My First Travel Tattoo

I honestly thought I'd never get a tattoo.

I first wanted a travel tattoo when I was in my early 20's to commemorate the months I’d lived in Spain--I planned to get a bull tattoo because not only did it remind me of Spain, but also because I am a taurus. The double meaning made it extra significant for me. 🐂 ♉

But I could just never bring myself to actually do it.

What if I didn't want it later in life?

What if I was 72, and wrinkly AF and had some ugly, faded bull tattoo that nobody—myself included—wanted to look at?

All valid concerns, let’s be real.

I’d seen so many horrific-looking tattoos, botched ink jobs and tattoo typos (**gasp**), and I just couldn’t stomach the idea of being the subject of a failed tattoo meme.

My fear crept in, and I decided it was best to just not get one at all if I couldn't commit and my gut feeling wasn’t an immediate “fuck yes” (good ole responsible Taureans).

I thought about getting a travel tattoo regularly throughout the last 15+ years since I initially had the idea, but I never took action. Trips came and went, but I never committed.

Fast forward to starting my travel business in 2021, and the idea of getting a travel tattoo resurfaced stronger than ever. Not only for me to get one, but to make it possible for everyone on my trip who wanted one.

What better way to remember an amazing travel experience than to get a tattoo in that country?

What could go wrong? 😂

So I decided that Colombia would be the location of my first travel tattoo. I initially was just going to get one by myself when I arrived before my group, but then I thought it would be more fun to get them together as a group.

When I asked my group after they arrived if they wanted to get tattoos to commemorate the trip, almost everyone did.

So it was decided. I was getting a tattoo. No turning back now.

Read more about my Colombia group trip here.

The only problem was that I didn't know exactly what I wanted. And for my first tattoo, I didn't want to second guess it. I'd saved images as inspiration for months before the trip, but I just couldn't decide.

Let's be real: sometimes I can't decide what I want for lunch if I’m given too many choices because I fear I might make the wrong choice (helloooooo, analysis paralysis! 👋🏼). And this was permanently marking my body, forever. NBD.

The longer you give me to decide something, the longer I will take to decide. And because I was busy running my group trip the entire time we were in Colombia and then getting the appointments ready for everyone else, I didn’t take the time to figure out what tattoo I wanted for myself.

SHIT.

We were on our way in our Uber to the tattoo shop when I asked Ashley, one of my group trip participants, if she could help me decide. I showed her some options and explained the general idea of what I wanted, and then she Googled some ideas herself.

Then she found this image of a poppy combined with the taurus constellation. I thought it was absolutely beautiful.

Obviously I knew the meaning of the taurus constellation, but I was less familiar with the significance of the poppy, so I Googled that too.

People born under the Taurus sign are strong, compassionate, and love being surrounded by love and natural beauty. Despite having beautiful blossoms, poppies are technically classified as weeds — they’re resilient, growing in even the most inhospitable landscapes. Just like a poppy flower, Taurus’s stand their ground, especially on matters they’re passionate about, and exude beauty and positivity.

I was sold.

I loved the idea of a resilient weed disguised as a beautiful flower, able to grow through anything. It reminded me so much of my first year of business and all the hardships I’d been through in the past five years since my divorce.

I might look like I’ve got it all together from the outside, but I’ve had to fight to get here. And it’s still incredibly hard.

Everything about it resonated with me, and my tattoo idea became an immediate “fuck yes.”

Because I am so indecisive, I ended up going first so I couldn’t change my mind. Considering I did a very small amount of research on a whim before making our appointment, I think my tattoo artist did an amazing job with such an intricate design. I timed him, and it took exactly 2o minutes.

If I told you I got a rushed $40 tattoo in Colombia from a random tattoo artist and it took 20 minutes, you’d probably think it would look like total trash.

But instead I got this:

Our group spent a while at the tattoo shop because we hadn’t planned ahead and only had one tattoo artist, but it was a fun experience bonding over all of our tattoo designs.

After my Colombia tattoo, I definitely had the tattoo itch, and already knew what I wanted my next one to be.

I had for a while wanted to commemorate my grandmother and my inaugural 2021 group trip to Mexico City with a tattoo; however, the Colombia trip came first, and I obviously didn’t want to get a Mexico City tattoo in Colombia.

Read all about my second tattoo experience in Mexico City.

I have zero regrets about my travel tattoos. I look at them every day. Although I cannot possibly get a tattoo for every group trip or travel experience I have (I mean, I could, but I don’t want to), I am so happy about the two I chose to get.

They have significance, and it’s hard to regret anything that reminds you of a place you never want to forget.