I couldn't afford to see Taylor Swift in the US, so I'm turning my $320 ticket to her Brazil show into a $2,100 trip with my boyfriend

19.09.2023 - 17:45 / insider.com / Taylor Swift

Sadly, I did not possess the mental or physical fortitude necessary to purchase Taylor Swift's Eras Tour tickets in the United States.

Although I initially believed that my powerful index fingers, strengthened by years of refreshing my Gmail screen, would type fast enough to get me to the front of the line on ticketing day, I was wrong.

After making my way through waitlists, I found the only tickets left available for US dates were too expensive for me at over $500 a pop.

But then as the tour began and clips of Swift's performances went viral, I was reminded of what I was missing. Every dress, surprise guest, and viral moment called to my boyfriend and me from across the void, beckoning us to join them.

When Swift later announced her Latin American tour, we knew we had to try for tickets.

I'm from Virginia Beach, Virginia, and my boyfriend is from Lima, Peru. We're both currently in Peru and have freelance careers that allow us to work from other countries sometimes.

With that flexibility in mind, we knew we'd see The Eras Tour — we just had to figure out when and where. So, we prepared to buy tickets in whichever Latin American city allowed us past the waitlist.

That turned out to be none of them. We tried in Buenos Aires, then Mexico City, then São Paulo, then Rio de Janeiro. No luck.

Then, Swift announced even more dates in Rio. Once again, we were put on the waitlist. This time, though, we miraculously made it off of the list.

By the time we made it out of the queue, there were only VIP tickets left. I could hear my boyfriend's wallet screaming, but I knew we needed them.

And so, we bought VIP "All Too Well" tickets — partly because, at $322 each, they were roughly $200 less than the same tickets in the US. But mostly because it had felt so fortuitous to finally be able to buy them.

Since we're going to Brazil now, we've made a whole thing of it.

I have to leave Peru this month anyway for visa reasons, so I'm flying from here to Florianópolis, known as Floripa. If you haven't heard of it, Floripa is a magical island brimming with seaside hikes, sleek nightclubs, delicious açai booths, and surfing opportunities galore.

My boyfriend will meet me there and we'll spend some time lounging on the beaches and working at my favorite Floripa coworking spot, We Cowork It Out. Then, we'll fly to Rio to see Taylor in November.

All in all, with the $400 flight to Floripa, the $550 Airbnb in Floripa, the $180 flight to Rio, the $600 Airbnb in Rio, and my $400 flight back to Virginia for Thanksgiving (with the help of points on a travel credit card), the whole working vacation amounts to about $2,100.

Considering we'll also get a great view at Swift's concert with our VIP tickets, I think our wallets will