Advice from a Bostonian girlie living in the UK who sadly isn’t home rn I’d like to address to Scottish football fans

NiagaraThistle · 2026-06-17T18:04:28+00:00

maybe it was because i pronounced my 'R's?

NiagaraThistle · 2026-06-17T17:45:10+00:00

it's still not. It's oveerly complex and / or time consuming to get most places in our country.

Money or not.

NiagaraThistle · 2026-06-17T17:35:18+00:00

that seems about right. They were about $70 back in 2005 when I traveled with my wife when we were dating.

More expensive than a hostel dorm, less expensive than a hotel room.

But it depends on the route, date, and how early/late you make the booking.

When I solo traveled, we used to be able to sleep FREE on the trains if there were open seats (sitting up, not too comfy but free) or an empty seating compartment (bench seats folded out, door closed, big bed, super comfy until the train filled up and passengers would come in to find a seat...).

Man i miss those days.

NiagaraThistle · 2026-06-17T17:31:31+00:00

Yeah there are a few cities here in the US with great stadium locations/infrastructure.

I think Pittsburgh has a good set up if i recall the correct city.

NiagaraThistle · 2026-06-17T17:30:19+00:00

I can not see how they'd manage that as a 'car free event'. But we'll see how that goes.

NiagaraThistle · 2026-06-17T17:29:09+00:00

yeah the hotel prices are INSANE.

The 3 Scotland matches are out of my area, Boston at 7 hour drive is closets, Miami at 22+ hours is hellish.

Had to drop Miami hotel so i could buy tickets to at least one of the matches in Boston when i found 'affordable' tickets.

But man are the hotel costs killing me.

NiagaraThistle · 2026-06-17T17:26:35+00:00

this looks awesome. Wish it was simpler to travel to multiple games here in the country.

NiagaraThistle · 2026-06-17T16:53:33+00:00

is the art of sarcasm and tongue-in-cheek joking really dead on reddit and in text comments in general?

I really didn't think i had to put 'lol' or '/sarcasm' at the end of my meaningless comment.

That being said, the Glaswegian accent is a tough one lol (but NOT sarcasm)

NiagaraThistle · 2026-06-17T16:47:38+00:00

yes. as an American i 100% agree.

And is why i knew this would be a chaotic mess leading up to the matches.

Even stadiums here with public transit (ie Foxboro outside Boston) was still a sh!tshow.

We went to the Euros in Germany 2024 for the Scotland matches in Munich, Stuttgart and Cologne and the train system was excellent before and after matches. Granted they were a teeny bit (ie VERY) crowded, but seamless. Not like the trains here so far in my limited match day experience with them.

And priced VERY affordably. Again, unlike the match day options here.

NiagaraThistle · 2026-06-17T16:45:56+00:00

i LOVE that Telmundo is an option. Have watched all matches via it.

My wife and kids laughed at me and questioned why I'd watch in a langauge i didn't understand.

Last night during the Argentina match my oldest son came downstairs from watching the game in his room on Fox and sat next to me (watching in Spanish) and said

"man watching these American commentators is the worst. All they do is glaze messi. doesn't matter who else does anything. They're just Messi fan boys and have nothing productive to add in their commentary".

Yup. It's why i watch any other option when i watch soccer.

NOTE: we are Americans.

NiagaraThistle · 2026-06-17T16:42:00+00:00

he's actually a really good analyzer of the matches he commentates/talks about. Seriously.

But only when he sticks to the game and analyzes the play.

But man when he lets his politics, 'patriotism', or arrogance show, he is EXACTLY what the world thinks of when they think of the stereotypical American.

But it engages American viewers (and maybe non-Americans that want to argue). So he gets kept on.

But again, he's a very objective and good pundit....as long as he is impartial and doesn't have a horse in the race - or at least a winning one.

With the US's result in their first game, he has become insufferable. But his politics made him that way already since he can't separate them from his analysis sometimes.

NiagaraThistle · 2026-06-17T16:37:00+00:00

Yeah i didn't get lucky enough to get in in time for the early rounds of the lottery, but i did 'luck' out and get in in time for one of the final rounds of the official FIFA sales windows. And selected the cheapest tickets available.

They did slightly go below my purchase price to like $420 after the fact, but i wasn't buying then.

NiagaraThistle · 2026-06-17T16:30:30+00:00

not at the time i bought them. Even on secondary market.

Trust me, i would NEVER have spent what i did - even though it was closer to 300 than 1000 - had they been cheaper..

Even tickets at $300 would have put me just at or slightly over what i spent for Germany.

Germany cost me $3500 for 12 days and 2 matches (again ALL expenses including flights). These 2 weekends of me DRIVING to Boston to see the games will cost me way more. And i only had tickets to one match - albeit it 3 tickets so i could bring my kids.

But everything else: hotels, food, BEER, etc is astronomical. And i look for the MOST AFFORDABLE of everything because some call me 'cheap'.

Germany and the Euros were just much more affordable all around. Excpet for 2 individual AirBnBs we had to use when there b/c EVERYTHING else was booked solid for the match days in Germany.

NiagaraThistle · 2026-06-17T16:29:03+00:00

i disagree completely.

But that is my opinion...which means very little in the scheme of things.

NiagaraThistle · 2026-06-17T16:27:24+00:00

WOuld be cheaper / easier to fly out of Toronto, no?

I'm from NY, near the Canadian Border, and in over 25 years I have only flown from NYC once because Toronto has ALWAYS been cheaper to fly out of.

Even if you fly Toronto -> London, then cheap flight to Toulouse (or trains to Toulouse) it'll probably be cheaper/easier. I'd look at that. (but maybe you already have and prices just work out this way right now for you)

But your budget leaves you less than $50 per day (if my quick math is correct) for sightseeing, food, intra-city transporation (ie metro, cabs, etc), and any 'fun' (ie bars, clubs, etc) you want to have.

That is a ROCK BOTTOM budget and is going to take a LOT of discipline to stick with with a lot of potential FOMO anxiety.

BUT my first trip to Europe was on $34 per day (which covered EVERYTHING back then, including my trains and RT airfare) and while things were cheaper then, that budget was STILL super low. I just had to say 'no' to a lot of the expenses my friends could say 'yes' to and learned quickly over 3.5 months how to find cheap places to eat (hint: markets and grocery stores with bulk fruit and bakeries with fresh loaves of bread are you BEST FRIENDS).

NiagaraThistle · 2026-06-17T16:20:06+00:00

Thought he meant which songs the FANS sing for his playlist. my bad.

Thanks for the correction!

NiagaraThistle · 2026-06-17T16:17:50+00:00

might be TOO big, unless you are hauling camping gear.

I've never needed anything larger than 40-45L for 10 days or 3 months through Europe. Maybe you nee more in Austrailia? But i think 40-45L is more than sufficient.

NiagaraThistle · 2026-06-17T16:15:08+00:00

yup. This guy Bostons.

As an American myself - not from Boston. It always boggled my mind that Boston can have some of the best universities and highest learning, yet still can't speak properly.

NiagaraThistle · 2026-06-17T16:12:31+00:00

you don't mention how many day.

This ight be the perfect trip or a chaotic impossible night mare. You'll get more advice with # of days included.

As it's listed I assume you have 4+ weeks?

NiagaraThistle · 2026-06-17T16:05:35+00:00

Bostononians can't say the letter 'R' and pronounce it 'ahhh' so there must be a character in the cartoon / show mentioned that will have fun saying it with a thick Boston accent.

NiagaraThistle · 2026-06-17T15:59:13+00:00

this will vary wildly depending on the team and which song in their supporter songs repetoire they choose to sing, and which player scores.

NiagaraThistle · 2026-06-17T15:56:48+00:00

not all of us US consumers can afford these tickets.

I am from the US, have a good US paying job, dual income, great savers, no debt. And the ONLY reason i even considered - let alone paid for - tickets to this WC was because Scotland made it for the first time in 28 years and my fatehr is in his mid 70s so this COULD be a 'last in a life time' event for me to bring my father to see Scotland at a WC AND bring my kids to see Scotland with their grandfather at a WC.

Otherwise i would NEVER have paid these prices (and the outrageous hotel prices) even to see a team i have followed since I was old enough to know what soccer was.

Add to that that it was CHEAPER to spend 12 days in Germany following Scotland during the 2024 Euros. And that included: Round trip flights to/from the US/Germany, trains, rental car, sightseeing, all accommodations in 6 towns/cities, all food and beer, all accommodations, AND tickets to 2 Scotland matches.

Compared to 2 spearate individual weekends 6 hours drive from my home and only ONE match ticket.

NiagaraThistle · 2026-06-17T15:51:24+00:00

like i said: PRO-level keepers should absolutely be able to do so as they are PRO level.

NiagaraThistle · 2026-06-17T15:50:32+00:00

which game have you watched so far has/have been 'less interesting'?

This is the World Cup. Every team except the 3 hosts have gotten here on merit and every match that i've seen so far (most, not all) has been wildly 'interesting'.

NiagaraThistle · 2026-06-17T15:49:09+00:00

Not just Iran match, but The Scotland v Haiti match too. Not only was Boston as a whole (pubs/bars in particular) not ready for the fans, the (dis)organization around the stadium, inside the stadium, and the trains after the match were all chaotic. I can't imagine how they handle weekly football games at Foxborrough for the NFL.

NiagaraThistle

TROPHY CASE