Hi, we’re Ahmed and Sidney, better known to each other as Mido and Tolo. From the hippie beach town of Dahab to overlanding Saudi Arabia to remodelling an abandoned house in AlUla and other travels in between, it’s easy to say we're pretty adventurous.
Mido and Tolo is a chance for us to share our travels, a place to hold our photos, a creative outlet. We hope this digital diary can help the curious find adventure in more remote locations and realize that travel can be more accessible than you otherwise thought possible. Think of the blog section as extended advice from that travel friend, making sure you see the best of the places we’ve been to.
Don’t let the big hair fool you, there are plenty of secrets hidden in that head of his. Ahmed is a mastermind of social media, paid campaign wiz and all-around marketing genius – but the real fun is in the journey. From his start as real-life ‘Scuba Steve’ to helping put Saudi on the map as an international travel destination, I’m convinced there’s nothing this man can’t do.
An adventurous spirit with a will to wander, I’m Sidney, the writer/developer half of Mido and Tolo. It’s a lot harder to write about myself, but I’m pretty great too. From studying humanitarian aid to teaching to copywriting and now web development, I’ve learned that no one person is just one thing. Having coined the phrase ‘No Plan Plan’ early on in my life, when in doubt – just wing it.
Egyptians love a good nickname. Mido is a fairly common one for Ahmed, and Tolo is my family name. Apologies in advance for when you see Ahmed and Mido written in the same story – it’s just one person – I famously do it in real life too.
Ahmed comes from Alexandria, Egypt known for great fish, beautiful architecture and ‘ahsan nas’ or the best people. (I may be biased now, but it’s true.) I’m Sidney, from Minneapolis, Minnesota known for it’s cold weather, as America’s best biking city and ‘Minnesota Nice.’
While we’re working on the dream to never work again, we still have jobs – pretty cool ones actually, where we “have” to be at events and concerts and openings in a super luxe setting. But what really makes us happy is the little things. On weekends when we don’t have events, we hop in our car with our dog ZouZou and drive til we hit the coast and go wild camping. Recently, we truly haven’t been able to plan in advance, but that bodes well with my favorite phrase and answer to “What’s the plan?” – the no plan plan.