lets start with 63, mi viejo, as they say in Argentinian or my old man as they say in America. Mi Padre, my Father, a seed, an idea, the one who made my mother Jody, fall in love with him and then they made my brothers and I, a time-line spanning 4 decades.

If you asked me now, today in 2019, I say I am still a kid; 39 is nothing. — back to me later.

63 doesn’t sound like much either, my mother and father have provided without a doubt the best life they could provide to me since I was in the womb.. until about my very green and naive age of 24, when I entered “the real world”. I’m sure a lot of crazy things have happened since, and I probably don’t even know one third of the stories that my parents have gone through to make ends meet, but no matter what I had it “all”: safety, education, health, freedom. (and so did my brothers)

at 63, my father is broke, it seems in all possible ways, for one economically, really, not one penny, no government pension, no full-time or part-time job, he is currently homeless and living on the island of IBIZA.

He is broke for some strange reason and has been for sometime now and by time I mean years, Why? Because 19 years ago he discovered his passion, that is, he is a healer, he heals people with his hands, he has a gift, some people appreciate it and some don’t, like everything in life.

He has appeared in many radio and T.V. shows in México, USA and Spain most recently in la La Caja de Pandora, a famous video blog for esoteric’s from around the planet!

(his website https://desestresarte.jimdosite.com/)

Some people appreciate and understand him as an individual, as he is very unique and sometimes infamous human-being that he is. He is most infamous for making people LAUGH or riso-terapia, as he likes to say; that is if you are aware enough or in the same frequency per say to catch his jokes.

I would estimate that 99% of people don't have the time/patience or perhaps haven’t reached a level of awareness to understand where he is coming from. I have seen him make countless people laugh, people from all over the world, all ages and backgrounds, it happens on the spot and its a beautiful thing, its priceless.

My dad is a very well read man and was brought up in the 1960’s in an very affluent family of mad Scientists and Industrialists, so his knowledge and experience is vast in all areas of life.

He is a impactful character without a doubt, the moment you see him or hear him speak, you think he could have made any career in radio or TV, its never late.

Growing up in his house we would listen to the following kind of music, all the time:

New age..

Every weekend at my house there would be this kind of music blasting full volume on a Bose sound system, state of the art for being in the 90’s. :)

Classic rock..

And well thanks to my mom’s American influence, a lot of this kind of music was always in the airwaves at my house, Beatles, Pink Floyd, FleetwoodMac, etc etc.

Latin jazz / salsa

and well a lot of different latin and jazz sounds… from Coltrane, to Davis, to Puente to Mariachi Vargas de Tecatitlan. Anything under the sun, we had a CD collection stretching for kilometers :)

yes CD (compact disc)

I think I got a bit carried away in trivialities, I did this maybe just so you get an idea of how eclectic our upbringing has been. Blessed.

I think his infectious childlike qualities demonstrate a couple of basic principles of life:

1. Live in the moment
2. Have a good time
3. Laugh

In a way I think I owe him, so I am here to support him as best as I can, even with my limited resources. I wish him a lot of luck and love to his new found life in Ibiza.

—

39 fkin years old — (since 1979)

“I’m like a kid at this age”, jokingly I told a friend of mine in conversation a couple of weeks ago, its almost 2020, with the technologies of tomorrow (today) we will probably live up to 140 years. I am a grand optimist when it comes to future life-techs.

The school of life, which is what I consider the little island of Ibiza to be, is a place to learn and “grow” like people like to say. Here I have learned many things, but knowledge isn’t really the key to life; its 3 principal concepts:

1. Patience
2. Surrender
3. Flow

… to

be continued..

this draft was actually written about 6 months ago. just sharing now..

thanks,

Gato Suarez in Ibiza Spain

Since a very young age, I have been in touch with technology, — the time of Nintendo, FM radio to cassette tape and VHS tapes + MTV and yeah, lets not forget, dial-up internet at 28,800 bits per second, yeah I had a US Robotics modem and I though it was super cool..

At the same time in my teenage years I was a triathlete, I spent as much time outdoors as possible, either running, cycling or swimming in lakes and going to competitions and winning, pushing myself to the limits!

So I’m both into the digital aspects of life and the natural ones, but I could say I’m most comfortable and happy living unplugged, under the tree canopies laying on a hammock and letting the sunlight dial my time, resting with the birds.

I’m a nature guide in Ibiza now, walking, kayaking, cycling, etc, -Naturally-

1: Sometimes I have very young clients along the walks I guide in Ibiza, one story particularly sticks with me, is that a young man, that goes by the name of Marco, has been inspired and has copied my “earthing” way of life… why is that you say, because one time during one of the walks along the cozy part of the trail I took my shoes off and I carried on as normal. When Marco asked me, what are you doing? I said I’m earthing its good for you, it makes you stronger, connects you with nature and its benefits your health in many ways. So now when his mom asks why are you taking your shoes off? He says, mom, I am earthing!

— I recommend you try this at home, either on grass, mud, down a trail and of course on any nice sandy beach, take your shoes off! Don’t be silly. It will for sure make you less delicate to whatever mother earth throws your way —

2: And also during my walks I have adults, and during our conversations on the hikes I guess they get some info from me directly, that I never thought would have influenced their personal lives in such a unique way. I recently found out that one of my clients has enrolled his 5 and 6 year old daughters in private Robotics lessons. Just from the fact that a year ago I was talking about: what I now know to be “disruptive technologies” which at the time I had no idea what I was saying. But I told this client of mine.. yeah “Robotics is the future”, if a 6 year old can build a robot now, just imagine what they could build when they are 25 years old!

Et voila! Influenced.. and in a very positive way I think.

I’m not a technology expert and specially not a parenting expert, but I share some of my simple futuristic views to the world around me and my views then turn into the positive actions it seems.

I wish that someday these kind of “influences” I seem to be generating make and impact around the world over time.

Baby steps… and poc a poc like they say in Ibiza. (little by litte)

— -

If you wish to find out more about my futuristic views and would like to know detailed information about my life in Ibiza, write me!

Sincerely,

Gato Suárez

• Can Gato Ibiza (@cangatoibiza) * Instagram photos and videos
• Can Gato Ibiza

Most of you don’t know this, but getting around by bus in Ibiza is almost impossible specially in the winter, but that doesn’t matter when while waiting at the bus stop you meet Maggie and Mike..

we start chatting about the weather and Ibiza and then music.. Mike happens to be the lead singer of an 80’s UK Goth-rock band called the 13th Chime… which have been in the dark for the past 31 years but recently started touring worldwide around two years ago, I have never been a fan of goth-rock but their story is quite interesting! a New York indie label re-released their recordings on vinyl about 8 years ago, while the band was still broken-up of and still has a fan following in places like Mexico, Spain and Germany to name a few.

Part 2, after being taken by two cars on the way to my destination… car #3, was Hank a retired Dutch man, that is very proud of his country and the freedom his country represents and is also into vintage Boats, he has two river boats one from 1948, he happens to know my Ibiza friend Sjaak von Zschuschen and her boyfriend Dario, because they come from the same university town, which I now forget the name, but their campus has 50,000 students, which I drew a parallel to the University of Texas Austin, which has about the same or more, maybe 80,000. Anyway, interesting fellow… he dropped me off about 1km from my destination which I happily walked in the darkness, it was just after sunset…

until the next hike! ❤ ∞

enjoy “coffin maker” one of their best hits..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QCRn_wCogY

yours,

Gato Suárez

intro:

This is a time of year in October or immediately after the Winter equinox, (September 22nd) that you can breathe a fresher air and literally hear the silence. Roads aren’t crowded, the cities and beaches seem completely deserted and clean. This might be because of the simple fact that about 2.5 million tourists have left, gone home after mostly trashing the whole Island with a huge lack of consciousness and disregard for our island’s natural resources. The tourists are not 100% at fault in some cases local government doesn’t make it easy to access garbage disposal areas specially on beaches and there are very few marketing campaigns guiding people to be more considerate.

This was the first time I’ve been able to experience a phenomena that most islanders living year round on any island deal with because of the nature of tourism and its on/off seasons. Truly a peaceful feeling..

Is its important to let you all know that Ibiza is more than just nightclubs and beach clubs packed with people wanting to enjoy some sun, surf, sex, drugs and rock and roll..*aka electronic music, Nothing wrong with that, tsk tsk..

Everybody does it.. ☺

Nature:

This magical/mystical and some times misconstrued place is perhaps one of the most green and blue places I have ever lived in.

Green with thousands of Carob, Olive, Fig and Pine Trees as well as Cactus fruit, random crops like Watermelon, Tomatoes, Pomegranate, Corn and all the Citrus fruits. Surprisingly some wild crops of Asparagus, Mushrooms; as well as plenty of aromatic and healing herbs/flowers such as Rosemary, Thyme, Fennel and Sage just to name a few. Everywhere!

Blue because its surrounded by 360 degrees of delicious “crystal clear” Mediterranean ocean, we are not immune from trash gyres, I’ve even rescued a unopened floating can of Estrella beer once, that washed a shore along with a lot of fragments of plastic bags and other random disposables.

But for the most part the beaches and the quality of the water are to die for! Not to worry, it is still paradise..

above: Salinas in the Winter

below: Cala D’en Serra in the winter (video contains mild nudity)

I strongly believe that in the near future Ibiza’s visitors will shift slowly but surely towards wellness, nutrition, learning and eco-tourism.

The shift has already begun..

I was able to practice a little eco-tourism in the peak of summer when I took a 36 day bicycle trip around the island, heading in whichever direction I pleased going with the “island flow” as people here talk about, ethereal as it may sound it exists. You can read about the journey here:

http://ibiza36.tumblr.com

History:

Like most places around the world Ibiza is also rich in history, due to a blending of cultures and a mystical past.

In Example:

The origin of the name Ibiza..

“The Balearic island of Ibiza derives its actual name from this God, brought along with the first Phoenician settlers 654 BC. These settlers, amazed at the lack of any sort of venomous creatures on the island thought it to be the island of Bes (<איבשם> ʔybšm *ʔibošim). Later Romans called it Ebusus.”

source: Wikipedia / http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bes

This magical rock, the 3rd most magnetic place on earth..

“Es Vedrà consists predominantly of mesozoic limestone, and contrary to the esoteric urban myth of being a special magnetic place, has no (magnetic) metal accumulations. The island we see today is as a result of a geological tumble. 155 million years ago, continuous seismic movements in the earths crust caused great shifts in the Betica Mountain Range. Eventually this caused the splitting of the range resulting in the formation of the Balearic Islands. Continued movement of the ridge which formed the islands caused portions to sheer and split away from the islands. Es Vedrà, along with the satellite island of Illa Vedranell and the Illa Tagomago, are examples of this action.”

source: Wikipedia / http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Es_Vedrà

Curiosities:

Ibiza is most definitely a dog and cat Island, more so than in places like NYC or L.A. They are absolutely everywhere, wild packs of Podenco dog’s (not pictured) are known to roam areas of the island hunting rabbits and other small animals. Wild cats are known to roam the Port of Ibiza and also remote areas like mountains, restaurants, etc.

Domestic dogs can be found swimming at the beach or in multi-million dollar mansions. Owners on average have 3 dogs from what I have been able to observe and cats forget about it, I’ve witnessed friends that can handle about 7 to 16 cats at a time with pleasure and loving care.

about Podencos: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podenco_Canario

pictured below: “Gato jumping into a Balsa” woohoo!

A “balsa” is a fresh water pool used for land irrigation, a very antique but practical system.

until next time, follow me to find out more alternativ things about Ibiza “The White Island”

Truly,

Gato Suárez ∞

photojournalist and

freelance writer.

Enjoy this music sample by Ibiza based producer Motoe Haus: http://www.beatport.com/release/stagioni/1397751