Date: Tuesday, April 2nd, 2019
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Place: Grand Avenue (https://grandavenuetattoo.com/)
Artist: Dania O (https://www.instagram.com/inkdbydmo/)

I hit the road traveling full time in September 2018 and as excited as I was to do that the number one thing I was going to miss was my friends! Not only was I going to miss the people themselves but also all of the group activities that I loved doing with them: hiking, camping, riding bikes together, floating down the river, brunches, bar hopping, etc.

Being a solo traveler, I knew that I would have to embrace doing things by myself. Thankfully, one of the first stops that my travels took me on was to an RV festival in Texas at the end of October. It was there that I found out more about a group of RV'ers called Xscapers. I had heard of them before and I was definitely familiar with their parent group, Escapees.

Xscapers is a group of like-minded people, similar in age to myself, who are also living and working from the road full time. The same night that I found out about them, I bought a ticket to their next big meetup in Arizona at the end of January.

As the months passed, I grew more and more excited. I reached out a few of the members and was able to meet up with a handful of them before the event. One of my favorite parts of the group is that it is a third-generation, family ran business! Once I was at the event, I made so many new friends!

They have meet-up events once every month or two and they generally try to follow nice weather around! The group members usually work during the day and then party it up after the clock stricks 5 pm!

I was in love with people and everything the group was about! My solo travels didn't have to be. I could, in theory, travel around with my new group of friends. It was almost like being able to move to a new city but bring all of your friends with you!

I also befriended the owners of the group, a super sweet and adorable couple (Travis and Melanie). To be a member of the group, which includes a handful of other benefits, it is a small fee of around $40 a year. A few weeks after the January meetup, I was still following around my new friends and having a blast! I love Escapees / Xscapers!

Ironically enough, on April Fools Day, Travis and Melanie announced a contest: the first 10 people to get the Xscapers logo tattoo, would receive a free lifetime membership! Once I confirmed that it was in fact not a trick, I jumped on it!

I was in Phoenix so I researched highly rated tattoo shops in the area and from their page, I found an artist that I really liked. It had been 6 months since my first tattoo and I was more than ready for my second one so take me there!

The second tattoo had more coloring and shading so it was a little bit more painful but it still wasn't anything that I couldn't take (I think I've had butt sex before that was more painful)!

I apologize for saying that but I can't think of a better ending.

P.S. If you are interested in joining me and my Escapees / Xscapers friends, I'd love it if you used my referral link!