Once a month... for a year...feels like home now :-)

I've always wondered, if I only had 24 hours in Ibiza, what would be my must-see sights. I had the opportunity to play this out, whilst also touting my tour guide services in my December trip. I had opted for a hostel, for cost efficiency, and whilst enduring a rather lengthy wait to try and get into the hostel, met one of the other guests, Arvind, who was originally from Hyderabad in India, but studying his master’s degree in Munich Germany and taking every possible opportunity to see as much of Europe as he could. Yay Arvind! So I got a chance to, in the true style of a Taylor’s tour, to show him all of the best bits of Ibiza.

So where did we go? First stop was to Salinas, then The Festival Club, then next was to Es Vedra, followed by Time and Space, Cala Comte, Cala Salada, Santa Gertrudis for some grub. We even managed a party at Bora Bora and took along Roberto from Venezuela.

The music was amazing and the atmosphere great, particularly poignant that it was in Bora Bora, after I'd attended the final ever closing allegedly back in October. The next day I was on my own again and I headed off in the car after shaking off a stinking hangover. I had my list of things I wanted to do, a good coastal walk on the stretch along from Playa Es Niu Blau to Cala Martina, swim in the sea at Aguas Blancas and a sunset somewhere to be determined. It ended up being at Es Vedra somewhere I hadn't yet visited to watch sunset.

What an absolutely stunning spot for saying goodbye to the day. My final item on my to do list was the walk between Playa d’en bossa and Figuretas; my favourite walk. I had intended to eat at Casa Manolo but they were shutting up for the break in between lunch service and dinner service, so I ended up at the Mar Y Cel in Figuretas with a huge slap up meal of tapas. I had to feed my hungry belly because I haven't eaten anything since breakfast.

I headed back to the hostel for an early night. my slumber was rudely interrupted at 6:30 in the morning by group of Spanish lads, for whom I think I've been moved out of the previous room, for my own comfort, which was debatable. The door burst open and emerged three absolutely steaming lads who proceeded to push one of their mates into the room and shut the door behind them, obviously he hadn't originally booked a bed. Why didn't I lock the door I questioned myself. He preceded to realise it there was someone else in the room and that someone was female. We attempted a broken conversation in which he tried to persuade me to get onto the bed with him, not because he wanted to fuck me (his declaration) – oh, thank goodness it is optional! but because he wanted a cuddle (embrazo). Yay for consent! After a momentary feeling of vulnerability, the whole scenario was just funny, another story to tell, I guess. In fairness, had he insisted on switching on the light I have no doubt his shock would have been greater, as he found his mum there in the bed next to him.

So, I took the opportunity to get up early I meant for a run down to Talamanca, climb up to Cap Martinet which was a perfect spot to watch the sunrise and welcome in the day. There's a nice little swimming platform on the rocks at Cap Martinet and of course it would be rude not too. I headed back to the hostel to find the guys still on the bed snoring his head off and stinking the room out. I banged about a bit just to try and serve him right and he woke looking very confused. I had about an hour to kill and so headed up to Sa Caleta and Salinas for one last listen to the sea.

The flight back was routed via Madrid, and I had some time to spend in which I could go into the city centre. Madrid Baracas airport is massive it's like an airport city, but the metro services are connected from Terminal 2 for a 5-euro travel card you can get into the centre, well what ended up being 5 kilometres out of the centre for in about 20 minutes. I had a good walk around and clocked up my step count, making up for the lack of exercise over the last couple of weeks at the gym. Now I'm sat at Madrid airport facing another delay and starting to feel sleepy. I'm looking forward to getting home to my own bed but feeling satisfied that winter routings bring opportunities to see new places/ revisit previously enjoyed places.

So, all in all, yet another amazing winter trip to the beautiful island. It was great to have the chance to share my love and knowledge of the must-see sites with another traveller, after all, spreading the word is our duty. It was great to be thrown into a situation whereby I had to be more sociable and found it easier to get chatting to people, enabled by the hostel accommodation. I'm glad I went out, and the choice of the night was a good one because it was an intimate gathering of people that no doubt ‘do the rounds’ and those familiar faces will hopefully be ones that I'll bump into on a future visit.

I love the fact that the frequency of my visits mean that I am now honing the most cost-effective way to travel to and exist on the island. Ibiza does not have to be expensive, and this trip was testament to that. Click es rent car hire have given me tips on how to get even cheaper rates than the nine Euros for three days that I booked the car hire for if that's at all possible. I now have a good network of people that I can get cheap admission or guest list on to some of the nightlife events. I have found a place to stay that is cheap, clean, and set up for making new friends and connections. And I have figured out that Santa Gertrudis is definitely the best place to eat if you want a really good value for money meal at 12 euros for a three-course meal and drink! I also spoke so much more Spanish than I ordinarily would, because of the immersion in the accommodation, and the events that I went to. These visits are a really good opportunity to strengthen my Spanish skills. so, next flight booked 44 pounds return, roll on January.