Flashback to that time I went to see Erg Chebbi in Morocco and soon after this photo killed my camera in a sand storm.

Morocco has a reputation for being somewhat hard to backpack, because there are so many scams and intense sellers of all kinds of things and services. Just leave the tourist cities behind and seek the smaller places, and you'll be just fine. It's very budget-friendly, does not require much language skills, and there's lots to see wherever you go with an open mind.