Returning

After the end of my exams this May, I was lucky enough to take a trip back to Ibiza, the island I called home for nearly twelve months. Since saying goodbye at the end of August last year, sadly Ibiza became a distant memory. Life there was so different to back in the UK that the whole experience felt like a dream.

I still had this surreal feeling when booking my visit months beforehand. It simply did not feel real that I was returning to this parallel world. It was only when my rowdy Ryanair flight touched down on the island that it hit me: I was back!

One thing’s for sure, the Spanish are wonderfully welcoming people. After being greeted with open arms at the airport, I arrived back at the flat where I lived that year and was made to feel completely at home again. The warm hospitality was unbeatable, it was wonderful to feel so welcome and great to see familiar faces.

The weirdest thing about being back was the sensation that nothing had changed. Unlike my friends who spent their year as Erasmus students at universities, and who met people from all over the world, the majority of the people I know in Ibiza are locals who continue their day to day lives on the island.

This meant that everything was pretty much the same as it was when I was there and I slipped back in to routine effortlessly.

This was especially true when I went to visit the school I worked in. All the teachers and students were still there like every other day last year and when popping my head in to the classes to say hello, it almost felt as if I was back helping out as a Language Assistant!

It was sweet to see how excited the children were to see me (always such excitable people) and it pulled on my heart when many asked if I was staying!

Moreover, the island itself also seemed exactly the same. Returning back to familiar places sparked a strong sense of nostalgia and I felt so at home I couldn’t believe I was flying back to the UK!

Now at home again, I am bittersweet about my life in rainy, grey Northern Europe. The blue skies of Ibiza and the warmth of its people already seem like a million miles away. At the same time, I have realised how lucky I am to call another place home and to be able to return to welcoming faces anytime I want.

In fact, I am already looking forward to my next trip back. It seems like the ‘Buena Vida’ I enjoyed on my year abroad is not quite over yet. Here’s to many more visits to Ibiza….