I maxed out a credit card, traded in my car, and still struggled to afford the World Cup. Then I found a WhatsApp group.
· Business Insider
Courtesy of Rory Phillips-Hunter
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- Rory Phillips-Hunter was determined to go to the US to watch Scotland play in the World Cup.
- After seeing that hotel prices in Boston were far too high, Phillips-Hunter decided on Providence.
- He joined a group chat for Scots staying in Providence, which has helped lower the overall cost.
This as-told-to essay is based on several conversations with Rory Phillips-Hunter, a 37-year-old estate and maintenance manager at a farm in North West England. Born in the Scottish Borders, he is a Scottish national soccer fan, known collectively as the Tartan Army.
I was at the game when Scotland beat Denmark and qualified for the World Cup.
I was 9 the last time we qualified for the World Cup, so it was just an outpouring of emotions after 28 years. I started crying.
I turned to my fiancée at the time, as soon as the full-time whistle went, and I said: "We're going. I don't care what it takes. We're getting across to America."
But hotel prices in Boston were beyond what I could afford, and my tickets were already going to cost over $1,000.
That's when I joined a WhatsApp group that changed everything.
I decided to stay in Providence
I saw that two of Scotland's games were at Gillette Stadium. So, the first place we had looked at for a place to stay was Boston, but unfortunately, hotels had raised their prices.
For my fiancée and me, eight days in Boston would have cost about £6,000 ($8,000). With those prices, I just wouldn't have been able to go.
I had even considered going to the US, not getting tickets for the games, and instead watching them at a bar. But it would have been pointless.
Phillips-Hunter's Tartan Army merch is laid out ready for the World Cup.Courtesy of Rory Phillips-Hunter
It was at that point that I thought we needed to look for an alternative. That's when we stumbled across Providence, Rhode Island.
It was a fraction of the price, and it's actually closer to the stadium than Boston is. It quickly became a no-brainer.
The Providence Tartan Army
I found this WhatsApp group, called the Providence Tartan Army. It was a very small thing when I joined — around 25 people casually discussing hotels and transport to the stadium.
Then it snowballed. Many of us follow the Scotland team all over the world, so it was inevitable that there would be a big number of us heading to the World Cup.
The WhatsApp group is well over 1,000 people now, and there are thousands more staying in Providence to see Scotland play.
We've not only found ways to keep costs down, but also raised thousands of dollars for charity.