It has dawned on me that my plans to go see the US in group play in WC 2006 with my kids won't work as they'll still be in school during all of group play - they don't get out this summer until 6/24, earliest. So, I'm trying to decide what to do. I could: - go for knockout rounds in Germany, which may or may not include the US - go to an away some home WCQs this cycle, instead I'm starting to lean towards WCQs as that could offer the chance to go to some tropical places that I may never get otherwise (Panama, CR). Given the large family and expense of traveling with said crew, I can't do both. What would you recommend?
Wow, didn't realize kids were in school so late into June. Are your kids good students? How old are they? What happends if you take them out of school for a couple of days? Honestly If the Costa Rica game in Costa Rica was on a saturday, I'd pull the kids out of school at least one day and fly down for a long weekend. Some good fishing, some great beaches and very inexpensive.
Hmmmm.... At first glance, I would say the World Cup is second to none and do everything you can to go there BUT since you'd only be able to go for the knockout rounds, it's a safer bet to go to some qualifiers. If the Costa Rica/Panama/Trinidad game is in February, for instance, you could go enjoy the beautiful weather down there. It's really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go to any of those places. I'd say plan more than just a couple of days there and see the sights and, oh by the way, watch the nats pull off a win If I were travelling with kids, I'd go to, in this order: Trinidad Costa Rica Panama Mexico Guatemala T&T is absolutely stunning; as, I hear, is Costa Rica; Panama is more exotic than Mexico; Mexico is closer and probably less expensive but not the same once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as the others but certainly more than worth the effort; Guatemala... well, I'd worry about my safety in some parts of Guatemala, had a friend who went there and he said he wouldn't recommend it, but that's just me. Also, you have to consider whether or not you'd enjoy the game. Say, for instance, you'd have chosen to go to Costa Rica in 2001. You would have travelled thousands of miles to sit in the rain and watch the US lay an egg whereas if you'd chosen Honduras you would have left thrilled.
Do you speak Spanish and/or German? You'll enjoy your visit much more if you can understand some of the native language. That being said, even if you're absolutely certain the group stage of Germany is out of the question, I would still go to the World Cup. You and your kids would get a chance to see an absolute smorgasbord of the world's soccer fandom - people from all over the world for a footie festival. What a party! Even if the US doesn't advance far into the knockout round, you can catch another game while you're there. And a trip to Germany is ALWAYS worth it. (Of course, I'm biased, having lived there for two years and loved it.)
Let's say I'm pretty devastated about not being able to go the group play. Since two are in high school, it's just really not an option to take them out of school early. And it would be more than a few days - more like 2 weeks! I speak German and my daughter is studying Spanish - she's in her second year now. I've got no problems heading to tropical lands in the summer time, so I'm very curious as to how the draw will come out for the qualifiers. Trinidad would be fine and everyone in the crew loves going to the Carribean. That may be the easiest, but not really the most adventurous. I think Costa Rica would be really fun.
nancy, you could go over yourself and have the high school age children fly over later, meeting them at the airport. But June 24 is probably around the last day of the preliminary rounds. We may or may not make it out of the preliminary rounds. I think we will. You could get ticket packages and sell the tickets for the preliminary rounds. BUT....going to a game that counts during qualifiers might be an even greater experience. A few months ago there was a thread here about qualifiers versus World Cup, which was the best experience. I did not have time to post but I kind of lean towards qualifiers. Playing in front of a partisan home crowd is soemthing you rearely experience during the World Cup. Last time, it did not rain during the September 5, 2001 qualifier in Costa Rica. We got pasted, but what an experience to see that stadium. I went to 10 qualifiers last time and all 5 US games in Korea, but the most memorable moment was standing by an exit at Saprissa, after the game, shaking hands with perhaps 400 Ticos, congratulating them on their win. I was heartbroken with the loss, but I will never foreget the epxtressions on their faces. They looked like they had just gotten into heaven. I wouod not take the kids out of school for soccer. A qualifer in Costa Rica or elesewheremight be just right.
Tom - thanks for the great info. I could go by myself to the WC, but the guilt might be too much to bear. Also, the family would much prefer a trip to a warm sunny island with swimming and lounging than a trip to boring old Germany where there's nothing to do but visit castles and museums.
The last day of group play is June 23. From the 24th to the 27th, there are two games each day and the 28th there is a rest day. If you go to Trinidad and stay in Port-of-Spain, the nearest beach is Maracas Bay 30 minutes away. The hotels are nice but the Hilton, the nicest one, is pretty expensive ($200+ a night IIRC). The airport is a half hour from Port-of-Spain. It's absolutely stunning, though, and the trip to Maracas is well worth it. Hasely Crawford is kind of a dump. Everybody speaks English but there are a lot of Indians there (descendants of people from India) so if you like Indian food, you'll love it there. I fell in love with the roti
I don't think there is anything quite like the passion of a crazy home crowd during a qualifier. Most nations know they will not win the World Cup. But QUALIFYING IS GOOD ENOUGH to save face in front of the world. We have some great places to play away qualifiers. There is a WCQ August 17, which may be away and will probably be before we are close to qualifying or being eliminated. That might work out for a family vacation. Trinidad is supposed to be an amazing place. I would love to see it. But Costa Rica has the wildest stadium in the world and if we win down there we will be saying Guten Tag before you know it!
Nancy - just remember that 6 of the 10 games will be on Wednesdays. So if the kids can't miss school this may impact your decision. I'd go to Germany and meet up with the family taking a side trip to the Italian riveria (after the WC )
There is this issue of a job I need to keep. I can't really take more than 3 weeks and that's a huge stretch. Anyway, a Wednesday game in July or August would be no problem. I'm really bummed. My boys don't care too much about soccer, but I was really looking forward to taking my daughter on this trip. She'll be 16 then and it seems a good age for something like a WC trip to Europe.
Sorry about your dilemma. My kids will be 5.5 and 2 when the WC begins so we won't have to worry about school. On top of that, K-12 gets out in late May around here. Sounds like your kids don't get much of a summer break. I think my wife plans to stay behind with the youngest one. She's debating with herself. My son (the older kid) sounds interested in going with me. He's 3 (almost 4) and it's hard to pin him down on abstract ideas like a trip to Germany. If not, my older brother is thinking about tagging along. Regardless, I'll probably just attend the group matches and return home after that. Taking off for the two and a half weeks off from work is pushing it. Could you work out something with the school in advance? Perhaps they could complete work and exams early (or late). Just a thought. I'd lean towards the knockout rounds in Germany. That's were it's at! And if worse comes to worse, leave the kids. They'll enjoy your time away.
I recommend both. We only go around once in life and I've missed enough qualifiers and world cups to only be upset with myself. So I say try and do both. Things can always be worked out with teachers in a high school. If the kids are fine with it, they can be pulled out early. Do a few extra assignments here and there, take the finals before they leave, and see the qualifiers and the world cup. Ohh by the way, Germany won't be boring at all.........when the US lights it up
Work really does put a damper on the truly important things in life My work freaked when I told them that I was taking 6 weeks! In retrospect, I plan on taking 4 weeks (as a compromise ) - but I could always take a lesson from Monty (patfan1) and lose my passport to extend the trip if need be. Nancy one other thing - the only Wednesday game in the summer is 8/17/2005. I'm not counting the June 4th and 8th game (same issue as WC) My wife and 11 yo have decided that they won't be going with me to Germany. My wife will watch the games or go if it's local, but they know how I was totally immersed in the last several world cups and it's probably better that I'm solo (or at least with other soccer fanatics.) Here is a time duration spreadsheet (as of current time) - I'll be posting this after I update the 3rd round from the CONCACAF draw on Tuesday Opponent Location Competition Date Time(EST) Duration Concacaf Draw Zurich Draw 11/30/2004 7:00 PM 0 years, 0 months, 3 days, 5 hours 9 minutes WC Tickets on-sale ussoccer.com Tickets 2/1/2005 7:00 AM 0 years, 2 months, 4 days, 17 hours 4 minutes TBD TBD WCQ 3rd 2/9/2005 7:00 PM 0 years, 2 months, 13 days, 5 hours 9 minutes TBD TBD WCQ 3rd 3/26/2005 7:00 PM 0 years, 3 months, 27 days, 5 hours 9 minutes TBD TBD WCQ 3rd 3/30/2005 7:00 PM 0 years, 4 months, 3 days, 5 hours 9 minutes TBD TBD WCQ 3rd 6/4/2005 7:00 PM 0 years, 6 months, 8 days, 5 hours 9 minutes TBD TBD WCQ 3rd 6/8/2005 7:00 PM 0 years, 6 months, 12 days, 5 hours 9 minutes TBD TBD WCQ 3rd 8/17/2005 7:00 PM 0 years, 8 months, 21 days, 5 hours 9 minutes TBD TBD WCQ 3rd 9/3/2005 7:00 PM 0 years, 9 months, 7 days, 5 hours 9 minutes TBD TBD WCQ 3rd 9/7/2005 7:00 PM 0 years, 9 months, 11 days, 5 hours 9 minutes TBD TBD WCQ 3rd 10/8/2005 7:00 PM 0 years, 10 months, 11 days, 5 hours 9 minutes TBD TBD WCQ 3rd 10/12/2005 7:00 PM 0 years, 10 months, 15 days, 5 hours 9 minutes TBD TBD WC Play-in 11/12/2005 7:00 PM 0 years, 11 months, 16 days, 5 hours 9 minutes TBD TBD WC Play-in 11/16/2005 7:00 PM 0 years, 11 months, 20 days, 5 hours 9 minutes 2006 WC Draw Leipzig, Germany WC Draw 12/9/2005 2:00 PM 1 years, 0 months, 12 days, 0 hours 9 minutes tbd Munich, Germany WC Finals Start 6/9/2006 2:00 PM 1 years, 6 months, 13 days, 0 hours 9 minutes
I am in a similar perdicament as you. My son 11-year-old finishes school around the 24th also. Another factor to your decision is which group the USA will be place in. I looked at the schedule again. The groups start playing their first games according to alphabetic order (A is the earliest on 6-9 and H is the latest on 6-14). Perhaps I will just have to hope for placement in group H, in which case my son would miss about 8 days of school compared to group A where my son would miss about 11 days of school. It is going to be tough either way. An lousy alternative is to plan to miss the first game (hoping it is not very important) and stay for later rounds (hoping the USA is involved).
I had the chance to go to the World Cup in 2002--I didn't take it because I would've had to miss everything up thru the Poland game (my HS graduation was the day of the South Korea game). Didn't want to make my parents spend the thousands of dollars to fly halfway around the world only to see 1 guaranteed US game (they were offering it to me as a graduation gift)...I could've seen the epic victory over Mexico as well as the Germany game (and probably 1 or 2 non-US games), but missed the chance, and I'll never have that chance back. My advice, Nancy--we'll be playing qualifiers at Mexico, Costa Rica, etc. every 4 years. You'll have plenty more chances to travel to those places. The World Cup is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Sure, you might miss a historical victory at the Azteca or Saprissa, but you're just as likely to miss a historical victory over, say, Germany in Germany (I'd say we're due). If I were in your shoes, I'd go to the World Cup.
Nancy, The solution is easy. Simply transfer them to either Falls Church H.S. or J.E.B. Stuart H.S. for the 2005-2006 school year. Both of those schools get out around the 3rd of June (IIRC). If you explain it to them now, they have about a year to mentally prepare for their awkward social adjustment next year. It's a shame they're not too into soccer, otherwise they might actually go for it.
The draw for WCQs is bad for family travel. Nothing's working out. I may end up doing a solo Germany trip.
That draw completely screwed your plans. I guess [insert higher power] would have you go to Germany. I could think of worse things than being forced to go to the world cup in Germany.
I remain optimistic that we will take a family trip to Germany. Missing the end of 4th and 2nd grade doesn't bother me. Given that I doubt DC gets a qualifier this time around, I am thinking we may have to road trip for a "home" qualifier.
I really empathize, Nancy. We have three children here in New York State that will be finishing the Eighth, Fourth, and First Grades respectively. NYS usually runs to late June and this would be the last time we could 'pull' the kids out for a decade without missing mandatory statewide high school tests. My wife is somewhat indifferent to soccer but agrees a trip to Europe during the WC would be worthwhile. Her proposal is to visit her brother in England and we could journey around the British Isles while stopping to catch televised matches. Not quite like being in the stadium of course. I'd like to hop over to the Continent for a game or two but then the matter of this 'cruel job thing' also comes into play. Can't afford WC without it; No time for WC with it. I'm also considering a run with the eldest son to the Azteca in March if time from work can be arranged. If I were you, honestly I'd go to WC. Just the atmosphere on the streets, in the bars and restaurants, would be worth it. My wife and I were in Sweden during Euro '92 and really enjoyed Sweden's thrilling run to the Semis with our Swedish hosts. WCQ's are exciting but a one-off experience. Germany will be awash in WC spirit and pageantry for weeks. You'll get more 'bang' for your soccer dollar. Whatever you decide, enjoy it. You've earned it on these boards.
I already told my boss earlier this year I was going to be gone for a month in the summer of 2006 so expect and plan accordingly.