The Ibiza List

Few places in the world not only root themselves in memory, but weave into your very being. For me, that place is Ibiza—my beloved Mediterranean escape.

The island and I have a beautifully long history. Not only does it hold a very special place in my heart, but also in my personal evolution as a woman, a wife, a mother and, thanks to the many summers I’ve spent dancing the night away to my husband’s DJ sets, a raver!

It’s difficult to explain to someone who hasn’t felt the pull of this Balearic island. It isn’t only the rugged coastline and crystalline waters, the soul-stirring music, or the perfectly pink to orange sunsets overlooking Es Vedra that seem to suspend time. It’s something deeper. A magnetic energy. A quiet magic that burrows into your spirit and never lets go. Like so many others, our family found this island, and the island, in turn, found us. 

A Long Love Affair

I first set foot on this enigmatic island 25 years ago, in the summer before Victor and I were married, and from that moment on, it has quietly shaped me.

In those early years, when Victor was playing Amnesia, Space, or Pacha, our trips were brief, rooted only in nightlife. We were tourists, dipping in and out, and the island never truly revealed herself to us. Or maybe we just weren’t looking in the right places. It wasn’t until much later—after years spent raising our son, Jivan, and building a business—that we returned to see the island through a different lens. Ready to show up for all the beauty and freedom the island has to offer, not just simply pass through it. That shift changed everything, allowing us to understand why this island is a magnet for artists, changemakers, pioneers, mavericks, and dreamers. There is a reason the island’s mythical goddess, Tanit, represents dance, fertility, sexuality, and creativity! I feel her spirit deep within every time I’m there.

This summer, we stayed for seven weeks, our longest stint yet. We tucked ourselves into a finca high in the hills of Sant Josep, wrapped in bougainvillea in bloom, the breezy sway of pine trees, cicadas in their hypnotic chorus, and the heady scent of lemon and orange groves.

Our days fell into their own rhythm: our dog Tuco darting through the fields chasing geckos, me unrolling my mat for morning yoga, Jivan making music by the pool before planning nights out with friends, and Victor deepening connections with fellow DJs. Because of the legendary DJ line-ups, so many artists call Ibiza home for the season, making it one of those rare places where they can hear one another play. Late afternoons took us to seaside chiringuitos, to hidden coves for a sunset dip, or on hikes across lunar-like landscapes, stumbling upon caves above glassy turquoise water.

Layers of a Life Here

After the last three years of committing to this island, we’ve built a real community here, foundational friendships, and solid connections with farmers, artists, purveyors, musicians, chefs, club owners, healers, and families from across the globe who now feel like kin. We found our people, we found our places. Because Ibiza isn’t only about beaches or parties; it’s about the people who root you here.

These connections have not only brought me to a deep love of Ibiza but also back to myself. They’ve nudged me to let go again, to dance again, to lose myself in both nature and nightlife because that is who I am at my core. Nightlife is how Victor and I met; house music was Jivan’s lullaby as a baby. It is who we are as a family. This summer, Victor played a legendary set at Circoloco at DC10 with me, Jivan, and both of our friends in the booth. The energy behind him and on the dance floor was electric. I felt not only unbridled joy but also deep pride. Pride in Vic, of course, but also in staying true to ourselves. House music runs through our veins. It always has, and it always will. What began as a holiday destination has become something far greater—a mirror of our evolution.

In fact, Ibiza has always been tied to our son, Jivan’s story. In 2003, when he was just six months old, the north of the island became his first European holiday. I remember him bobbing in a yellow float in the pool, getting stung by a bee—my first clumsy parenting lesson. That same day, he discovered his feet (with his mouth!) and tasted sparkling water for the first time as the sun sank into the horizon.

Two decades later, we returned to that very part of the island as a family, Tuco bounding beside us, for a five-hour sunset hike. Only this time it was Jivan nudging me forward, daring me to take risks, to leap off cliffs with him into the sea. That full-circle moment—from his first holiday here as a baby, to DJing his first villa party this summer, and then leading me into adventure on those same northern cliffs—felt like a story only Ibiza could write.

And the fact that at 22, he still wants to holiday with us? That speaks to the closeness we share. In many ways, house music—Victor’s career, Jivan’s music path, the soundtrack of our family life—has been the thread that keeps us bound together. Ibiza is the place where that thread feels strongest.

Ibiza’s Revelations

If there’s one truth I’ve learned over the years, it’s this: Ibiza reveals herself when you show up for her. When you commit to her people, her rhythm, her nature. Only then does she begin to hold you. And while admittedly I do often need to set some boundaries while there, it is a place that allows me to roam free with its lack of boundaries. Sometimes you just need to lean in!

While some lament that Ibiza has changed, I see her growth as an evolution to celebrate the expansion of the restaurant scene, the embrace of we llness, and the preservation of her raw beauty. Yes, Ibiza is music and nightlife, but it is also a sanctuary: of food, of nature, of connection, of unshakable beauty. 

For us, Ibiza is no longer just a holiday. It is home.

OUR GUIDE TO IBIZA

Now that we’ve laid roots here and become part of the community, I’d love to share some of the places and experiences that make this island so special to us—the meals worth lingering over, the hikes that take your breath away, the beaches for late-day swims, the excursions that uncover hidden corners, the workouts that ground me, the hotels we adore, and of course, the nightlife!