MARRAKESH — A Boston couple on the last leg of their round-the-world expedition headed to Morocco with a plan to be there for two weeks, but a travel lockdown in the country trapped them there for days.
After days of struggle, the couple was finally able to get out of the country and are headed back to Boston.
The couple left Boston a few weeks ago, before the coronavirus crisis had been declared a worldwide pandemic.
“Everything really seemed okay at the time for our departure,” Phil McMannis explained in a video call from a van in Morocco. He and his wife were on their way to Marrakesh where they are hoping to finally get a flight out Thursday.
The day McMannis left, March 8, was they day the Massachusetts Department of Public Health reported 15 more cases -- doubling the state total overnight. Before March 8, there were only 14 presumptive positive cases in Massachusetts.
That day, Italy would announce a lockdown of just the northern part of the country.
“After we were in Morocco for 4 or 5 days there was a notice that the government was suspending all flights to France, Italy and Spain,” McMannis said. “As soon as we heard that news, we did what we were supposed to do and we canceled that flight. And we got a direct flight from Casablanca to Boston to come home on the same day we were planning.”
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The couple reached out to Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s office and did not hear back, but they did hear back from Sen. Ed Markey’s office. A representative told McMannis there were other constituents in Morocco who have reached out as well.
“We’ve been hearing through the grapevine that there’s roughly 3,000 Americans here in Morocco," he said. "We’re stranded. We’re not talking about a small number where it’s a couple hundred people who just are too lazy to get on the internet and book a flight out. There are thousands of people and just simply not enough flights.”
McMannis and his wife were able to book a flight from Marrakesh to Zurich and then from Zurich to New York. He said it was scheduled, but it was unclear if the flight would actually be allowed out of the country.
“[The airline] said it’s an unconfirmed flight because Morocco is saying they’re not going to let that flight out. So we’re going to go to the airport tomorrow and see what happens.”
The couple decided to take a year off after selling their tech startup to travel the world. In June 2019, they left on their first journey, spending 4-6 weeks abroad at a time before stopping back home in Boston. This trip to Morocco was slated to be the last part of their adventure.
“The people here in Morocco have been unbelievably nice to us. The hospitality we have received has been incredible. They understand the situation we’re in and they know it’s difficult. We’ve had multiple people offer to open up their homes.”
He said they wished the government had done more to help them find a way to get home.
“We need more from our government. Morocco is a special situation because it is one of the only countries – I think Latvia is the only other one I’ve seen so far – that is not letting people out," he said. “The U.S. airline industry is struggling right now and has planes. Give them some money to send planes here and help get us out. That can be a win-win for everyone.”
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This story has been updated now that McMannis and his wife were able to leave Morocco.