My name is Julie, though most of my friends call me Jules. I’ve always loved the colour red, which is why I chose to have red hair. Over time, that became part of my identity, and the nickname “Red Jules” naturally stuck.

For many years I’d dreamed & thought about returning to Ibiza one day, but one night, too many drinks, too little sleep, I booked a solo trip for May 2023: just me, a week, no plan, no safety net!

When I sobered up, I remember thinking, “What have you done, Jules?” I started joining all the usual Facebook groups and Googling things like “Am I too old for Ibiza?”, “Where do you go clubbing when you’re older?” and “Where should I stay in Ibiza now I’m not young anymore?”—which, if anything, only made me feel worse.  So I did what I always do when something doesn’t fit: I made my own fit.

I created the Facebook group: Ibiza Clubbing for 40s+ for people my age, people who still felt alive inside even if the world kept trying to put them out to pasture.

I didn’t create it for a business, I didn’t create it to make money, I created it for me, for information, for connection, to meet people to dance with, have fun with and for a reason to get on that plane! And then something unexpected happened. People joined. People from the UK, people from all over Europe, from Australia, from Canada and all over the World! People who felt the same tug I did. People who were lonely, or lost, or bored, or brave, people who wanted to feel young again, people who wanted to dance again, people who wanted to live again.

When I finally went back to Ibiza, the group came alive. I met people who lifted me, who hugged me, who told me I’d changed their lives simply by giving them a place to belong.

When I returned to Spain afterwards, I thought about shutting the group down,  it was voluntary, it was exhausting, it was taking 40–50 hours a week of my life. But the messages kept coming:

‘You’ve given me something to look forward to.’
‘ You’ve given me friends.’
‘ You’ve given me fun’
‘ You’ve made me feel young again’
‘ You’ve given me my life back.’
How do you walk away from that? So I didn’t.

I kept going: I built meetups, I started Solo travellers holidays, supported DJs who dreamed of playing in Ibiza. I created a space where people could arrive alone and leave with a family. And somewhere in the middle of all that, I realised: this wasn’t a hobby anymore. This was a calling.

I’m not there for the chaos, the drugs, the packed clubs or the superstar DJs. I’m there for the connection, to be with my friends from all over the world, I’m there because I can feel the energy shift when someone walks into one of my meetups terrified and walks out glowing!

I wasn’t given this by accident, I was given it because I could hold it and Ibiza could make me shine!

Adapted from the upcoming novel by Joseph Cusack. © Copyright.