Getting Ink Done
Trip Start
Oct 22, 2005
1
108
224
Trip End
Ongoing
London,
United Kingdom
Saturday, June 3, 2006
Something we had been thinking about on our trip was how to remember it once it's all over? When we finally reached the UK we decided to investigate getting a tattoo; a permanent memento of our journey. We researched and read up on how to find a reputable parlor, choose a design, where to get it, how to care for it etc. Happy that we definitely wanted this reminder we visited a few places in Camden Town to check out the procedure, the cost and to see some of their work.
With our designs chosen and a little apprehensive but certain with our decision, we headed back to Camden early one Saturday with our pictures in hand. The artists name was Andro and we reviewed some of his work to be sure we were happy with his skills
01 - Megan First
. He opened the equipment from its sterile packaging, proving to us it was all safe and copied the design onto some transfer paper. Megan went first so she couldn't chicken out and Andro quickly transferred the temporary tattoo onto her back. He then stenciled the outline and in all honesty she expected it to hurt more than it did. The outline was the most painful but it only lasted a short time when the needle was on the skin. As soon as it was removed it to get more ink the pain went away. At its worst it was probably only a three out of ten on a pain scale. The colouring was a breeze and once finished Megs jumped up for a look in the mirror. Unfortunately jumping up quickly combined with the heat in the tiny room made her feel a bit "funny" so she had to sit outside for a few minutes until she felt better.After recovering it was Rick's turn in the chair. Onto his right shoulder went the temporary transfer of his design then Andro quickly did the outline in ink. Rick said it felt like someone cutting you with a knife as the outline went on. Filling in the shapes felt a little itchy and got a little painful the close to the inner arm. Again it wasn't that bad. Before Rick knew it, it was all over and we both had a permanent reminder of our trip.
Andro wrapped our new tats in glad wrap and we were sent on our way with some instructions on how to take care of our tattoos. On the Tube ride home Rick lifted his arm to grab the overhead rail and gave a lady a fright as his glad wrap had filled with some blood and looked a bit dodgy. The healing process was very quick and neither of us got infected or had any reaction to the ink (we'd seen some gory photos on the Internet when we were doing our thorough research). We are both very happy with our designs.
Finally we would just like to say a big sorry to both our mothers who we hope will forgive us for defacing our bodies!
