There are ideas that are born in an office, in front of a whiteboard and with a perfectly structured business plan. And then there are ideas that are born after a padel match, with the racket still in your hand, tired legs, a beer, a soft drink and a conversation that begins almost by accident.

Grip and Trip was born more in the second way.

Although afterwards came many hours at the computer, meetings, budgets, calls, spreadsheets, suppliers, clubs, hotels and phrases like: “this seemed much easier when we imagined it on the club terrace.”

The Day I Met Leo on a Padel Court

Leo and I met on 1 March 2024, the Day of the Balearic Islands. It was a local holiday and, instead of resting, I decided to do what any person hooked on padel would do: sign up for a match with strangers.

The match was at Club Pins. I was playing with Tomeu, a Mallorcan I did not know either, and on the other side of the net were Leo, German by origin and recently arrived in Mallorca, and Phillip, a French player who was also just starting out in padel.

The scene had all the ingredients of a social match on the island: people who did not know each other, different accents, a desire to play and that mix of excitement and disorder that appears when someone is still trying to understand how the glass works.

Tomeu and I won both sets quite comfortably. Leo and Phillip were beginners, and Tomeu had a solid base to lead the match. I basically followed his lead and tried not to ruin the work too much.

As we still had some court time left, we changed partners to balance the game. I ended up playing with Leo and, if I remember correctly, we won. Or at least that is what my memory has decided to keep.

At the end, Leo asked me in English if we could play another day. He had not been on the island for long, had just started playing padel and wanted to improve.

I thought: “another crazy person hooked on padel.”

And I was not wrong.

From Court Partners to a Shared Idea

It took about two months before Leo and I played our first mixed match together. We won it. And from there, we started sharing more matches, tournaments and conversations after playing.

Some matches we won, some we lost, and others are better left in the category of “learning experiences”.

Leo had moved to Palma with his family in 2023, attracted by the climate, the quality of life and Mallorca’s Mediterranean lifestyle. German by origin and Mallorcan by choice, he found in padel a very natural way to connect with the island and with other people.

From the beginning, he combined private lessons with matches with residents and friends. He wanted to improve quickly, and when someone who has just started padel says that, it usually means one thing: they are completely hooked.

And I was no different. Whenever I went to Barcelona to visit my sisters, my racket came with me in my suitcase. There, I played with Xavier and his group of retired friends. And I loved it, because padel has something very special: you can share a court with people of different ages, cities and levels, and still have a great time.

The Question That Started Everything

One afternoon, after one of many matches, Leo and I were at the club bar talking about points as if we had played a professional final, even though half of them were probably unforced errors.

And while talking about padel, travel and Mallorca, a very simple question came up:

Why not bring tourism and padel together in Mallorca?

The island had everything it needed: good weather, padel clubs, coaches, the sea, gastronomy, culture, international connections and a lifestyle made for enjoying the outdoors.

We also realised something important. Many padel trips or sports camps usually have fixed dates, large groups and programmes with little flexibility. But not everyone wants to travel like that.

Sometimes you want to choose your own dates. Come as a couple, with friends or in a small group. Play, train and improve, but also discover the island, eat well, swim in a cove, walk around Palma and experience something more personal.

That is when the idea of Grip and Trip began to take shape: a padel travel agency in Mallorca capable of combining sport, tourism and authentic experiences, with more flexibility and a local perspective.

One thing is to imagine it on a club terrace, and quite another is to make it real.

We worked on the idea for a year: research, meetings with clubs, conversations with suppliers, experience design, accommodation searches, activities, restaurants, budgets and many practical decisions.

Because organising a padel trip in Mallorca is not just about booking a court.

You have to think about the players’ level, the schedules, the training sessions, the transfers, the moments of rest, the plans after playing and the type of experience each group wants to have.

That is where our two perspectives came together very well.

Leo brought his international vision, his experience travelling through padel and his enthusiasm for connecting people through sport.

I brought my experience in communication, event organisation, planning and local knowledge of Mallorca.

Grip and Trip was born from exactly that combination: padel, travel, organisation and a strong desire to share the island in a different way.

What We Want to Create with Grip and Trip

Grip and Trip was not born simply to sell padel matches. It was born to create padel trips in Mallorca with soul.

Experiences for people who want to play, improve and enjoy, but also discover the island from the inside. Trips where sport is the starting point, but not the only memory.

We want those who come to Mallorca not to experience it only as tourists. We want them to feel it through its clubs, its terraces, its coves, its history, its gastronomy, its conversations and those moments that cannot be measured on a scoreboard.

Because padel brings people together, and so does Mallorca.

Perhaps that is why the idea made so much sense: a German recently arrived on the island, a Basque woman living in Palma since 2008, a match at Club Pins, several balls against the glass, many conversations after playing and one simple question that ended up becoming a project:

What if we created a different way to travel to Mallorca through padel?

That is how Grip and Trip was born.

Sometimes projects are not born from a great revelation. Sometimes they are born from something much simpler: a padel court, good company and the feeling that Mallorca deserves to be experienced in a different way.