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Follow the hashtag #islandlife on Instagram and you\u2019ll find almost ten million posts depicting the picture perfect life surrounded by sun, sea, sand and\u00a0clear blue skies (and\u00a0probably a perfectly placed beautiful girl in a designer bikini). There are sunsets and boat days and old towns and beaches; there\u00a0are cocktails and dreams; there are no\u00a0worries in the world. Island life is simple, uncomplicated and you don\u2019t need material things to be happy (aside\u00a0from your phone in order to use the aforementioned hashtag).<\/p>\n
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Except, as most of us have all come to realise, Instagram is not real life, and as such #islandlife is not #realislandlife (a hashtag that is yet to reach 500\u00a0posts). Real island life\u00a0\u2013 just like real life anywhere in the world \u2013 comes with its own trials, tribulations and triumphs that are not always Instagram-worthy, but are indeed a big part of island life on\u00a0a day to day basis. I believe island life teaches you patience. Don\u2019t even get me started on the\u00a0concept of \u2018island time\u2019. Combine that with the Spanish ma\u00f1ana ma\u00f1ana\u00a0mentality (which I can assure you is very real) and you spend half your time\u00a0wondering whether your meetings or appointments are real or figments of your imagination.<\/p>\n
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People are surely one of the very best aspects of island life in my opinion. Ibiza is a small island, and as such, it\u2019s got small town syndrome: everyone\u00a0knows everyone, which means everyone knows everyone else\u2019s business. This can be a good thing, for example if you\u2019re looking for contacts or like-minded friends, but it can be a bad thing if you\u2019re seeking anonymity (as some people who retreat to an island are want to do). Just this morning I met\u00a0my newest neighbour \u2013 she smiled, said hello, introduced herself and immediately invited me over for a glass of wine (yes! In the morning! I love her\u00a0already). Now, I don\u2019t remember experiencing such warmth or friendliness anywhere else in the world in my life. Here, people are open. They are\u00a0happy to get to know their neighbours, no matter what walk of life they come from.<\/p>\n
Speaking of neighbours, I live in an area that\u2019s populated by gypsies \u2013 and when we say gypsy here, it\u2019s not a derogatory term. These are big local\u00a0families, who all live in the same street (and have done for generations), who basically spend all summer outdoors (often in pyjamas), having\u00a0barbecues and parties and celebrations in summer. One of my favourite things \u2013 a true #realislandlife moment for me \u2013 is when it gets really, really hot,\u00a0the papas who live behind me break open the water pipes in the street and create a splashing, gushing fountain for their little kids to swim and play in.\u00a0Sure, it\u2019s highly illegal \u2013 but the joy on the children\u2019s faces prove that it\u2019s worth it.<\/p>\n
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Ibiza is truly a melting pot of cultures \u2013 there are Ibicenco families with hundreds of years of heritage; there are expats from all over the globe who\u2019ve\u00a0adopted the island as their home; there are the\u00a0guiri-cencos\u00a0who are born to one Ibicenco parent and one foreigner (a\u00a0guiri) and then over time, there\u00a0are their own offspring\u00ad (is there terminology for that?). There are seasonal workers and there are those who relocate here permanently and there are\u00a0those who are here for a fleeting amount of holiday time each year. And you know what I love most? Everyone\u2019s got a story. Island life, for me, is\u00a0listening to all these stories. Who needs a library when you\u2019ve got all these amazing tales to be told?<\/p>\n
Well, that brings me to my next point. Culture is indeed a little limited on an island \u2013 if you\u2019re looking for arthouse cinema, art exhibitions, design, high\u00a0fashion, literature, even trending street food, well, you might want to take a holiday and visit a city. Now, this can make you lazy or it can make you\u00a0curious. We have the internet at our fingertips, quite literally, and so instead of feeling frustrated, seek and ye shall find. Island life is meant for enjoying\u00a0island things \u2013 the weather is beautiful and the beach is on our doorstep (though many who live here will tell you #realislandlife means you don\u2019t get to\u00a0visit the beach as often as you\u2019d like). And who needs high fashion on an island anyway \u2013 it\u2019s so hot a bikini and a sundress will suffice in most\u00a0situations and for anything else, you can order online (or tap into the unique creations of island brands \u2013 or Zara, quite possibly both).<\/p>\n
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That being said, the inefficiency of the island postal service really takes some getting used to. It doesn\u2019t matter what the sender has paid their local\u00a0post office in the country of origin to get a parcel to you within X amount of days, it doesn\u2019t matter whether you pay for Amazon Prime, nor does it\u00a0matter how swish and high-tech the all-new renovated Ibiza town post office looks \u2013 once said parcel arrives in Ibiza, it will sit on a shelf in the Correos\u00a0for\u00a0at least\u00a0a week before anyone attempts to deliver it to your house. Attempt being the operative word \u2013 rarely does a parcel ACTUALLY arrive direct\u00a0to your door \u2013 rather, your friendly neighbourhood courier or postie (mine is very lovely and quite cute, actually \u2013 can\u2019t blame him for the inadequacy of\u00a0the Correos) simply brings a slip with your name on it directing you to your nearest post office to collect said parcel yourself.<\/p>\n
Then you have to trudge to the post office or courier\u2019s warehouse in 34-degree heat (because there is no parking in the area) and have to line-up for\u00a0around 45 minutes to an hour just to sign for your parcel. Half the time they can\u2019t find it, which means even more waiting and whatever you do, DO\u00a0NOT forget your legally recognised form of ID because a bank card or driver\u2019s license from another country does not cut it and then you have to repeat\u00a0the whole thing again. On the subject of queuing \u2013 no one does it here on the island. There\u2019s a whole weird system of people standing and sitting all\u00a0over the place (be it a bank, the post office or the hospital) with no sense of logic. The trick is to simply ask \u2018la ultima?\u2019 as you walk in, so you can\u00a0identify who the person is before you, then you can join the free-for all.<\/p>\n
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Island life means waking up on a random morning only to discover you have no electricity \u2013 not through any fault of your own, it\u2019s just that today\u2019s the\u00a0day the electricity company decided to do some works in your street. And no, they have no idea when it will be restored. Same too goes for water. All\u00a0of a sudden\u2026 you have none! And speaking of water \u2013 #realislandlife means you can\u2019t drink the tap water, so you\u2019re constantly buying bottles in bulk\u00a0and wondering how it will ever be possible to reduce your plastic waste? Those who live in villas and country houses will often have a giant water\u00a0reserve that is filled up by the Agua Potable trucks you see around the island, so for them it\u2019s a matter of being aware when reserves get low. Oh \u2013 and\u00a0checking for snakes in your water tank too. Once one of those slippery suckers gets in there, it\u2019s contaminated and while you can still use it to shower,\u00a0you have to go back to buying bottles of water to drink\u2026<\/p>\n
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The beauty of visiting the store to buy water so often means you get to know your local shopkeepers. If you forget to bring your wallet one time \u2013\u00a0no\u00a0pasanada! That\u2019s totally fine. You can pay them next time. The level of trust and openness on the island is really nice to see. My friend Miss L, who also\u00a0happens to be a mum, tells me this, along with a sense of freedom, is one of the most wonderful things about bringing up a child on the island. Her\u00a0son has grown up seeing the farms where she buys her veggies from and meeting real animals, not in a petting zoo. She says Ibiza kids are super\u00a0conscious about what and how they eat for this reason. And when it comes to eating \u2013 the island (and Spanish) way is to take your children with you\u00a0anywhere, at any time without fear of being judged. Children are in nice restaurants with their parents after 8pm (which is standard city \u2018no kids\u00a0allowed\u2019 hour) and thus learn how to behave in public from an early age.<\/p>\n
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We are surrounded by nature \u2013 even in our biggest \u2018cities\u2019, the beach is just a ten-minute walk away. Kids are encouraged to play outside rather than\u00a0on an iPad \u2013 that\u2019s not to say they don\u2019t get tech-time, but they\u2019re not ruled by it. This could be partly because the island\u2019s internet is still so damn s-l-o-o-w \u2013 heaven forbid you need to upload something in a hurry! It\u2019s fast enough to stream Netflix though and I can assure you, #realislandlife includes\u00a0as much binge watching as it does beach time.
\nGetting from A to B if you don\u2019t have a car is definitely a struggle when it comes to island life. We don\u2019t have Uber, our taxis are almost non-existent in\u00a0the height of summer (and they just don\u2019t come when you call them), and the public transport system schedule seems to be the same as it was in the\u00a070s. For one of my friends to get to Ibiza town by 9am, she needs to catch a 7am bus from Santa Eulalia \u2013 true story. And yet, it\u2019s just a 25-minute\u00a0drive. But you can\u2019t fight it \u2013 it is what it is, and real islanders use it as time to catch up on their reading, emails, admin, podcasts\u2026 just like those who\u00a0travel a two-hour daily commute to get to their jobs in big cities.<\/p>\n
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Our supermarkets are stocked with the most limited selection of products \u2013 even the biggest ones (and there are more and more of them springing up\u00a0this year) still only stock basic brands. They just fill more shelf space with them! I am constantly perplexed as to why I cannot buy Charlotte Tilbury\u00a0make-up here in Ibiza \u2013 I mean, she grew up here! And as for electronics \u2013 well, let\u2019s just say come August 1 every year, every single electronic store\u00a0on the island has sold out of fans and dehumidifiers (even though previous years should have taught them to double their order) and there\u2019s no chance\u00a0of finding one until the restock in September. And if you\u2019re thinking of ordering from Amazon \u2013 well, remember what I told you about the postal service.\u00a0You simply learn to plan ahead.<\/p>\n
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Whenever I travel to a city, I feel like a little country girl who\u2019s found herself in a supermarket\/department store\/mall for the very first time. Half the time\u00a0I need excess luggage just to make up for every day purchases. But here\u2019s the thing I\u2019ve learnt living on an island. You don\u2019t need fancy shampoo or\u00a0special flavoured cheeses to be happy (though they are nice). You don\u2019t need 24-hour supermarkets or restaurants serving all-day breakfasts or coffee\u00a0shops specialising in long-named drinks you can\u2019t even pronounce. All you need, as The Beatles famously sang, is love. You just need to love the\u00a0island and all its ups and downs, and you\u2019ll love #realislandlife.<\/p>\n
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Despite the humidity and the never-ending mould it creates, despite the unrelenting heat and consequent sweat trail down my forehead, despite the\u00a0queues and general lack of organisation, despite the limited shopping resources and tourists overrunning our towns for half the year, despite the lack\u00a0of decent greeting cards available, despite the lackadaisical approach to life (and business!) in general, I love my #realislandlife. I wouldn\u2019t swap it for\u00a0any other life in the world. It may not be #islandlife, but I\u2019ll keep following the hashtag anyway. After all, it\u2019s beautiful. It\u2019s aspirational. It\u2019s like a highlight\u00a0reel of all the best parts of #realislandlife and a reminder of what inspired me to move here in the first place.<\/p>\n
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Follow the hashtag #islandlife on Instagram and you\u2019ll find almost ten million posts depicting the picture perfect life surrounded by sun, sea, sand and\u00a0clear blue skies (and\u00a0probably a perfectly placed beautiful girl in a designer bikini). There are sunsets and boat days and old towns and beaches; there\u00a0are cocktails and dreams; there are no\u00a0worries […]<\/p>\n