My favorite is the guy who shades in a country when he visits. World Maps. I get all misty-eyed over the things, I really do. Ever since I was a small kid, I’ve loved the world and been fascinated by images of it. I always had my nose in an Atlas or spent hours staring wondrously at a globe. World maps were often spread out on my bedroom carpet. You might call me a geek – a lot of people did so you’re not alone – but for my geekiness, there was a time when I could name all of the capital cities of the world. Seriously. Of course, I grew up and chased girls, and drinking booze became more important than the capital of Burkina Faso (Ouagadougou, by the way). Such is the way of the world. I also became interested in getting inked, too. And then it hit me! Why not combine my love of tattoos and maps? A no-brainer, obviously. And so I did, with a small silhouette of my home country on my calf. It’s pretty cool. It’s not a world map tattoo, though, and that’s what we’re discussing here. But what about others with world map tattoos? What are they? Well, friends, they’re right here and between them, they’ll show you the coolest world map tattoos that you’ll ever see.
Ancient Pirate World Map
This girl’s back looks like an old parchment (no offense to the girl of course… I’m sure it’s a beautiful back… I mean the color) and the map of the world looks like a pirate map. Love that it’s all faded too, making it look old. You have to look closely at her back to study this map, which I suspect is the idea. That makes it a very intimate tattoo, too. Also, love the fact that New Zealand isn’t even on her back – it’s on her left arm. How cool is that?
Multicolored World Map Tattoos
This one is not as detailed as the previous map, but still interesting in its own right. Sitting on the inside of the forearm, it’s obviously a lot smaller but the colors are intriguing. What do they mean? Or do they mean nothing? And why is there a big splodge of orange off the northeast coast of Brazil? What’s up with that?
An Even Cooler Multicolored World Map
And talking of colors…. oh my. This is exquisite. You just know that this is one cool chick. Love love LOVE the colors in this one, and also the flowers in Africa and Asia, and that bird, too. Amazingly cool.
Compasses & Postal Stamps World Map
The thing about these world maps is just how original you can make them – how much you can funnel your own vibe and personality into them. I mean anyone who has a world map tattooed onto them obviously conveys some spirit of adventure to start with, but adding the compass and the postal stamps really gives you the impression that this girl is a true wandering spirit.
West Is West & East Is East World Map
And here’s another great use of a compass. This time in the middle of the map. Great handy hint here too, telling us which way is west and which way is east. Thanks for that dude!
Half-Finished World Map
This one obviously isn’t finished yet. She’s got the Americas done… the Western Hemisphere… but still need the Old World done. You know, Europe and Africa. Once that’s done this might be one of the greatest full back tattoos ever. Or is that just me?
More Compasses
And straight back to a more contemporary vibe. The shading here is great. No need for just a line map or plenty of colors. That shading sets it off totally. And then those compasses and lines between them. Great piece of art, this is.
Henna-Style World Map Tattoos
I’m guessing she (and with henna-style tattoos, 99.9% of the time it’s “she” – that’s just the law) got this in India or after coming back from India or in contemplation of a future trip to India. You just know that.
Old School World Map Tattoos
Check out the edges of this tattoo. Looking like a torn-up piece of parchment. That’s what works so well with this world map. Plus the fact that the writing is in Portuguese. The Portuguese were the first European navigators of the modern age, so this is kind of apt somehow. At least to me, anyway. I guess in reality it’s just cos this dude is Brazilian.
And so, to finish, it’s good to know that you don’t have to get a tattoo of THIS world. Why do that when you have a whole new world to ink over yourselves, with “Game Of Thrones”? That’s right, Westeros is out there too, and the map of this continent is totally worth thinking about. Maybe not too much, but worth thinking about anyway. If you have a tattoo like this of Westeros, you can track the Khaleesi’s dragons when she finally invades!
So there you go. Some amazing world maps here. Map tattoos are awesome and there’s so much you can do with them. And if they get that wanderlust and thirst for adventure going for you, then that’s all to the better. Get on a plane somewhere!
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