Doesn't everyone have a tattoo plan?

It all started when I had just moved to Burma and everything was new and strange. I was feeling way out of my comfort zone and found myself drawn to a tattoo shop in one of the central markets. Hanging out in a tattoo shop may seem like a torturous plan, but when you've spent some time getting tattooed you start feeling at home in them. It's kind of like being catholic, really. You can go into a catholic church in any place in the whole world and know what is going on, know the routine and feel comfortable in a place that is not new. The buzzing of the tattoo gun, the smell of disinfectant, all soothing to the soul.

So, I had moved to Burma and soon into my stay started needing comfort things. I thought, well, I should get a tattoo here and then it hit me - that I've been tattooed in every place that I've lived (as an adult) and sometimes in places I've just visited. North Carolina, South Dakota, Colorado, in Hawaii on a visit, and here I was in my first new country as an adult and the tradition was made. Since that Burmese addition, I've been tattooed in Thailand and Peru as a passer through, but up until this week hadn't taken the plunge for Bolivia.

I've thought a lot about my Bolivia tattoo. I've had a few ideas here and there, and talked to a few people, but nothing really struck me until I picked up a magazine at the pharmacy. I want the tattoos to reflect the places I've lived. As you know, Santa Cruz is tropical, I know you think Bolivia is high in the cold Andes, but I actually live in the tropical part. I've been thinking toucan, tropical flowers, etc, for a while. I took the idea to a shop in the city center and started the design this week. I didn't intend for my Bolivia design to take up so much space, I'm still on the move you know. But after he showed me the design he came up with I just couldn't reduce it or cut anything out. I love it.

I think I'm getting wimpy in my old age. I have less tolerance for pain, or maybe I'm tattooing more painful spots. In any case, I decided to do this one in two stages and just get the outlines first. I'm not coloring the whole thing, but there are so many cool, hidden images, that they need a little color.

Here's the first stage...