Toodaloo Tulum

Two months absolutely fly when you're having fun.

Since arriving in Tulum, penniless and homeless, we met our saviour in an old Mexican man named Arturo. He hooked us up with an amazing apartment and our first Mexican website gig. Since then, business has boomed with a streak of beginners luck, and we settled down for the biggest rest from travelling on our trip so far.

Our backpacks were unpacked and rendered redundant. We plunged into fresh water cenotes, swam with turtles, fought and won a battle with a scorpion, and realised we're still both total lightweights when it comes to smoking Mexico's finest homegrown. We opened up our house to some lovely couch surfers and built a lot of websites...getting perks along the way.

But, the time had come to pack those bags and hit the road again. We were off to Playa Del Carmen—between Tulum and Cancun—both geographically and physically.

Our last day in our little Tulum flat was spent frantically cleaning every inch to ensure the safe return of our 4000 pesos deposit. Our neighbour and employer, David, had offered us a ride to Playa on account of him collecting his car from the garage there. Before leaving, we handed the keys to Manuel, received our deposit back, and went to David's for a spot of lunch.

Our Italian ice cream maker welcomed us with a glass of crisp white wine and a brick of the best Parmesan I've eaten in a very long time. Then there was a feast of delicious REAL Italian pasta, thick and al dente and deliciously bad for the waistline, more Parmesan, more wine, and a sample of David's well-stocked liquor cabinet in the form of a couple of digestifs.

When the lunch was done, we took a drive to see his new house that was under construction. Although just breeze blocks and concrete, it didn't take much imagination to see how special this house would be once complete. Two huge stories, a garden, roof terrace, a bar...not bad for a traveller who fell in love with Tulum, smoked a joint with his plane ticket home, and found a way to stay forever—letting a shop where he slept in the back room at night and perfected making gelato in the day. Now he has a huge franchise that's taking Mexico by storm.

This is just one of the many inspiring stories we've encountered when people quit their jobs and make a new beginning in a foreign world. Every single one reminds us that it is possible, you can do it. You just need to jump headfirst and give it a try.

With our last Panna E Cioccolato treat in hand, and a couple thousand extra Pesos for work on the site, we hit the road to Playa. We both sat in the back of the car grinning like little kids...the adventures were starting again, and it felt amazing.