Ibiza 2005

After a few mellow days in Alicante, things picked up just a hair as I made my way over to Ibiza. For those who are not familiar with Ibiza, it has two reputations. The first is the reputation of being a debaucherous, sin city filled with sex, drugs and house music. The second is of a gorgeous island getaway in the mediterranean with resort hotels and fun for the whole family. I think both reputations are well deserved and my experience was divided between the two (minus the sex and drugs of course).

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On the ferry from the mainland to Ibiza, I was refilled with the tension of spending my day alone - a feeling I have every day on this adventure when I wake up, and especially when I am moving cities (except, interestingly, in Alaska when I wanted to be alone). Thankfully, that tension has been relieved each day, but never through the same experience...hence the adventurous and exciting nature of my travels. On this day, I met two Americans from Hawaii who were on a similar adventure as I was, to explore the island, to discover the madness and to party their faces off. Me being alone with some sort of a plan combined with them being together and somewhat unprepared made our connection somewhat starcrossed. We spent the first night celebrating Krista's 30th birthday at Pacha and the 3rd night celebrating someone's wedding (long story) at a reserved table on the terrace at Pacha. In between we saw the best DJ (DJ Tiesto) in the world at Amnesia. My first 3 nights in Ibiza were crazy, fun and I danced for hours at some of the best clubs in the world. You know when you go out dancing and there is a group of people on the dance floor with an energy that is contagious and everybody wants to be in that group? That was us. It was awesome.

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After Krista and Marcus left, I found myself, once again, ready for a new adventure. After some solid beach time, some decompressing and some mental regrouping after a whirlwind 3 days, I made my way over to Bora Bora, a fantastic bar on the beach where people enjoy cocktails and Sangria from 6-12 while dancing on the beach and on tables and waving to inbound airplanes as they bring newcomers to the island party. Bora Bora has a great casual vibe to it, with people hanging around in bathing suits and tank tops and really soaking in the beach scene. It was quite a refreshing alternative to the hard core clubbing. My first night there, I met Roberto, Esther, Felix and Mireia - four spaniards who lived on the island (except Mireia who was visiting from pamplona) - who danced with me on tables, shared their sangria and welcomed me to their spanish community. For the next 3 days, I saw what most people who come to Ibiza never see. I saw the quite coves and beaches, I saw the beautiful views and sunsets and I saw that real people actually live and work on the island (unlike my pre-trip impression that the island was comprised of 7 clubs and a few restaurants and hotels in between the beaches). I spoke only spanish again for the next 4 days, mixed in a few hours on the beach and after one final blowout Sunday night at Space, tuned it down for a final decrompression.

In between the sight seeing and partying, I managed to pull together some Jason time as well. A bit of yoga here, a few long runs on the beach, a bit more development of the burningman theme camp for next year, and I finished reading an oustanding book called "From Beirut to Jerusalem" that provided an insider view of the Palestinian/Isreali struggle over the past 30 years. Since I was a kid, I have always known about my Palestinian heritage, but never had any ability to discuss the recent history of my family's people. It felt good to get acquianted with these roots of mine.

Between the partying, the island time, my new friends and the Jason time, this was a fantastic trip. It would not have been the same, though, without a little help from the states. In the middle of the trip, I was feeling a bit intimidated by the people and the island, feeling alone and having trouble rallying for a fun night on the town. My energy was taking a turn for the worse. A quick check-in to the states via email and a short chat on-line with my good friend John Tucker turned things around. John has been an amazing friend since we reconnected 5 years ago in SF and has helped push me to new limits by encouraging me to reach out of my comfort zone socially and also inspiring me to do so by demonstrating how through his day-to-day and life activities. I regularly discover new things about myself when reaching, and have always had the comfort of his support if I don't find what I'm looking for. Just chatting with John reminded me that I had his support, but his creative suggestions on how to discover an evening of fun starting from zero helped put me back on track. For helping make my vacation such an amazing experience, for his support and for being such a great friend, I am thankful for buddy John Tucker.