Jeff and I were brainstorming vacation spots for my 40th birthday. Let me guess, you are thinking who the heck is Jeff?
Valid.
Let me address that real quick because it’s been an FAQ.
In October, I hesitantly got back on the dating apps. I wasn’t hesitant because I wasn’t ready, I was as available on every level as a girl can be. The hesitation stemmed from when I impulsively downloaded hinge (when I had been single for about an hour) and the first 5 or 10 guys that popped up were all dudes I recognized from the last time I swiped them away. My first overgeneralized thought as I swiftly deleted Hinge, was that no one on these apps was capable of anything meaningful and real. I’m a relationship girl, so that was a turn off.
Buuuuuut, I’m also an action taker and a believer that the more you open yourself up to opportunity, the more likely you are to receive. So back on Bumble, Hinge and The League I went.
Enter Matthew.
Wait. Who is Matthew??!!
That was the name Jeff went by on Bumble. I don’t swipe yes on many people, but I liked the way he looked and could tell he probably wasn’t a professional app womanizer based on his bio. It was straight to the point, said he was an author which intrigued my word nerd self.
Here was the picture that started it all..
Swipe right.
It’s a match. Yay! That means he had already seen me and swiped right for those of you that aren’t familiar with this online dating world.
On Bumble, the girl makes the first move, and I took that opportunity to be really charming and romantic. Curious what my opener was?
“Why do you live in Argyle?”
Sexy. Smooth. Hilarious. Engaging. Not my best work.
Despite my boring pick up line, we hit it off and the conversation picked up pretty fast. We started texting and slowly getting to know each other. I always looked forward to talking to him and if we didn’t talk for a few days, I felt like something was missing. That crush grew into a real love and we are crazy happy and excited about where this relationship is heading.
Now that you have the condensed version of the Jeff and Paige story, let’s get back on topic.
Tulum
We ended up picking Tulum for the monumental occasion, my 40th birthday and our first vacation together. I researched a bunch of hotels, picked my top 4 or 5 and Jeff chose Cabanas from that list. Picking the beachfront rooftop room was a good call.
Our room had a balcony on the same level as the room, but also…
There was a rooftop patio where we had an even better view of the beach and the stars. The hot tub was an actual bathtub that we had to fill up, but was still so nice. The beachfront rooms on the ground level had private plunge pools. If you are wanting privacy and a killer view, the rooftop is the way to go.
The hotel pool was beautiful, but you can’t see the ocean from it. We never saw a single soul in there because the beach is just too good to not spend most of your time there.
We flew Spirit Airlines into Cancun which is about a 2 hour drive to Tulum. I’m not an airplane snob. I just want to get there and not spend a ton of money on a flight. Jeff had never flown Spirit and was just as weirded out by the non reclining, 90 degree angle chairs as I was the first time.
Also there were literally less than 10 people on our flight. Apparently no one is going to Mexico the second week of January. The COVID protocol was simple. Zero requirements to get into Mexico and a negative test we took at the hotel the day we were leaving to get back into the US.
The NCAA national championship was on a few hours after we arrived. To Jeff, football isn’t just a sport to casually watch, it’s a way of life. I knew going in that our agenda for day 1 would be watching Georgia and Alabama battle it out on the field.
Plot twist: upon arrival, Jeff realizes there are absolutely zero TVs at our resort. None in the rooms, none in the bar, none anywhere nearby.
Panic sets in. But like, playing it cool panic. But still, panic.
To make matters worse, FUBO was not available in Mexico and streaming the game on my laptop was looking unlikely.
I like to fix problems but wasn’t sure I was qualified to be the IT representative for us. The clock was ticking until kickoff and I was determined to figure out a work around. I googled and there was something about VPN and something about being able to connect to Miami which would make FUBO usable.
It worked. Jeff has never loved me so much.
See that happy face?!
Georgia wins. Game over, lets get in vacay mode!
When we were planning out what we might want to do in Tulum, we thought we would go see the Mayan ruins and I wanted to go to a cenote.
Once we were there though, having nowhere to be, no schedule and no concerns was way more our vibe.
The beach was gorgeous! The most beautiful beach I have been to in Mexico. No humpback whale looking sandbags lining the shore, no rocks and clear water. The weather was perfect and we were instantly relaxed.
Our hotel was centrally located, stylish and quiet. We loved the free breakfast and ate as much of it as we could so we didn’t have to eat again until dinner. A couple of days in we realized we could each order multiple items and it was still all free! We did have to walk to a convenience store to get snacks because the hotel had no mini bar and we hadn’t figured out our overeating breakfast plan of attack yet.
I think this was also the day that Jeff and I were loving life, loving the view and had nothing between our chairs and the ocean. Until three girls came up with beach towels, set up shop directly in front of our perfect view and took their tops off. I could have done without them choosing that exact spot, but for the guys nearby I’m sure it elevated their experience. Booooobs.
The food and drinks were delicious at Cabanas, but the service was kind of strange. You had to contact the hotel staff through WhatsApp for everything and it was confusing as heck at first. Want the front desk? WhatsApp. Room service? WhatsApp. There are no servers walking around asking what you want as you lounge by the beach. If you want something, you gotta WhatsApp someone. It probably saved us a lot of money not ordering tons of drinks during the day.
One of the best parts of Tulum was how walkable it was! We could walk down the beach either direction and it was lined with hotels, jungle nightclubs, restaurants and more casual beach clubs. It was so nice to not have to uber anywhere and have so many options of what to do and what to eat. I have been to Punta Mita, other places in the Mayan Riviera, Cabo and Mayakoba and Tulum isn’t like any of them. There seemed to be a lot of European tourists, lots of topless chicks and a very free spirited, relaxed, peace and love atmosphere to the whole place. For that reason, and the gorgeous beach, Tulum is my favorite destination I have visited in Mexico!
Ziggy’s Beach Club was right outside our hotel. It’s one of the only ones that doesn’t have an entry fee and it’s beautiful!
La Popular is a restaurant/beach club with great food. We had tacos and ceviche.
Taboo is the beach club from the picture above. Fabulous drinks! They had a cover charge to hang out there so Jeff and I just sat on the sand near the action like the cheapskates we are.
La Trattoria was recommended, but we had no time.
Azulik is the place I wish I knew about but didn’t. We didn’t have reservations so we were turned away.
Since we missed out on eating at this treehouse of dreams…
we went to a place called Potheads. I ate a large amount of cheese fries and was quite happy about it.
Tulum is a paradise playground for adults, I would not plan a family vacation here. The people watching is top notch. There is no shortage of partying, loud fun music coming from beach clubs and couples relaxing with varying amounts of clothes on. I think I saw maybe 3 kids. They don’t seem to have many huge resorts, its a boutique hotel and jungle treehouse feel. Even though I didn’t take lots of pictures, it’s instagrammable everywhere you look. I could have submitted so many videos to influencers in the wild. We especially loved the Muay Thai fighter doing bizarre exercises and punching the waves with zero shame.
I loved this vacation spot so much and would absolutely go back!
Oh and Jeff passed the vibe check. Great traveling partner and he kept me laughing the whole time.
IFLYSMFBBO!
Next up for Jeff and Paige travel adventures: Las Vegas!
