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Beating the end of season blues

Hello October! Ahhh, how I’ve missed you. Your grey-ish clouds alternating with pure bursts of glorious sunlight. Your occasional amazing storms. Your empty roads and short supermarket queues. The way you begin with some fabulous parties, but end with three glorious party-three weeks of relaxation… The first day of the month and already I’m feeling happier and lighter – October, I think I love you!

Obviously this blog is written by someone who is desperately craving a holiday at the end of a long season. Someone who has spent a huge portion of the Ibiza summer AWAKE and switched on. Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE the summer. I appreciate that, in a sense, the hordes of tourists flowing through our airport gates are the ones who ensure I have a job. After all, without you coming to the island, there would be no new restaurants, hotels, parties or clubs opening and thus nothing for me to write about. So I’m not complaining. I’m just… tired.

So in an effort to combat this end-of-season-blues, and (more importantly) prevent it from coming back next summer, I thought I would come up with a list of resolutions for next summer – to refer back to when I’m all enthusiastic next March of course. Please feel free to remind me any time you see me doing anything other than the below. Old habits die hard…

1. Schedule some days off to actually enjoy the experience of holidaying in Ibiza in summer. Well in advance. I’ve seen other people in Ibiza do it – by do it, I mean, take a week’s holiday in August – and they come back to work with such joie de vivre, a renewed energy and refreshed view of the island. Rather than becoming one of those slightly bitter “I-haven’t-had-a-day-off-in-three-months” type islanders, you are reminded exactly why we do what we do. It’s a smart move. After all, it’s only FIVE DAYS away from the computer – a little pre-planning can ensure everything runs smoothly while you’re away, and if anything goes wrong, you’re still in the same time zone for a quick phone call (though it’s hard to guarantee what you can hear from the dance floor at DC10).

2. Do not, I repeat, do not drink Red Bull for breakfast. I have spent far too much money (and probably sacrificed a good portion of my liver) this summer on those little blue tins (eight hours sleep in a can, I’ve always said), but I’m starting to think it might be time to jump on the green juice/matcha tea bandwagon before next summer hits. My poor old skin is looking lacklustre and I struggle to switch on the brain (without Red Bull) before midday… but I see the condescending looks from my co-workers each morning as I slug away. I feel the judgey gaze of my ancient little corner store woman as I stagger in at 9am to collect my can. And I feel pretty guilty just watching the cans pile up in our office garbage bin between Monday and Saturday. It’s got to stop. Thank god it’s October!

3. Don’t cut yourself off from friends and family, just because you haven’t got time to communicate. This is a lesson I really learned well this summer – sure, you don’t always have time to answer a long email, arrange a long overdue catch-up lunch or attend every birthday dinner or drinks, but you DO have time to send a snappy little text, Facebook message or Instagram post that shows you still care. (P.S. Hi Mum!! Love you!)

4. Keep work and home life separate. Easier said than done when a lot of your work takes place in the casa, but what I mean is, don’t bring your work problems into your personal life. Grumbling about working overtime (and we are ALL guilty of that here in Ibiza – it feels like a competition sometimes), pesky habits that your co-workers have, or certain parts of your job that you dislike can feel like a cathartic experience sometimes, but for the person on the receiving end (who doesn’t know or care about any of the above)? Ouch. Also, complaining doesn’t help solve anything. If you don’t like it, change it. If you can’t change it, make it work for you. If you can’t make it work for you, get another job! Simple.

5. Don’t let your exercise regime slip because you’ve had a late night. Or six. If, like me, you completely ditched yoga, the gym and even walking to and from the grocery store in a bid to save more time and do more work, you’ll be feeling podgy, unhappy and finding it really difficult to muster up the motivation to get back into it now October is here. If morning classes suddenly become too difficult to attend, switch to evening – they’ll give you extra energy for the summer nights ahead. If five days a week in the gym is too much, cut it down to two or three – much better than nothing, and you’d hope all the extra dancing you do in summer will make up for the days you miss. But anything is better than nothing,

6. Go back to Spanish classes. Pronto! I felt my limited grasp on the Spanish language just slipping away from me all summer – I write in English all day (and many nights) long, my boyfriend is English and I (surprise surprise) speak English to my cats when I’m at home! I speak English with all of my friends and clients (even the Spanish and South Americans, who I should really be practicing with) and so that means the only place I really get to practice my Spanish is in restaurants and taxis. But really, I should be using it every day, wherever I can. What’s the point of living in another country if you don’t speak the language. It would be especially handy right now, when trying to negotiate new rental contracts… dammit!

7. Pre-plan a nice long November holiday before the beginning of the summer. So when you reach this time of year, you don’t start grumbling with “I so desperately need a holiday” – you just DO IT!

8. Be nice to everyone. You never know who you’re standing next to in a bar or even the bank, but the one thing you can alway do is smile and be nice. I’ve never been big on small talk personally, but I’ve come to realise that you come across as being snooty, when really you’re thinking that you’re keeping to yourself. So a quick hello is much nicer than a head down looking into your iPhone – and in true Ibiza style, you never know who you might cross paths with, who could become a potential new client, or even better, friend. I was next to Sven Vath in the bank just last week… and now we’re the best of friends*.

9. Don’t go to every single event because “you think your should”. Really, if you’re doing this, you have a serious case FOMO. Fear of missing out is a serious problem in Ibiza, but the fact is… the earth won’t stop turning if you decide to spend a night in. Sometimes a solid eight hours sleep is the solution to everything. The special ‘one-off’ parties and events will be eclipsed by new one-off parties and events next year. Some of the faces and places change, but the magic moments WILL keep happening. I promise. I’ve experienced many, and the ones I missed out on… well, no one’s talking about them any more anyway!

10. If in doubt, re-read this blog at the beginning of summer 2015.

*Disclaimer. Sven and I are not actually the best of friends. I thought I may have caught his eye at the Cocoon After Party in Destino… but then again, he might have just had something in it. Or been blocking the sun. Next time I see him in the bank, I’ll ask.