Imagine running away to the Mexican Caribbean and never coming back. That dream became a reality for author Jeanine Kitchel and her husband who traveled to the Yucatan in 1985 and a decade later, left their jobs in Silicon Valley to pursue a relaxed lifestyle in Puerto Morelos, a small fishing village on the Quintana Roo Coast south of Cancun. Chance links them with a contractor who offers to build them a beachfront house, and this is where the true story begins. After side-stepping disaster on several fronts, they build their home, settle into Mexico, and then travel deep into the heart of...