Spain

Ever since i took my first holiday abroad at the age of 16 I loved the whole holiday resort atmosphere.It was on the Greek island of Crete and it was beautiful.Sunny skies,very hot and swimming pools in every apartment block,it was paradise. I went out for a walk alone most mornings and the streets at that time where filled with family's and elderly people disappearing in and out of tacky shops and cheap restaurants. It was a different experience walking in the mornings then it was a night time,in the evenings the streets where crowded with drunken teenagers not much older then myself and girls wearing no more clothes then they would have down by the beach.

The thing that appeals to me about these kind of places is that holiday resorts are not big places but if you like to sleep all day or lie by the pool with a beer ,then go out and get hammered every night the nightlife caters for everybody but if you like to sightsee or eat  nice food, look up at the stars or do daytime activity's then that's what you do.3 years later came my first holiday away with freinds ,we went to Gran Canaria ,it was a special place and I have been back 4 times since then.Iv also been to Ibiza, Portugal, Zakynthos, Turkey and most recently Majorca.

It was on the Spanish island of Majorca that i got the opportunity to move there after being asked to be resident DJ in one of the disco bars on the strip,of course i jumped at the chance.I moved over in April 2009 and within 24 hours had an apartment directly across the road from the bar.I had been in touch with a girl I had never met who was also flying over on the same flight to work in the same bar.It made sense to live together and we got on really well so it worked.I was a bit apprehensive at first with the idea as i had never lived with anyone outside of family before but it worked out just fine,Stacie was NOT  a girly girl..It was a simple one bedroom apartment with a radio and a TV we had bought for 50 euro.It was OUR apartment,it was not dirty but not clean ,it was just an apartment we slept in.We agreed on one thing,first night she had the bed while i slept on the sofa and every night we would swap.We started working in the bar and at first we where not getting paid, it was a taste of things to come for the next 6 months.

I did a few free nights just to get used to the decks and mixer and also the crowd,unfortunetly at that time there wasn't much of a crowd but that didn't really matter,things soon changed and the bar was packed every night even before i got there.It was tough going because it was 7 nights a week 10pm till 4am with free drink all night and sometimes i played in the nightclub from 4am-6am,that sounds like a great job and for the most part it was but 6 months of getting force fed pints of sex on the beach through a funnel to encourage the holidaymakers to join in and get as drunk as us took its toll.Eventually my best friend joined us,he worked in the restaurant across the road from the bar but we worked completely different hours so we never actually seen each other sober in the 6 months we where there.we made some great friends over there particularly Sean and Martina whom we are still very close to.Its always been something iv wanted to do and was very greatfull I got the opportunity to it with some of the greatest people i have ever met,unfortunetly some where not!

My friend Marc's boss was the mother of my boss,two extremely vile obese nasty people.Spoilt,rude obnoxious,mean,horrible bullies.Being a few years older then most of the staff i quickly realised if you where to survive here you needed to be strong ,smart and cunning.Every question they asked had an ulterior motive so you really had to be on your toes and sober dealing with them,the latter of the the two being the most difficult.The bar , KMS'S (named after the 4 daughters,kerry,michelle,sonia and sofie), had for years the reputation of going through a ridiculous amount of staff each season and i can completely see why.I lasted the whole season and am told I am only the second person to do that. It was a bittersweet victory,i had sold myself on numerous occasions but i had also outsmarted the bad guys , either way i had won! It wasn't all bad to be fair,I was ,after all ,the highest paid on the strip.I was getting free drink for 6 hours a night and also a free dinner in their restaurant for making an announcement halfway through the night telling people how 'awesome' their pizzas where! I never did make those announcements and the pizzas where infact SHITE !!

A normal day in Santa Ponsa consisted of waking up around midday,going out for breakfast with Marc and Stacie then back to our own private swimming pool with a few other workers.It was a great way to both relax after the previous night and remember what had actually happened! I was never a fan of the beach but to be fair Santa Ponsa beach is one of the most beautiful beaches you will ever come across and im sorry I never spent more time there.We would normally watch a dvd after dinner,id then shower and head to work about 9.45.On my arrival i was welcomed with a pint of sex on the beach,a funnel and one of the girls pointing me towards the 'FUNNEL CHAIR'.So after downing this concoction along with 2 sambucas i was ready to start.This process was repeated on the hour every hour.The further into the season it got,the less of an effect this process had on me but I was always the spontaneous,random type anyway so that didnt really make any difference.Its weird how different people react with drink on them,i seen this first hand and it never failed to suprise me some of the stupid things people say to DJ'S when they are drunk.The quite ones get loud and arrogant and the loud ones just get irritating and more arrogant.

Music wise i learned a lot, I learned Beyonce and Akon are cunts and i hate their music!! After the nightly fix of  chart, dance, RNB and party classics i was ready to wrap up for the night although this could not be done with creating a line through the bar where the already drunk customers where getting free shots poured into them,or all down them,while dancing to 'rock the boat'! Being the DJ i didnt have to deal with getting people out or the clean up operation so 4.01 am and i was out of there to continue the party.Id normally head around to one of the nightclubs have a quick drink then head off to a quiter nightclub.This was a place that for some reason never got busy but it was the perfect place for the staff from all the bars to come chill out after work or continue the madness.I had put forward the idea of having staff karaoke when we arrived which worked a treat,just people comfortable around one another singing terrible songs with terrible voices.We wernt representing where we worked anymore so it was an anything goes type of place.

Living in Majorca was an experience to say the least and a damn good one too,its a time of my life that i will never forget.I met alot of great people and am still in touch with most of them.Some great things happened over there.What a great place to watch little unknown Irish soccer team shamrock rovers play the mighty Real Madrid and hold them scoreless for 87 minutes.A place where i accidentally started an argument with Lennox Lewis,just a place where the toughest decision you have to make is what you are going to have for dinner.I fell in love with the place,the lifestyle,the weather and the beauty but all good things come to and end.Ill never forget my time on the island but its also another thing off my to-do list,i may never be back to the place but it will never be too far from my memory.It broke me and fixed me all at the same time,changed me as a person but never revealed too much of itself to me to get used to it.

Would i recommend it as a place to go? I would and i wouldnt ! A week there could be too long but 6 months there could be too short.......