I’m writing this blog as a little insight into how my first year in Ibiza has been. It’s quite long but there is a lot of things to mention! I really can’t believe it’s been a full year since I have moved here. There have been times when I have felt so isolated I have just wanted to up sticks and leave, but it’s not in my nature to give up and give in. I’ve had people all around me telling me that every single person who moves abroad goes through those emotions so I’m proud to say, I have just ridden it. Before we know it, one year has passed!

Lots of people have said that moving to Ibiza is one of the most transformational things you can do for yourself. I’ve heard many people talking about how they have changed since moving to the island and how they were one person before moving here and a totally different person when they left (or for those that don’t leave, how they are very different now to when they arrived). Of course we all evolve as we get older, but the word on the street is that moving to the island is powerful and more dramatic because of the so-called magical energy.

A million miles away

When we moved here, I assumed it would be for good. I always knew that in the back of my head, if it didn’t work out, I could move back to England. However, I never thought that this would really happen. Because we have a such a strong attraction to the island, I honestly thought this would be our home forever. 12 months in, I can honestly say I love it here in my ‘island bubble’ and I have my lovely ‘Ibiza family’ surrounding. Nevertheless, I think it’s possible that living on an island may get boring and I will want to experience other places to live and find new avenues to explore in the future. I’m not going to pretend: island life can be tough, isolating as and when cabin fever creeps in and potentially very boring through the winter months.

How my life has changed

Fortunately I have not really experienced the boring side! With three children, there is not the slightest chance to get bored. I naively thought that when I moved to Ibiza, my crazy busy life would disappear and I would be chilling on beaches most days after school. As if!!! This happened for the honeymoon period, for the first couple of months when we were settling in, but it didn’t take long for the kids to find clubs etc that they wanted to be a part of out here, and I am once again trying to be in three different places at once. All be it a hot place! Playing mum’s taxi has always been one of my most time-consuming jobs and to be honest it’s still the same here. It’s actually harder as I don’t have the family support network I had in the UK.  Football was the most demanding of my kids’ pastimes in the UK and although we don’t have to drive around the country watching Henry anymore, the club he plays for is quite a trek from my house so the driving time has increased. Archie also plays football (for a different club to Hen) and has training on different days to Henry which means that every day apart from one involves driving to and from football. Deep joy! On a positive note, the scenery is pretty good so I have that to be grateful for!

Settling in to Ibiza

Thankfully, the kids absolutely love their school. We follow an English curriculum but the learning targets aren’t nearly so ambitious. I didn’t realise that there was quite so much academic pressure in the UK until I stepped away from it. Some people will argue that the international school doesn’t push the children enough but when I see how happy my younger two in particular, are, targets and homework can quite frankly do one! I do think my eldest son needs a bit more of a rocket up his backside – but I often think that about him and not just school! If I could make one change, then it would be that I made this move sooner so my children didn’t have to experience the ‘targets and must reach standards’ making them fear school with the twenty thousand pieces of homework they had each week! Outside living has meant the kids spend the majority of their time playing outdoors – less time for Xboxes and iPads (although mine would still happily sit on them all day if they could)! Oh and there is no homework given over the weekend so that families can actually enjoy their weekend rather then stressing about homework!! Omg I remember that feeling so well.

Making friends has been pretty easy. I had one close friend who left the island a bit out of the blue about a month or so ago and it was the most traumatic experience I’ve had since moving to Ibiza. I know that sounds well OTT but my friend was part of my daily routine. I loved to speak to her and we both knew it went without saying that we could always rely on each other. I have got over it, and as much as I miss her, life goes on and I will make other good friends.  An English friend who visited me made an interesting observation that she couldn’t believe how warm and friendly everyone at the school is. I think that when you move to a different country, everyone is in the same boat, so everyone makes more of an effort to welcome newcomers into their community.

The language barrier

One of the biggest barriers here has been the language barrier. Wow! That is a tough one but there’s only one thing for it: Learn it! I constantly have CDs playing in my car and have had a teacher for 3 hours a week for the past six months. I am now at the stage where I know how to say lots of things but it takes me about 5 minutes to think about how I need to string it all together! I know it will come in time and I have to be patient. Henry is the best by far at speaking and sounding Spanish. If he comes back to England fluent in Spanish, what an achievement that is. Our house in Ibiza is old and we experience one problem after the other with it. I am now fluent in chatting about how the boiler is broken and there is no hot water!! See you have to look on the positive side and see gratitude in everything!

 The biggest thing I have learnt

How many times have you heard the sayings ‘there is only the present moment,’ ‘live life to the full’ and ‘be grateful for everything.’ Oh and not forgetting ‘gratitude breeds more gratitude.’ I think I can say that I have well and truly been there and got the t-shirt for learning this lesson and being grateful for what you have at the given time. We all moan about various things in our lives and forget to give thanks for the little things that become so part and parcel of our daily routine we take them for granted eg a washing machine that continually works for us. We don’t tend to say thank you every time we get our clean clothes out of it but we are very good at cursing it if it breaks down on us. Do you get where I am coming from?

I for one used to moan a lot about the parking where I lived. My god, Leigh Broadway was the biggest pain in my arse. But quite frankly, it’s like a quiet little back road to what I have had to live with during the height of summer. It’s been so bad that I’ve not even been able to pull over to get money out of a cashpoint! So now, when I drive along Leigh Broadway I am always grateful for how easy it is to park along there compared to where I live now.

We moan a lot about the weather in England but living in Ibiza can prove testing to say the least. From late spring and through the summer months you become so lethargic you can literally not be bothered  to do anything … so you don’t! It’s another example of ‘being in the present moment’ but when you are use to doing twenty things at once and rushing around it’s really hard to accept doing nothing!!

I’ve also learnt that family is the most important thing. With my husband being away throughout the week, the weekends are much more precious. Although my boys can be right little demons when they start arguing together, it makes you realise how grateful you are to have a family as well as a husband that looks forward to coming back to see you all! I can’t imagine being with someone who loved the week on their own and hated the weekend family time with us! I also find when I go back to England I spend quality time with my family rather than quick hellos ‘I’ve got to rush off now’.

Finally I’ve learnt I’m not very good at standing still. I guess on reflection when you feel isolated and can’t escape from the place in your mind that you don’t feel comfortable with, it’s because it’s teaching you something about yourself – and that can be tough.  I’ve seen things I don’t particularly like about myself and have had to just sit with it while I’ve worked out either why I don’t like it, or how I’m going to change it.

The ups and downs have been emotionally ‘eventful’ but all I can say is that this is the most challenging but equally the most rewarding thing I have ever done. I am now so much more independent and feel that I can actually conquer anything! With it’s ‘manana, manana’ attitude, Spain is probably one of the more testing countries to live in after living in the UK not least because what normally takes a week to sort out in the UK takes six weeks out here. I say this all the time but life is about experience. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed my life in the UK but I am so proud of myself for taking the plunge and moving abroad. I would have hated to look back in 10 years and had regrets as I rushed about at 1000mph not actually noticing my life slipping past and actually getting more stressed and more busy even though my kids were more or less of my hands!! By moving here I have seen how other people live and that actually chill time is way more important than ‘busy busy, filling your day’ time! The ibizinco kids are so happy and grounded, it’s amazing to see.

There are lots of things I don’t like about Ibiza such as the backward supermarkets, the crappy water, the abused and neglected dogs, the crappy drainage system, the parking and the having to drive to six different shops because you can’t get everything under one roof but there’s pros and cons to everything so I need to just find the good within these annoying things.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this

Love Kate x