Get a souvenir that will last forever – Souvenir tip

Although it isn’t for everyone, a favorite souvenir to bring back with you could be one that will last forever: a tattoo!

When I was 18 I visited a friend in Chicago and we went to get our first tattoos. After that, every time I travel to a new city, I am completely tempted to get inked.

Getting different tattoos was already on my to-do list and now, not only does the tattoo itself tell a story, there is always the story of the places I’ve been and the things I’ve done.

10 Tips for getting a tattoo in Tahiti

Tahiti is one of the world’s top tattoo destinations and for a good reason: the Tahitians kinda sorta invented the whole tattoo thing, even giving us the word which derives from the Tahitian tatau, “to strike”.

Once upon a time in Tahiti, tattoos were made by taking a comb with teeth of sharpened wood or bone, dipping the tips into natural black ink and tapping it into the epidermis: tap, tap, tap. Then along came the tattoo gun, followed by Spring Break, bad Chinese charcter tats, and tramp stamps.

But Tahiti ain’t Cancun–tattoos have a long history and mean something here, which is why enthusiasts travel all this way for the real thing. If you are among such travelers, here are ten common-sensical things to think about before getting drawn upon:

Don’t rush
Please, please, do not do the following: come to Tahiti, notice a few cool tribal designs and think to yourself, “You know, I gotta get me one of them before my plane leaves in two days!” A tattoo is forever and ever, amen. Take time to learn and make an informed decision. A lot of enthusiasts take a ‘”recce” trip to Tahiti just to plan out their second trip in which they actually get the tat.

Do your homework
Read all about the history of Tahitian tattoos, the meaning of each design, and the range of artists out there. There are plenty of online sites and picture-laden books that can give you a better understanding of the particulars while a preliminary visit can give you a much clearer understanding of what you’re getting into.Ask
If you see a Tahitian on the beach with really cool ink, ask them where they got it. The really good, traditional work is often done by a family friend, and you might just get an introduction. These are small islands so the more you observe and ask, the more chance you have of learning who the most talented artists are.

Show & Tell
Visit prospective artists and ask that they show you photos of their previous work. It seems obvious, but not everyone is as smart as you. If in doubt about any of the work you see, move on. Despite all the talented artists in Tahiti, there are still a few impostors out there.

Go to the market
Papeete’s market is a wild visual destination in and of itself. While wandering among the piles of mangoes and goggle-eyed fish, visit the tattoo artists who hang around on the upper levels on Sundays. They cater to a local, Tahitian clientele and tend to do magnificent work.

Custom build
If in doubt, get a custom-designed tattoo, made just for you. Most Tahitian tattoo shops will have books that are loaded with traditional designs, however most Tahitian artists are actual artists who can draw up a beautiful tat just the way you want it. That’s part of what makes the experience so cool.

Reject realism
If you travel to Tahiti to get a tattoo of turquoise dolphins doing somersaults across your back, well then, you’re a moron. Likewise, there are tattoo artists who will gladly take your money to attempt a scrawling of Bart Simpson skateboarding across your thigh, but none of them know who Bart Simpson is. When in Tahiti, stick to to Tahitian designs and stick to black.

Tap it
For the full-on Tahitian experience, skip the comforts of the tattoo gun and get your design tapped into you skin the traditional way–with a boar’s tusk comb. This takes longer and costs a lot more (one or two helpers need to hold your skin taught while the artists punctures you about four thousand times), but it’s as close as you’re gonna get to the experience of the early explorers who first visited. Moorea Tattoo still offers this method, as do a few other artists.

Start saving now
A decent, singular tattoo in Tahiti costs upwards of 30,000 Polynesian Francs (about US$450). Start multiplying that number if you want to cover more than a shoulder or calf. In that same vein, make sure you’re not getting overcharged because you’re a white man. Even on a good day, Tahiti is super expensive.

Grin and bear it
But does it hurt? Yes it does–and in Tahiti, that’s kind of the point.

Travel-Inspired Tattoos

I spent 29 years on Planet Earth without ever getting a tattoo. Then, in March of this year, I took the plunge. Why? Well, for me, I was finally inspired to get inked because I had an idea that was special to me. It connected me to set of memories that I never wanted to lose and had a unique personal story involving two amazing trips that I had taken.

On the inside of my left forearm I have my last name tattooed in Hindi. While traveling to India twice in 2007, I had learned that my last name (pronounced baarish in Hindi) meant rainfall. And both times that I went, despite the fact that it was not monsoon season, it poured in Delhi. The running joke amongst my Indian coworkers and friends was that I had brought the rain with me.

Immediately, I knew that I wanted to get baarish tattooed somewhere on my body. I had several of my Indian friends in Delhi and in the States write the word on paper for me (I did not want any misspellings, or worse, a completely different word tattooed by mistake). I debated where on my body to get it, what tattoo parlor to go to and whether I should try to get back to India to have it done there.

It took me a year to gather up the nerve to get inked. Now I wonder why I waited so long. My tattoo is an incredible reminder of two amazing trips to my favorite country in the world. It immediately stirs up memories of friends, places, foods, smells and experiences. And it’s my family name, in which I take a great deal of pride.

I almost got another trip-inspired tattoo this past spring. That story is less sentimental and more comical. Though it could have been tragic. While out in Osaka, Japan one night, after several sakes and Yebisu beers, my friends and I met up with a tattoo artist. He introduced us to his friends and showed us their studio. In my drunken stupor, I actually thought it would be a novel idea to get a tattoo of the Yebisu logo. Thankfully, the studio was closing and no one was available to do the job. I dodged a bullet on that one!

Have any trips motivated you to get inked? Have you gotten a tattoo while on a trip? Do you regret that shamrock on your lower back that was inspired by a few too many pints of Guinness? Share in the comments.

Air New Zealand wants you to shave your head for them — and they’ll give you $1000

Air New Zealand knows that when you go to the airport, you’re going to be spending a lot of time in line, staring at the back of the head of the guy in front of you — so they want to give you something useful to read. The airline is holding open auditions next week for folks willing to shave their heads and become “Cranial Billboards.”

Seriously. Hopefuls can attend casting calls with free BBQ, refreshments, and entertainment, and those selected will be shaved on the spot and given a two-week temporary tattoo, which will alert customers to changes in the airline’s check-in system and direct them to the company’s website. Each person selected as a cranial billboard will also receive $1000 cash compensation.

If you think you’ve got the ideal skull shape for this job, find more info about the casting calls here.


What other strange things have been found on planes?


Tattoo Mistakes

Years ago when traveling in Thailand, I came upon an American guy who had just got a new tattoo of which he was very proud. He was one of those white-boy dreadlocked hippie travelers who had recently discovered Buddhism and found it an appealing belief system whose humanism contrasted nicely with what he saw as the raw and mean culture of selfishness of his own country. The tattoo, he told me, said something like peace and love. Sadly, after he left, one of the Thai folks at the bungalow where I was staying explained to me that the tattoo actually said chicken fried rice or some such thing. I laughed a hearty laugh at the travelers expense. There was a very amusing irony there, I thought.

Well, seems he was not alone, and other folks like this lost soul have now been heading to tattoo removal parlors en masse to get rid of tats they once deemed cool, but now find awful little mementos of their reckless youth. This story over at Fox News examines the trend and cites some other fine examples of tats gone awry, including some whereby folks who thought they’d gotten tattoos for Chinese characters for attractive concepts like “power” and “love” discovered they actually read “General Tso’s Chicken special” or “gullible white boy.” That is just too damn funny. The article goes on the describe other Chinese tats where the symbols were upside down or one he thought said “spirit” actually said “gas”. Poor fellow.