How to get a tattoo
How I did it: I started with just an idea of getting a tattoo. I lived in Okinawa, Japan for four years while going to high school, and it was the most amazing experience I will probably ever have. In my last year on the beautiful island, I started wondering about getting "Okinawa" tattooed in Japanese Kanji before I left the island. I probably thought it through for about 9 months, almost didn't get it, just because I was running out of time and hardly had the money. But literally a day before I left the island, probably forever, my friend Jared randomly offered to take me to the tattoo parlor. Getting the tattoo itself was on impulse, but what I got tattooed wasn't at all. I got exactly what I had been thinking about for 9 months: Okinawa in vertical Kanji, on my left shoulder blade. It is beautiful and classy, lovely lettering. I absolutely love it, it's a perfect representation of those incredible four years on the tropical island.
Lessons & tips: The only advice I'm going to give is that you think, over several
months, about what exactly you want, and where exactly you want it, and
the possible consequences of you getting this tattoo. It should be
something that reflects you, or an event in your life, but it really
should (in my opinion) be timeless. No one wants to wake up next to an
80 year old woman (or man?) with a rolling stones tongue on their
wrinkly boob or hip, hahaha. Yikes. That is an exaggeration, but really, KNOW what you want. Be completely sure of it, because I've heard that removing a tattoo is much more painful than getting it in the first place.
One last thing: For women, consider getting a tattoo on your stomach very carefully, especially if you want to become pregnant. My friend's delicate little sparrow on her torso transformed into a deformed pterodactyl. Need I say more?
