Welcome to Spiglords World Cup Blog for Russia 2018

Welcome to Spiglords World Cup Blog for Russia 2018....

This is the seventh episode in the quadrennial pilgrimage where myself, (Spiglord) and my good friend Yates, plus our respective partners, siblings or friends travel halfway around the globe in search of World Cup Football. This craziness started in 1994 with a trip to the USA, and has been followed up with trips to France in 98, Korea in 2002, Germany in 2006, South Africa in 2010, and the last episode in Brazil 2014.

Whilst we have known that the next World Cup was going to be in Russia for the last 6 years, the great thing about this mad odyssey is that ultimately we do not choose the destination, and over the past 22 years we have ended up travelling to towns, cities and even countries, we would never ever have gone to of own accord. We have stayed in what I now think was a brothel in South Korea, a pigeon loft in France, a bush lodge in South Africa and a penthouse apartment in Brazil. We have eaten and drunk our way through the various cuisines of the places we have visited, and enjoyed the hospitality & friendship of acquaintances & strangers along the way. We have seen world heritage sites, impressive art, unbelievable landscapes, fantastic beaches, historic buildings, and stunning sunsets, plus over 40 games of world cup football.

Why do we do this…?

Personally, I have an enduring love of travel and adventure that has been part of my life from the very first time I stepped on to an airplane. As a teenager, my father took the whole family off to live in Italy in 1976, and I loved every single minute of my time there, always feeling at home there, never missing my old friends or ever being encumbered by a sense of missing England. From there I went back to the UK, but travel was always an itch I was always wanting to scratch, and when the chance came to leave London and head over to the USA, I grabbed the opportunity with both hands and never looked back. Since then I have continued to make my way around the globe and have ended up locating myself in New Zealand, which I am glad to call my home.

Inter-weaved into this wanderlust has been a love of the ’Beautiful Game’, which was well established in me long before the travelling started, but was somehow more deeply and keenly improved by the travel, the places I have lived and the people I have met along the way. Key amongst the people I have met on my journey is ‘Yates S Williams III’, with whom I have shared this World Cup odyssey since 1994. Yates is an unusual ‘brother-in-arms’ for these trips, in

that he is an American who is not only very comfortable travelling the world, but also possesses a keen an interest in football, a most uncommon combination. I somehow think that Yates and I would be strong friends regardless of the football, as we share a common interest in food, beer, bars etc…! Looking back on over my life, I have always wanted to see what was over the horizon, or to immerse myself in to another culture or country at every opportunity, and if I could get to see a football match along the way, all the better.

So what next…?

Stay tuned as I figure out our plans for Russia 2018 and the proposed travel plans associated with this episode of Spiglords World Cup Blog.