I often feel like I have to defend my reasons for being here.
For living in this crazy bubble.
Explain my choices for moving away and not wanting to come back to what all my family and long time friends call ‘home’.
To not have a settled house, a continuous job and giving up on the plans and opportunities to have a ‘family’.
It’s not easy to make this choice again and again.
I have made the same choice for 3 years now.
Because what I get back for it are repeated feelings of
magic, effervescence, community and inspiration.
It might get boring, unfulfilling, or feel shallow after a while but it doesn’t yet…
And until it does I will keep
Living
In Ibiza
Tetske, you sent me party pictures again last weekend. I know you are trying to show me how much fun you are having… but really? I cannot believe you are not bored there. With everyone gone and all the places closed. Why don’t you just come back to Holland after september. I’m sure you can make more money!?
Ah Mum, If you think I want to come back to Holland in the winter to make money… Hah.. you really don’t know my world. I live for the winter in Ibiza. Do you have a moment? I’ll try to explain.
Sure, let me get a cup of tea and I’ll try to see it from your eyes.
Ok so, you know I work all summer, right? Triple hard, but it’s not because I want to be extra rich or have nicer clothes (I have the market for that) .. I do this to have my fun and freedom in the winter time!
You see, from the end of October to the beginning of April, me and my friends can rest, read and write, do hikes and enjoy each other’s company at one of the many birthdays or paella’s. The ultimate expression of this winter pleasure is when I am sweating, heaving, stomping in a small hot living room with some 50 friends to the beats of familiar and beloved dj, sharing smiles, hugs and drinks without thinking about the outside world. That’s when I really feel that winter is ‘our time!’ That’s why I sent you the pictures of the party, to share this ultimate moment of connection and home!
Allright that doesn’t sound too bad. But where do you get the energy for all of this? you’re always working on something at your house, racing around in your car to get things done. doesn’t that get tiring?
Well, it is hard work sometimes, I’ll give you that. But, really Mum, it gives me more energy than it takes. I feel it has everything to do with my community. I am happy living in Ibiza isn’t just all about fun and dance. I spend a lot of time fixing the water pump, the roof, the solar batteries, the pool and a whole load of other technical stuff I never did before in my life. … but here… it’s a regular part of life on the campo and I love it! Because it connects to the place and people in a real way. So, I feel that for the last 2,5 years I have worked hard to ‘earn’ my place here. It requires perseverance, intelligence and strength to learn all the things you need to live here if you don’t have crazy amounts of money.
But what does this have to do with your ‘community’. It sounds to me like people there just throw it in any conversation and it loses all of its meaning.. Like ‘family’ and ‘consciousness’ .
Well, yes.. We do like to over-use hippy terms. But here I am serious. I really feel like I live in a community here.
You know how a community is shaped. By living and working together, having a common goal and feeling like you belong in the same place, together. I feel all of this in my community where I live and in Ibiza in the winter time. Like today, for example, when I was working with my roomie on the roof the people from next door came strolling past with drums and rattles, they were having a Wachuma ceremony. (look it up if you want to). It was so beautiful to see their spaced out faces and weird movements just outside of our houses and know that we all feel safe together, no matter what we do. Sometimes it’s medicine walks like this and other times we hear the shouts of pleasure and pain when they have breath sessions or tantric dances. I could join if I wanted to and have done, often in the past, but these days I enjoy it from a little distance.
Yes I remember that, when you arrived 2,5 years ago, you were so in love with this place, and joined in all the ceremonies and healing sessions you could find. Why did that change?
Yes you’re right, it did change, but not in the way you think. I think I have many moments of bliss, healing and trances. But I don’t go to the sessions because I find it now when I am amongst friends like at the parties, markets or other social gatherings. I don’t need to get into a huge trance to experience the magic. It’s there in nature, in meeting the right person at the right time saying exactly what you need to hear. Serendipity moments, I think it’s called.
The dream world I was in during those first months of living here finds its way back to my experience when I’m surrounded by friends, sounds and beauty. It’s the same magical place again, but then without the fear of losing it all, because I belong here. That’s the safety that my community vibe gives me.
Okay, yes. I am starting to see that it’s not so boring there and I am happy for you that you have friends and community there. So, what was so special about these winter parties that you want to share it with me?
You know that in relation to the summer time in Ibiza, when there are millions of visitors on the island,the winter time in Ibiza is immensely peaceful with about 200.000 maybe half a million people. After the last rush of October closing season it takes a few weeks for everybody to adapt to the new rhythm. And then, when we leisurely stroll over the San Jordi Market on a Saturday late in November, we look around and see who stayed. You see, Sant Jordi is the only market left in the winter season and it’s the perfect place to plan the next weekend and buy some outfits for it at the same time…super cheap!
The people that I’ve been working with in the summer, providing mind blowing experiences for super rich massive clients, are now ‘doing their thing’ for fun. Light shows, costumed performances, insane music installations and of course amazing beats take us high into the skies of winter time Ibiza. We don’t pay for these privileges. We pay for it with the will to stay in Ibiza when the going gets tough, when the tourists are gone and jobs are few, when we sometimes do not have electricity or water, our cars break down regularly and we haul firewood almost every month to stay warm. It’s the time for the wild ones that stay, this is why I love the winter time gatherings, the people are the perfect kind of crazy!
We gather for fun, in the name of friendship and sharing creativity. But it’s not every week we party like mad, sometimes we have Paella gatherings or other nice lunches to go to.
I love winter time gatherings because I feel at home amongst the most wild and extreme people this island has to offer.
Oh my amazing wild and free daughter, I can’t wait to come and visit again and meet some of these crazy friends of yours. Now, the news is starting so I’m gonna go. Keep in touch ok!?
Sure Mum! Love you!
It’s 6 o’clock Friday evening in January, the golden hour in Ibiza is beginning. The most beautiful colours cascade over the campo where the bravest of the almond trees are already blooming. I am high. High on drugs, on life, on love, and on the amazing beats that have been pumping from the speakers in the house for the last 12 hours. Winter in Ibiza isn’t boring. If you know where to look.
When I open my eyes to look around I see people I know and love, I work with and share lives with.
It all comes together in that one moment we all feel the lights, the beats, the sweaty sweaty bodies…. This is what I live for.
Well… you know that In the summer I work. More hours than I ever have, juggling 3 or 4 jobs and making as much money as I can. Catering to all kinds of tourists, visitors and seasonal locals with an energy I never knew I had. I get to talk 5 languages in 1 hour, learn all about the latest cocktails, music, shows and spiritual hypes. In between jobs I jump out of my car, dive in the overcrowded sea to take a quick dip before driving to the office, a villa or other work space where I’ll do my next ‘gig’. Late at night, or early morning, I go home with a head afloat with new inspired ideas and my legs that I almost don’t feel anymore. I wake up in the heat of the blazing sun to do it all over again. Maybe you understand now that if I go to one or two parties during ‘the season’ I usually don’t last very long.