it. There are high taxes, import fees, not to mention just the shipping cost itself is so unbelievably expensive. If you go on Amazon and try and ship to Morocco, you’ll see that the shipping is often three or four times as expensive as the actual item. Not worth it at all.

Do yourself a favor, and be super intentional with the things that you bring. Don’t waste luggage space on stuff you can easily buy here, or get on websites like iherb. A lot of what I brought, I ended up regretting because they have the equivalent here and I could’ve used my luggage space for something more United States-specific that you can’t get here.

Share in the comments what you brought when you moved to Morrocco 🙂