Tattoos – The Relentless Traveler

Miles to Go

One year ago, almost exactly, I stepped foot on my seventh continent and I was overwhelmed with emotion. Truly overwhelmed. I felt proud of my accomplishment, nostalgic about the places I had been, excited for the journey ahead, and just pure, simple joy. But what I didn’t feel was a sense of calm or completion. In fact, almost as quickly as I stepped foot on Tanzanian soil, I realized that this wasn’t the completion of a lifelong goal, but rather the start of a new adventure. I realized that I will never be “done”. And my thirst for travel cannot be quenched. Because travel isn’t about a goal for me; it’s the very lens I take on life. It’s the way I define who I am. It’s the thing that motivates me every single day. It’s my obsession. I can’t imagine what my life would be without planning for an upcoming trip. I can’t imagine what kind of void I would feel if I didn’t have a list as long as I am tall of all the places I want to go and the things I want to do. And I can’t imagine what my bank account would look like if I wasn’t constantly putting it toward my latest trip.

But my travel obsession has often called many of my life’s priorities into question— specifically, when I’ll “finally settle down”. And I’ve always hated that notion. What does settling down even mean? And why is it important? Does it mean accepting life as I get older and the required responsibilities ahead? Does it mean being content with where I am and what I’m doing? Does it mean buying a house? Does it mean having kids? And why isn’t it possible to still travel the world and have these things, if I so choose?

Because the fact of the matter is, I hope I never settle down. I hope that I always keep my explorer’s heart and I hope I pass that on to my kids one day. I hope that I take my family on crazy adventures. And I hope I continue to take adventures of my own. I hope that I keep my fearlessness and push myself to do things I previously didn’t think was possible. I hope that I’m never done, no matter how complicated life gets or how many responsibilities I have.

It won’t be easy. But it will sure as hell be fun. Because this world is way too big and beautiful to call it quits.

And that’s why my latest tattoo quite literally represents my explorer’s heart: seven birds for seven continents reached, but always always miles to go.

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Achievement Ink: Crossing the Arctic & Antarctic Circles

March 12, 2017March 19, 2017Tattoos Linda Johnson

Today I got my second travel tattoo and I’m pretty stoked about it. I always told myself that if something truly leaves a mark on my soul, I’ll have it leave a mark on my body as well. And from a young age, I knew that thing was travel. That was never any question. But knowing what specific tattoo to get was a whole other issue. I wasn’t going to force it or rush it– I just figured when the time was right, something would hit me.

Then, shortly before my 27th birthday, I was mindlessly doodling and realized that you can spell “wanderlust” using the cardinal directions (WaNdErluSt). And BAM! I couldn’t get it out of my head. I had never seen something that better described the feeling that I had each and every day of my life. And so, I walked into a tattoo shop and got my first ink.

Now, fast forward 3 1/2 years to today. Today’s tattoo is extra special to me because it’s based on an achievement– something I’ve been saving for, planning for and thinking about for basically my whole life. It marks my crossing of both the Arctic and the Antarctic circles: 66° 33’ N and 66° 33’ S.

So what’s so special about those two circles? Well, outside of all of the fascinating scientific things that those circles signify, these are also the lines that signify the northernmost and southernmost parts of the planet. In short, by crossing it, I have made it to both ends of the Earth. And I was lucky enough to experience both in just one year’s time. Both circles were difficult to get to (although Antarctica for sure takes the cake on that one) and each offers something so special and unique to this world.

*Please ignore the marks from my bandage, the puffiness, the shininess from the Aquaphor, etc.*😜

The Arctic

I crossed the Arctic Circle in Alaska in February 2016. Matt (my loving bf who loves to travel with me) and I hired an ex-ice road trucker to drive us 5 hours north on the Dalton Highway, aka the “Ice Road Trucking Route”, from Fairbanks to the Arctic Circle. We got there around 11PM and took turns outside taking in the bright Northern Lights and the incredible silence that only comes when you are so far from “civilization”.

The Antarctic

I crossed the Antarctic Circle this past February with Matt aboard the M/V Ushuaia in the Bellingshausen Sea, just west of Antarctica. It took us 6 days by ship from Ushuaia, Argentina to get there. And when I looked outside, I felt as though I had escaped this world and had found myself on a new planet. Icebergs were larger than sky scrapers, whales were abundant and mountains took up the entire continental landscape. I’ve never had my breath taken away in quite that same way.

Where I Go from Here

Two tattoos down, one for sure still to go when I hit my 7th continent, Africa.

More to come on that front 🙂