I've attended 4 World Cups. The US is the most expensive yet.

I fell in love with soccer at age 5 and have now been to four World Cups, starting with 1994 in Chicago. That first tournament showed me what happens when people from around the world who love football gather in one place: everyone supported their team with passion and the atmosphere was full of patriotism and excitement.

My later trips took me to South Africa in 2010, where I flew from Chicago to Johannesburg, visited townships, a savanna, a forest reserve, Port Elizabeth, and walked where Nelson Mandela had walked. I saw a semi-final and was gifted a final ticket, and stadiums buzzed with vuvuzelas.

In 2018 I went to Russia, traveling via Helsinki and a train to St. Petersburg, walking the streets of the Russian Revolution and visiting the Winter Palace. Qatar in 2022 felt different: stadiums built for the event, no alcohol, sidewalk air conditioning, and markets selling spices, rugs, hunting falcons, and even a camel.

United States, Chicago

world cup, chicago, south africa, johannesburg, vuvuzelas, russia, st. petersburg, qatar, stadiums, 2018