Ibiza Wild Vanping and Clubbing adventure!

I've got a week to myself! A week, that's unheard of! What do I do with my time, I ponder? Mum and dad wanted to take the little man away camping for a week, and it seemed I wasn't invited ;-), so this highly unusual and wondrous opportunity presented itself. Readers of previous editions of this blog will know that on account of childcare responsibilities, even though travel is frequent and fulfilling, it is often done making use of snippets of time that rarely amount to any more than three or four days. It didn't take long to work out my destination of choice, although I will admit there was quite a deal of deliberation over whether long haul was viable, especially seen as though I haven't been anywhere long haul since 2019 and then this awful, travel limiting bug descended upon us.

I wouldn't necessarily say that my 40th year has bought about an epiphany or change in life philosophy other to that which I already subscribe, to live every moment like it's your last and pack as much in as you possibly can, but perhaps, just perhaps that sentiment has become amplified in the last year. So there's only one thing for it, Ibiza. A week in my favourite place, the home of my favourite music and favourite clubs and a blank page of opportunity lay ahead of me.

Despite having had some incredibly fulfilling, and potentially all-time favourite travel experiences with other people accompanying me, especially to Ibiza, in recent years, there's something really appealing and enjoyable about going it alone. I know, and particularly from engaging in a lot of the solo traveller fora on social media, that many people hold a lot of fear and anxiety around this, but having done it, having been a solo traveller quite a number of times now, I personally find it totally liberating. When you travel alone there is generally more freedom, more ability to be the master of your own destiny, and consequently the opportunity to have exactly the sort of holiday you want without any other influence. It's also a context that encourages you, especially people that are naturally quite introverted like myself (although you may not believe that, it’s true) to step outside of your comfort zone and meet people from limitless range of other places, striking new friendships. And because I've done this before this trip many times before alone, was definitely not daunting in anyway shape or form because the connections that have been created in previous visits would serve me well in this visit.

The accommodation costs are astronomical at the moment, especially with August being peak season now. Last time I visited in June I stayed in a hostel, a shared female only dorm in Ibiza town. That was absolutely fine, and I had no objection whatsoever to doing that again. However even the cheapest dorm room, which was located in San Antonio, not my first choice was in excess of the cost of hiring a camper van for the week.

I had hired a van from the same lovely Andrea via Airbnb the year before. The experience was amazing, but my natural initial anxiety surrounding the perceived illegality of wild vanping meant that I wasn't as adventurous with my choice of camping locations that time. I hoped it would be different this time. Having the van would give me total flexibility over my overnight stay and the ability to explore at my liberty during the daytime. I managed to strike a deal with Andrea that meant it was a very cost-effective option and the Nugget was mine for the week. I even bagged some fairly decent priced Jet2 flights out of Birmingham, which was unusual given the hiking flight prices to try and recoup loss of revenue following on from COVID.

I hadn't made any plans as far as where I would stay overnight when there in the van, but I did have a fairly fixed idea about my intended nightlife pursuits when I was there. I remember studying tourism and learning about tourist typologies. For many years as an experienced traveller, I rejected the notion of psychocentricism for me in travel but recognise in different stages of my life cycle I have sought to plan, to have an itinerary and to have the security of planning in advance what you do. This characteristic didn't apply to my destinations when in Ibiza, far from it and leisure habits during the daytime, but I had crafted a fairly rigid itinerary of #nightlife plans. Basically, I wanted to get the very best out of the trip and see the DJs that I wanted to see in the clubs that I wanted to see them in. This meant actually the on the first day of arriving there were three events I wanted to attend. From having joined the Ibiza solo travel forum on Facebook and connected with a number of other travellers that would be there at the time, some with really good networks that meant on that very first Saturday free admission into Ants at Ushuaia, free admission to the new Club Chinois to see Luciano in Ibiza town, and then from someone I've known on the island for a long time now who owns a bar in Playa den bossa, discounted tickets to see Black Coffee back-to-back with Themba at Hi.

So what about a wild vamping trip in Ibiza first of all?

The last time I tried this, I was nervous. I had done some research, but it was quick and dirty and identified quite limited places where wild vamping was possible. I don't know why last time I didn't use my helpful search for sites app that I use elsewhere when taking Duggie on a road trip, because just as with the UK, search for sites identifies great daytime, wild overnight spots that are free of charge, as well as formalised camp spots in every other global location pretty much. So that is an excellent tool to help you identify where is possible and plan a vamping trip. There is no need whatsoever to book into a formal campsite, which at this time of year again can be absolutely extortionate on top of the price of the camper van. Somebody I met mentioned being charged 70 euros and night for a pretty basic campsite.

Obviously, the extent to which you go wild depends upon the amenities that you have on board. Most camper vans for rent in #Ibiza will not have toilet facilities on account of health concerns and cleanliness, but many will now be equipped with a solar shower. However, being a keen Vanper myself I had packed my own solar shower, one from Lidl which is pretty crummy to be honest with you and I ended up just using it as a bag full of water that I tipped over my head. Functional, nevertheless. I packed my own solar panel and, importantly although I never needed to use it an expandable bucket. Use your imagination here. So perhaps I would say that the key and only real challenge to #wild #vanping in Ibiza is the prospect of where one will “toilet”. Easier for the gentleman amongst us. Most beaches do however have toilet facilities, although you cannot bank on them being open all through the night and may not in fact be unlocked until 9:00 o'clock the next morning. Something I discovered to my detriment when staying in the car park adjacent to the Hostel Talamanca last year. The location had been specially selected on account of the wonderful shower facilities and toilets on the beach adjacent to the car park but I was sorely disappointed to find the toilets were locked overnight and the water supply turned off.

Of course, it should go without saying that in enjoying such a wondrous form of tourism and accommodation it is important to respect the natural environment so that it can continue to be enjoyed by future visitors; we don't shit on our own doorstep as the saying goes. A bit of creativity goes a long way.

#Showering was the other potential challenge, and particularly if you were combining this sort of trip with going out at night and wanting to get dressed up and look half decent. I spent most of the time looking like the Pink Panther after he had emerged from the tumble dryer… especially after a few unfortunate sunburn incidents! Aside from that it was baking hot and spending the day in the salty sea and the sand you want to be able to freshen up. Obviously if there's a solar shower on board you're sorted, and you can shower anywhere, as long as you lose any hang ups or inhibitions you might have. I generally lost these during childbirth, but again stripping off in the car park at Benirras, after witnessing (with hoardes of others) the Hippies drum away the sunlight, as it was getting dark and having a bird bath under the solar shower didn't present a problem for me. However, if you're canny, there are many locations around the island, again particularly on beaches where there will be shower facilities. You just need to check out whether they are functional throughout the evening night and early morning as well as during the daytime. I was delighted when staying near the Babylon beach club in Santa eulalia, on the last day when I woke for a sunrise swim at Playa es niu blau, to find that the beach showers were on at 5:30 in the morning and I could enjoy a delightful and refreshing uninterrupted cleanse, without the normal crowd of awaiting sameads who wanted to rinse their feet after leaving the beach. So it was entirely possible to maintain all bodily functions, cleansing and associated going out titivation whilst in the care of my camper van.

And secondly, is it viable to have a solo clubbing holiday when staying in a camper van? What are the benefits and limitations, and how do you get around this?

I've mentioned the getting ready related obstacles that must be navigated. Now we come onto the benefits of having a camper van and enjoying the islands’ #nightlife. Culturally, we must remember that going out clubbing doesn't necessarily mean getting absolutely shitfaced to do so. It's quite normal not to drink, or to have a designated driver in Ibiza. If ultimately the goal is to enjoy the music, then alcohol doesn't have to necessarily play a part. All the clubs have car parks. No one gives a damn should a handful of camper vans rock up and spend the night after an enjoyable evening’s clubbing. Only problem is, club finishes as the sun is rising, camper vans are essentially tin boxes. It's hot! 37 degrees and counting. Essentially, you're trying to sleep in an oven. DC 10s car park again has no limits on whether the car or van stays there overnight, but it also has absolutely no shade. The blessing is though that DC -10 is located very close to some absolutely spectacular coastal wild vamping spots. Within a couple of minutes, I was parked up at Es Cavallet and enjoyed the most spectacular sunrise before trying to get my head down in my mobile oven.

Waking up in pools of sweat didn't seem so bad however when you could open the door, hop out and walk straight into the cool blue ocean.

There are so many other places I wish I'd have had time to stay in the van during this visit. So many of my favourite places, for example Benirras, Cala Boix, Es Pou De Leo, are possible wild vamping locations. I'm not gonna say that nobody during the space of that week received any sort of fine from the police or demand to move on, but I personally didn't. I think the rule of thumb is though that if you are #careful, #considerate, and #respectful then you will not encounter any problems.

There were many other highs and many other lows. Some are not appropriate for sharing. But what I will say is, something that at least I have a consciousness of. I adore #Ibiza. I would still live there in a heartbeat, and I continue to experiment with doing so as far I am able. But I need to temper the island’s hyper-reality. Where there is pleasure, there is pain. Where there is beauty, there is ugliness. Where there is authenticity, there is fake in abundance. It is a liminal #playground. I experienced it all this trip and it is a recurring theme it seems. Until I can reconcile this rollercoaster, then the lows that accompany the highs may not be a positive wellbeing choice….

That is all I’m going to say about this trip. I’ve not blogged for ages. For some reason my creativity has been stunted for a while. It’s not that I haven’t travelled, far from it, and I now have a mounting backlog of stories; a mind-blowing trip to Kefalonia in April, Unum festival in Albania in June, the resurrection of Dugs and some fab road trips with my little darling. I just wanted to get the juices flowing again and put keystroke to Word.

Love and peace to all xxx