Ringing in 2026 with Our Travel Memories

“My wife and I have a tradition of getting a tattoo on every *far* trip. Makes the long haul flight home worth it… Wanting to collect ‘souvenirs’ whilst living in a small flat at the time was the original inspiration. We’ve collected them from Thailand, Bali, and Singapore so far. Many more on the travel wishlist.” - Zoë

“When I was 19/20, I lived in Spain and became friends with a good group of people. I moved back when someone at home died, but while I was at home, one of my friends in Spain died (very tragic, I know). So when I came back to visit my friends, one of them mentioned that another guy was starting off as a tattoo artist, and he needed guinea pigs to get the business  going, so I said I would volunteer one night we were out. So the next day, we went to Seville and got this done. It is of course the song of Liverpool Football Club. But the tattoo is actually for everyone who is no longer with us. The words of the song make more sense than whatever I will say here It took 3 hours and cost 15 euro.” - Henry

"After almost an hour with my face wedged in the crook of an old Maltese man’s pungent armpit as he bent over backwards attempting to tattoo my ribcage, eighteen-year-old me was hooked. 

'For each country I visit, I’m going to get a tattoo to commemorate it,' I excitedly told my boyfriend at the time. He rolled his eyes. He was the typical Irish lad, one that would 'go on holidays' once every 5 years to Benidorm or Magaluf. Something about the Irish pubs there.

He probably didn’t expect that by my twenties, I’d be lying on a sagging mattress in the jungles of Guatemala, a Czech apprentice straddling my torso, carving her gun of pain into my arm for four hours without a break.

Or that I’d let a French guy hand-poke a reiki symbol onto my wrist in exchange for covering a bar shift. 

Stick and poke became my preferred way. So naturally, my ears perked up when a German tattooist blew into the hostel I worked at in Chiapas. It’d take me a few weeks to propose a trade he simply couldn’t refuse: I’d bleach his dreadlocks in return for some artwork."

"This was probably my most painful one. Not from the needle but from the cup of rubbing alcohol he poured over my raw skin, and the violent slap that followed. A sick and twisted joke because it was midnight and I couldn’t scream without waking the hostel guests.

And while I haven’t managed to stay true to my promise of getting inked everywhere I’ve wandered, I’ve done a pretty good job of collecting permanent stamps.

Mostly, the ink I’ve gotten along the way is a map itself - of the girl who showed up clueless and curious, reckless and scared, but booked the ticket anyway." - Akasha

"When I finished high school, I didn’t go on the big group trip clubbing in Ayia Napa. That wasn’t my thing at all. I wanted to see some of the world before starting university, not just the inside of a bar, surrounded by people I’d mostly never see again. 

Instead, myself and some of my closest friends decided to go Interrailing around Europe for 5 weeks. As is common when leaving high school in Scotland, most of us were only 17 at the time. We couldn’t even (legally) drink in bars at home, so a month of European rules was exciting. And when we realised that we’d even be old enough to get tattooed in The Netherlands…

Well, let’s just say a few of us decided to give it a go — a fact my mum only found out three years later, when I was lazily lying in bed with my leg hanging out from under the sheets.

When getting your first tattoo, there’s a lot of pressure to make it meaningful, so I opted for something I knew would always be important to me — music. I was right, playing music is still part of my life. But perhaps more important is the fact that I got it while on a memorable adventure with people who are still part of my life." - Katy

“We took a day-trip over to the Arctic SnowHotel during our trip, as well as snowmobiled through the forests, and took reindeer and husky rides on a tour with the Snowmobile Park company — they were great and included proper snow gear in their prices, so would highly recommend.

And last but not least, the northern lights! While you can hunt for them on a guided tour, it gets pricey. Instead, we stayed just outside of the city (towards Ounasvaara) in an AirBnB and were lucky enough to spot them dancing above the house most nights we were there.”

“Fiji was such a surprise to me! I went for a family celebration and didn’t have many expectations (given I knew a lot of the holiday would be resort-bound), but we managed to do a decent amount in Nadi and the surrounding Koroyanitu National Heritage Park. My highlights were DIY-ing a hike through the park to an incredible waterfall lookout, and visiting the Sri Siva Subramaniya Swami Temple - the intricate paintwork inside was incredible!”

“My trip to France and Scotland healed parts of me I didn't know needed healing. The little girl in me who thought she might never make it to Europe and visit her dream city and the grown girl in me that found her soul city.

My favorite moment of my adventures was being able to see and touch the Eiffel Tower. I knew that I would cry the moment I laid eyes on her and I very much did! LOL The tears were joy and marvel and finally realizing that I did it, I made it, I was standing in Paris!! I was looking at a monument I had only seen in books and movies. I checked a place off of a very long bucket list. I had macarons and croissants from French boulangeries and strolled along streets with beautiful architecture. I spoke terribly broken French from the years of Duolingo that I had been doing and I was out of this world happy.

However. My favorite place was Scotland. I had never traveled and felt at home anywhere the way I did there. The buildings, history, slight gloom and chill in the air. The beautiful stone streets and castles, this was my place. A place I felt very happy and comfortable, where I could wander for hours and not feel tired. I am still day dreaming about my time there and thinking of the things I want to do and see when I go back. It was on my bucket list and still is. There's so much more I need to see and experience (highland coos, for example!)”

“We loved our train experiences in Sri Lanka, and we’d suggest every curious traveller give it a try at some point. I even wrote an honest guide about it. It sparked our curiosity to venture beyond the tourist-packed routes and discover the more authentic, less crowded journeys in the future.”

“The highlight was definitely the Cruzan Rum Distillery, which you can read more about in my article here. Between the informative tour, the historic setting, our lovely guide, and drinks enjoyed at a breezy, palm-lined patio bar, we couldn’t have been more pleased. There’s a reason every guide to St. Croix name-drops this spot, and I can happily add myself to its list of fans”

“I had such a great time in the Netherlands. I started off in Den Haag, where I decided to try haring (the famous raw herring, just a full fish) which not everyone loves but I’m absolutely crazy for (I really love pickled stuff). I spent the rest of my time wandering around the city center, renting bikes with nerdy names, and cycling to some pretty spots like Haagse Bos. That same day I rode all the way to Scheveningen, which turned out to be a super lovely beach with a big pier. I sat there with a hot Chocomel in hand, feeling very Dutch. It also POURED rain the minute I hopped on the bike.”