What could I do in Cancun if I lived there?

[ChangoDeMadera]

How did you get to Cancun? How do you earn a living there?
I would love to live in Cancun - but what could I do there realistically and could my work there cover the expenses of living there?
Here in the states I am a second year AS teacher. I like my job - it is tough - but I do not know if I want to do this forever. I am in the process of writing a children's book at the moment. I am just having fun exploring my options and having fun. I told myself that I need to try things while I am young and not let life pass me by. I am 24. Could I go to Cancun during the summer months and work a temp job since I have summers off from teaching? Is that something I could?
Share with me your stories - I would be interested to know how you got to Cancun and how you are getting by. As I stated I am a teacher so my salary is not high. I do speak fluent English and Romanian. I speak and write conversational Spanish.
Thanks!!
Timea

[V]

This subject comes up, from time time, and there are a lot of expats who have made a way for themselves, doing a variety of jobs or types of work. Far more I suspect have tried, found it too tough, and gone home. I doubt if anyone has found it easy, though some have said they've done better here than they did/could have, back home.

As with most things, effort and hard work are not enough; nor is talent, unless all of these combines with a certain amount of pure, good fortune.

Even with all of these going for you there are still a great many problems to be overcome, and to overcome as you go along.

If you do decide to give it a shot, make sure you have a good reserve of cash on which to fall back on, and somewhere to go and a way to get there- should nothing materialize in a reasonable time.

Although I came with some things to offer, and had a measure of good fortune as well, I still found Cancun to be the toughest of places in which to get a break- out of the seven countries I've lived and worked in.

Most of those expats I know personally rely, as do most people living here, on some aspect of the tourist industry for their livelihood: some of them have managed to work themselves up the ladder to a fairly respectable level of earnings, while a few have done very well. Others have made a bare bones living teaching English. Almost all have done without adequate health insurance, or adequate retirement scheme for years, in exchange for a chance to live here.

Notable exceptions to the above are the tiny number of successful expat business owners that I've met in Cancun, but then they probably could have been successful anywhere, given the right breaks.