& a blog

it is never too early to start planning for something you care about. in fact, i think i may already be late. why? because i am planning for the world cup, and i don’t think i need to qualify that with words like FIFA or soccer. it’s the world cup, and i want to go

so i’ve decided to give myself a rough sketch of prices, i’d be looking at. just an opportunity to say, ‘huh, so that’s how much a world cup costs…’

the problem here of course, is that this world cup is africa, and not in egypt or morocco, but south africa. so there’s no easy way to get there (i don’t think a trek through africa is safe, or affordable, although it would be epic). and thus costs rise.

oh, and the dollar sucks. so add like $300 to everything.

world cup costs

• travel (nyc to capetown) — $1,750
• housing (7 nights) — $644 or $98 (hostels, 100 ZAR = $13.50 a night)
• food (mostly beer, i’d imagine) — $560 ($80 a day)
• tickets (2 for any game possible) — $278 - $400

• gear (cuz i’m obviously gonna buy stuff) — $300 (just rough budget)

• TOTAL = $3,654

variables, explanations, disclaimers

so, obviously, these are some pretty fuzzy numbers. first, most of them are estimated on the price of traveling to capetown in like, april 2009 instead of instead in 2010. air fares may go down for the world cup (more people flying) or they may go up. everything could get more expensive, or cheaper.

i had this dream that I could potentially travel across africa. you know, start in cairo, and do this f***ing epic trip down the nile, through the heart of africa, and end up capetown. apparently that is both wicked expensive and takes 4 months. it is also not easy to setup or accommodate.

there’s also the whole south africa component. tickets are available to south africans for just $20 (!!!), so maybe i can cheaper tickets. especially because i know a few south africans. the exchange rate is also really favorable, about 100 Rands (which is what SA’s call their money) to 13 bucks. so maybe south africa isn’t all bad.

then, again, there is the dollar, the crapshoot currency. like maybe i should have my money converted to euros as i save it, to make it more stable.

conclusions

if go to south africa, for the world cup in 2010, it’ll be expensive. but i knew that. so let me frame some goals on how to get there more efficiently.

my options

1. break into sports journalism, try to get someone to pay for me to go
2. try to become european, or at least get involved with their currencies
3. make a fortune (see later for digital entrepreneurial breakthrus)
4. don’t go
5. study abroad in south africa in spring 2010, chill out til world cup
6. sail over, possibly as charter crew (perhaps the least ridiculous)

you can also donate money to sponsor my trip. in which case i would love you forever. and possibly where your logo (or name or social security number) to demonstrate my appreciation.

think about it.