Before I talk about my first tattoo, here is the story of me almost getting the words "Bollocks Bar" tattooed on me. Back in the summer of 2012, I went on a lads holiday to Spain (Magaluf) for a week. The trip involved mainly drink and chilling by the pool. Every evening my mates and I would start our nights out at the Bollocks Bar which was only a five-minute walk from our hotel. Over the week we had such a laugh and got to know the owner well. On the second to last night of our holiday, the owner said to all of us "If you get the words Bollocks Bar tattooed anywhere on your body you will have free drinks all day and night for tomorrow". Instantly I was excited and up for doing it. Later on into the evening, I found myself sitting outside a tattoo parlour. However, I decided not to get it done.

Since this holiday, I have always been fascinated by tattoos but over the years I have put in more thought into what type of tattoo I want. Rather than just have a design that I like, I thought my tattoo needed to be meaningful. Music is an important part of my life and lyrics in certain songs stand out to me. Eminem has many famous lyrics but my favorite is "Seize the moment try to freeze it and own it, squeeze it and hold it 'Cause we consider these minutes golden". I have taken these lyrics out of context and given it my interpretation. I find that when you travel the world you must seize the moment and enjoy it as long as you can. Life is too short, so consider your time precious. So with all of this in the back of my mind, it was only a matter of time before I got inked.

The Phi Phi Islands in Thailand aren't a place you expect to find dozens of tattoo parlours. So back in January 2019, I spent five days on Phi Phi Island and the second to last day I had my tattoo designed. All I had to do now was decide on whether to have a bamboo or machine tattoo. I chose to have bamboo because it's traditional in Thailand. On the final night of my stay at 8:30 pm, the tattooist started to sketch out the design onto the side of me. We chose to do it at night due to the weather being much cooler. I was excited but terrified at the same time. The pain for the first few hours wasn't too bad as I had a bit of alcohol in me. After five hours I was in a lot more pain and needed a break. At this point, I thought that my tattoo was almost done. I asked the tattooist " How much longer until it's finished?" He simply replied, "We are just over halfway." I thought he was joking and that's when I looked in the mirror in shock. I didn't consider how long the detail in my tattoo would take. The next four hours was the most painful experience of my life but I did have support from people walking down the street. By 6 am my tattoo was complete and I was so relieved. Overall I was happy with my tattoo and I learned a lot from the experience.