I never know how much to share on here and what to keep to myself with regards to my personal life. I have been ‘off’ from the blog for the last few weeks and have recently experienced something that I wanted to share with you, hopefully for your future safety if you are planning an Ibiza Gals trip or such anytime soon.
I have taken a huge chunk of my life/work off over the last 6 months as my mum had terminal cancer and I wanted to spend time with her. So lots of time off, flights home & weeks away. At the same time, trying to keep afloat financially, keeping up this blog and actually having a normal life has not been easy. I flew back 3 weeks ago or thereabouts and was lucky enough to spend the last weeks of my mum’s life next to her bedside which I am so grateful for. That’s all I am wanting to share at this time.
Aside from that , I had booked my hen do to Ibiza around 6 months ago for last weekend, and it ended up falling on the day after my mum’s funeral. I decided to go, as I didn’t want to let all my beautiful friends down and also, where else would be a better place to be than surrounded by your oldest and best pals? I remember that I had originally booked to just take on-cabin luggage to save some ££ but as my headspace and mindset was FUCKED after the funeral and everything I had to deal with ; I chose to just pack a huge check-in bag so I could chuck EVERYTHING in so I didn’t need to think too much about what I needed and what I didn’t.
We had an amazing , luxury, secluded villa. It was dreamy : 8 bedrooms, sleeping 12 people, a huge patio / BBQ area, gardens and of course, a gorgeous pool. We had SO much fun over the weekend doing various nights out and the all the Ibiza norm. However, Whilst we went out for a quiet dinner on the last night, our villa was completely ransacked by a gang (I’m assuming) of professional thieves.
We left the villa for a total of 2 hours and by the time we returned the entire villa had been turned over and emptied.
Four out of nine of us had EVERYTHING stolen ; I’m talking my ENTIRE suitcase, designer handbags & wallet (a present from my mum), passport, ALL my personal makeup, 5 Tom Ford brushes (I die), luxury skincare, …jewellery, designer sunglasses, perfumes, x 4 shoes, x 3 trainers , ALL of my clothes, my GHD’s, my hairdryer and some of my mum’s things I had stupidly taken for sentimental reasons.
I’m not joking, when I say I ran up to my room to check what had gone and it was absolutely bare. They had literally packed my own suitcase with everything in my room and stolen it…..they even took my iphone charger out of the wall.
Not only was this absolutely sickening but I felt so sad for all my heartbroken friends around me…..some of them lost more than myself and it was just terrible.
Then the fear set in : We were a bunch of terrified girls in a secluded villa which looked out into darkness and trees.
Maybe they were still in the villa? Maybe they were still waiting outside and could see us? We were mainly crying and in shock. Obviously we called the police and were relieved when they turned up and from what they were saying this is VERY FUCKING NORMAL. I think we were the 6th villa that night that had been to.
I literally ended up flying home the next day in what I was wearing the night I went out for dinner, and a small handbag which I fortunately had a bank card in, my phone, a couple of makeup bits and a very fucking glum face.
My insurance cover up to a certain amount (I think it’s £2500) but it won’t and didn’t nearly cover the total amount which was valued at around £4000 plus I had quite a few of my mum’s possessions with me which is irreplaceable. The one thing that I want back the most was this small, heart-shaped pebble she had given me over a year ago and I had kept this in my Mulberry wallet…which was obviously stolen. If I could just get this back I think I would be happy as many of the other bits can be re-purchased. It’s infuriating that this little precious stone would have just been chucked out somewhere in Ibiza and it will never be seen again.
Anyway, if you read this and are going to Ibiza, or know girls who are going to Ibiza, and staying in a villa, PLEASE SHOW THEM THIS. It’s common for groups of girls to be targeted in villas, and my friend who organised this warned us all before we went about villa robberies. The police told us that they will keep watch on lots of villas, and these people may have been watching us from the woods that we looked out onto, which is pretty horrifying. They knew the exact time we all vacated the property and it was a small window of opportunity that they had.
You should also use ONE ‘proper’ taxi firm the entire time you are there, rather than using loads of different ones/drivers as these can also be dodge and they will often report to gangs if they pick you all up for a night out, so they know the villa is empty. We were already really careful about this and even when talking in the back of a cab, don’t mention you are all together / the villa is empty / anything about keys / or where you are going for the night.
I wanted to share this with as many people as possible so other girls n’ guys don’t have to go through this shit-show.
SAFTEY CHEAT SHEET (if you CBA to read the whole post)
- Stay in a hotel over a villa if you can ; the security is always better.
- Remember your holiday insurance (one of my pals had none and lost around £5000 worth of clothing, jewellery and the rest)
- Try not to take all your £££ things – assume the worst in the nicest possible way and DON’T pack 45 of your new fancy Tom Ford makeup brushes.
- Be careful with taxi’s and travel. Try to PRE-BOOK with one legit firm your entire holiday rather than jumping in/hailing cabs.
- Check your Villa (if you choose to stay in one) on TripAdvisor and check it’s all legit – some owners/renters are 100% in on it. Check the day you arrive : all doors and windows lock in entire place. If there is one small window/balcony door that doesn’t LOCK then contact them directly and insist it’s fixed immediately. SERIOUSLY.
- If there is a safe – USE IT for valuables : ideally split things up like money etc, so you always have a card / cash on your person and some in the safe. Safes have been known to be broken into and stolen entirely so also be aware of this.
- Be alert and wary of who you are talking to on nights out. Don’t tell everyone in the club where you are staying and who with. try not to invite strangers back to your villa (get thee back to their hotel!!)
I will be back to normal soon. In the meantime, I have an insurance claim to make and a bloody wedding to sort out!!
