I took my daughters to see Taylor Swift. It was cheaper than a typical family vacation and more fun.

21.07.2024 - 11:39 / insider.com / Taylor Swift

"I'm not spoiling my children; I'm making deposits of joy," that's what I recited to myself silently as I clicked on four tickets for Taylor Swift's one-night-only Eras Tour appearance in Cardiff, Wales.

These were the most affordable tickets of her entire European leg, but compared to the four figures that tickets are going for in Miami and New Orleans this fall, they seemed almost reasonable. It's no secret that Taylor Swift and the Eras Tour is boosting tourism numbers around the world, selling out hotels, and spurring airlines to add new flights. For us, it was the best family vacation ever.

The Swiftie Era started in our house when our then 11-year-old twin girls came home from two weeks at sleepaway camp last summer, confirmed Taylor Swift fans. But it really tipped over into a frenzy when they heard one of their friend's parents had bought tickets as a birthday present to see the Eras Tour in Liverpool this June.

My husband and I explained it was not a thing we could do. Tickets were prohibitively expensive , and we were already planning a family summer vacation in Southern California.

Then, all of a sudden, a trickle became a flood — three friends were going to Paris , another to Amsterdam. Then, one night, one twin was prostrate on the couch crying after she found out one of her BFFs was going to see Taylor in Madrid. We gave her the same speech — buying tickets for hundreds of dollars and flying to Europe for a concert is just not something this family could do.

Growing up, I was fortunate to have everything I needed, but we couldn't afford everything I wanted. I remembered things I had wanted ferociously as a child that would have seemed inconsequential to my parents. Like an expensive navy blazer with gold buttons that my tween brain thought would make me feel popular in the 8th grade. I cried, I begged, but my father said no. I also remembered when a parent made a wish come true. I was obsessed with horses and my mother got me riding lessons at a local stable where I eventually worked.

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With those memories still engrained in my adult brain, I told my husband I wanted to make this happen. We ran the numbers, and our planned summer vacation to California — flights, renting a car, an Airbnb or a hotel, Disneyland — would cost the same or more as four tickets to see Taylor Swift in Wales and staying a few days with friends in London. Somehow, a staunch no turned into a yes.

A couple of weeks later, we surprised our twin tweens with the most ear-splittingly joyous gift ever for their 12th birthday. We called them into the living room and told them we couldn't plan a big birthday party this year and would have to do something else instead. We slipped them each an