Here are the reasons I most hear from people that get tattoos like mine:
I like to travel. (same)
It’s so cute! (it really is!!!)
#DoItForTheGram (…you made a permanent change to your body just for some extra likes?)
Don’t get me wrong, if you get tattoos for reasons like the ones above, that’s totally fine. You do you, Booboo!!! I, on the other hand, have always been a firm believer in only getting tattoos that mean something to me. My “Trust” tattoo happened at a time when I was having some serious issues, and while I’m past that point in my life it is always nice to have a little reminder that not all people are bad & most deserve to be trusted (supposedly…). The design on my back was in honor of my mentor, who passed away from breast cancer, so that she will always be with me. And my next one that I haven’t gotten yet simply because I’m poor & it will be a fortune will be my most personal yet to honor my mom, grandmother, & grandfather.
As you can see, I take the permanent changes I make to my body very seriously.
As I prepared for my first BIG solo trip, I had been doing a lot of self-reflection. People seemed to think it was so incredible & amazing that I was doing this, and that just seems strange to me.
But why?
Why do I not see this adventure as that big of a deal?
Why is solo travel not the norm?
I realized that the only explanation I have for feeling this way is my great-grandmother. An old woman I once met a few years after my Nanna’s passing described her as “spicy”. I don’t think a better word could be used to describe her!
Nanna married a man almost twice her age when she was just 16 (keep in mind, this was 1925). She had two daughters, three sons, and a fourth son that passed away when he was just a few years old. Her husband was called back to Italy to fight in the war & she had to raise all five of her spitfire children on her own for awhile. Even when her husband returned, her kids were no less rambunctious than before so yes, that made her a little “spicy”. (Also, she was Italian….do I need to say anything more?)
When my great-grandfather was about 60, he passed away from a heart attack. And that is when the Nanna that I knew was born.
Nanna (when I was born) was living on the second floor of a two family home that my grandfather owned. She cooked, she cleaned, she walked to the market for groceries, & took the bus to her “Club” (a group of women that would knit blankets & clothing for premature babies) or the casino. She didn’t drive because she didn’t need to, but mainly because the one time my great-grandfather tried to teach her she crashed into the garage.
She did everything herself…including traveling. Once, when I was about five or six, I came across a stack of photo albums in her closet. They contained pictures of Nanna all over the world! Some of them she was with the same two or three women, but a lot of them she was alone. Obviously I needed to ask more about them…
Her response was to ask me why she shouldn’t have travelled? Her husband had died, her children were all grown up…what did she need to hang around for?
My entire family always encouraged me to travel…but Nanna’s encouragement was different. She told me that if I wanted to do something, then do it. Don’t wait around for other people. She had always wanted to be a teacher, but didn’t because she was expected to have children first. When the opportunity came for her to travel, she seized the moment & went whenever she could, even if it meant going alone.
So that, my friends, is the reason for my tattoo. I needed to do something to commemorate my first big solo trip, & what better way than by tipping my hat to the woman that inspired my adventurous soul the most?
(Also, it is pretty darn adorable. I’m officially obsessed with tiny tattoos…)
If you’d like to know more about me, visit my About Me page!