Hello Guys!
It has literally taken me over a month to realise I haven't even written a blog post, (or mentioned within a blog post) that I am in fact going to see the love of my whole life in the states!
SO, as most people know, I am a huuuuuuge "belieber" aka I worship the ground Justin Bieber walks on. I have many t-shirts with his pretty lil face on. I have a cardboard cutout of the man himself. I have already seen him four times live, twice in 2013, twice in 2016. I was even crazy enough to spend £620 on meet and greet tickets for his 2016 UK Purpose Tour, until he heartbreakingly cancelled his meet and greets (I am still not over it). I have cried so many times over this perfect specimen. And oh god, I'm starting to realise how pathetic I really am...
ANYWAY. Justin announced his Purpose Stadium Tour in North America, I instantly searched for a date the closest to New York State silently praying it would fit with dates for camp. Justin will actually be in New Jersey on my last week of camp, so if I miraculously get a day off I WILL be going to stalk him!
It then became apparent that he was performing at the Gillette Stadium in Boston, Massachusetts two days after camp finishes. Boston is only a 4 1/2-5 hour coach journey from the city, and I knew that I wasn't meeting my parents in Vegas until the second, so there was a possibility I could go.
When the tickets were released I was so hesitant to buy them, I found a really good seat too which was even more tempting! However, ticket prices seem to be double UK prices and work out around £165. I spent a while questioning, do I? Don't I? I decided not to go ahead.
In February, the thought popped up again. I decided to have a look on Ticketmaster and found a seat in a block close to the runway on the second row back! SO tempting.
I started researching where the Stadium was in relation to Boston itself. It then dawned on me that the Stadium was actually 45 minutes away from Boston, so I then spent a good few hours researching the various ways I could get to see Justin. I personally think it's just so different trying to figure out various ways to get to events when you're planning in a foreign country. I mean, in the U.K. We're so lucky, we can pretty much travel from one side of the UK to the other for a concert, and obviously in the states you can't.
This left me with a lot of forward planning, did I try to go from New York straight to the stadium and back to New York City in the same night? Could I stay at a hotel near the Stadium? Or could I stay in Boston?
I then found a very useful website (not just useful for finding ways to see Justin haha). It's called rome2rio.com , you basically type in your exact starting location, to your exact destination. It then comes up with various types of transport you can use to get to your desired destination, whether it be by car, train or coach. It also shows an estimate of prices too which is great! It worked out easier (and cheaper) for me to get the coach from NYC to Boston (which 12 weeks in advance will cost me around $15 return, bargain).
From Boston, I found that there is a coach service called bostoncommoncoach.com . They actually do round trips to the Gillette Stadium and back for concerts, and thankfully they are running one for Justin which only costs $40 return. This will save so much hassle of trying to work public transport when I'm not familiar with the place, the only downside is that I can't really go stalk Justin prior to the concert or after. He has a tendency to be more interactively with American fans.
All that's was left was the accommodation. I found that the hostel we are staying in during our stay in New York prior to camp has a chain of hostels, one of these are located in Boston (hihostels.com ) These hostels actually look so nice, more like hotels!
I had everything in place, all I had to do is take the plunge and book! At the end of the day, was I ever going to have the chance to see Justin again in America? Probably not! My mum of course, was panicking because I would be going alone for the time being.
I finally booked the ticket and obviously nearly passed out. A few days later, a girl called Robyn whom I had spoken to about the tour beforehand, decided to book the seat ext to me! (I can't believe how great the American ticket buying system is, I mean in the UK, all those tickets would have been bought instantly). So, now Robyn is coming! So excited! It may be worthy to mention, as international buyers, we will be picking our tickets up on the day HALLELUJAH. This means I cannot in any way, shape or form lose Justin tickets again... but that is a different tale.
(By the way, if anybody would like to join Robyn and I, it seems the whole row is available to book. We will be travelling to Boston from NYC on the 28th August, staying 2 nights in the Hi Boston which is smack bang in the centre of Boston and hundreds of dollars cheaper than a normal hotel, we can also request to be in the same room. The concert is on the 29th and we will then be returning to NYC on the 30th August). The more the merrier!)
I am also wanting to upload to this blog more frequently before going to camp - perhaps weekly. As the only other blog posts I have planned up until camp is our Frenchwoods meet up in Manchester, the AmeriCamp orientation day, and also packing for camp. SO, I am thinking of maybe adding a section to this blog about my previous travelling experiences?
*Fun Fact* I have actually had more holidays and weekends out of the UK than I have had birthdays!
But that is only if anyone would be interested in reading (please leave me a tweet, direct message or little comment on here of any ideas for blog posts! Whether it be about previous travels, a bucket list, knowing a little more about me, or something completely unrelated to travelling)
Also, I mentioned about having a Frenchwoods meet up in Manchester, anyone going to Frenchwoods is welcome! Fran, Amy, Robbie, Dan and I are going to Manchester on the 13th April. Fran and I are staying in the Travelodge at Piccadilly overnight. Drop any of us a message if you would like to join us, as I always say, the more the merrier!
Ciao for now!
Jade xoxo
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