The road south through Morocco's Draa Valley follows a river that only sometimes contains water, past kasbahs built from the same earth they stand on, toward dunes that rise 150 metres from a flat stone plain. This is not a journey about arrival. It is about what accumulates between stops.

The scent of orange blossoms drifts through Marrakech’s medina as the call to prayer echoes across ancient rooftops. Days later, you’re...