How do you disconnect? But really disconnect...
These last years of my life I have traveled a lot. Quite a bit more than I was used to. And although most of the trips have been to events related to WordPress, the balance between saying it's a "leisure trip" and a "work trip" is not clear at all. I have a great time, I'm with friends but I barely have time to visit the cities I'm in and mentally it's exhausting to be talking about "work" for several days in a row.
And yes, WordPress, the web world, online communities... it's work.
So I needed to recover an escape valve that was already in my life many years ago: music festivals.
First it was last year at BBK Live 2023. A gift that was for my nephew Dani although it was really for me. Three days in Kobetamendi enjoying Arctic Monkeys, Phoenix or Florence + The Machine. In a tent in the middle of the mountain, meeting crazy people from Valencia or Aragon (all called Antonio, curiously enough) and with conversations that went as deep as "what band are we going to see now?
And this year, seventeen years after my last time there, I went back to Benicassim. I went back to FIB.
I came back because Pete Doherty and Carl Barat (and Gary and John, yes, yes) were playing and I had never seen them together. I came back because the line-up was full of Spanish bands that didn't fit in the idea one may have of an "international" festival but they fit me because they were bands I had been listening to non-stop for the last months. I came back because I wanted to blow up the floor with Delaporte, break the curse with Lori Meyers, sing along with La La Love You as if I was twenty years old, quietly enjoy The Vaccines or get carried away with the crazy youth of Karavana, Besmaya or Veintiuno.
I came back because I was going with L. And this time we were going to know who we were and not just coincide in space/time without knowing how our lives were going to transform the moment we crossed paths soon after thanks, somehow, to the FIB.
Because you can always count on D to take you out to eat somewhere worth remembering. Because M doesn't mind if I go dancing (anything they call dancing) while she rests. And yes, everyone here has a middle initial -not because of the RGPD, but almost-.
And, above all, because it was my moment of disconnection.
Just beer (well, Heineken), good music, naps, showers, laughs and good tiredness. The kind you get when you've had a great time. Zero work. Zero web pages. Zero problems with people on the other side of the world. Zero planning of next actions.
Music, beer, sun, friends - doesn't that sound like a great plan?
Obviously FIB is not what it was, and I would also prefer to pay triple the price for a full festival ticket and have top bands that you can't see in any other festival in the country (yes, there is a choice...). But I didn't care this year. I went because I needed it and I give it a 10/10. Although I almost missed the plane. Even though I didn't go to eat where Francisco the cab driver recommended. Even though I "only" took a picture with Carl who was staying at our hotel. Although the first day I fell asleep in the middle of the venue. Even though I applied so much cream that I came back as white as I left. Even if there were sound failures. Even if there were no English people (which I think is wonderful). Even if the people on Instagram only had complaints and complaints. Even if the beer cost a buck (this year I had it! I didn't have to count pennies like when I was a college student!) or even if I ate a sandwich that won't go down in sandwich history. Even if I despaired with people trying to win prizes without taking into account the laws of physics. Even if the Castellón airport is not -not even close- in Castellón. Or even if the heat and humidity made me remember clearly why I stopped living in the Mediterranean ten years ago.
Because they have been four fantastic days that I will always remember (thanks to this blog and the many photos and videos I have) and because they are sure to be the door to a next festival in 2025. Which one? I don't know yet... recommendations?
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