I counted days, I counted miles, to see you there, to see you there…it certainly had been a long time coming. As someone who lost the Ticketmaster war for the show in my area, I spent an obscene amount of money to sit behind the stage and have the best night of my life. That was back in May of 2023. Then, the international dates were announced and I was determined to secure tickets the second time around after losing the first time. Drumroll please…I lost again!!Â
For an entire year and a half, things were quiet. Then everything changed on a random Tuesday, ten days before the show in a different country. I logged onto the last-minute ticket drops with nothing but a dream, and I was able to get tickets from Ticketmaster! I had secured what was arguably the hardest and most expensive part of the trip without resellers. However, that posed the question of how the heck was I supposed to get to Toronto on a random Friday night?Â
What made things more difficult was the fact that I had an exam the Thursday night prior, so I couldn’t even travel the day before. The flight prices from Boston to Toronto were outrageously expensive (which makes sense, attempting to buy international tickets roughly a week before the scheduled trip). That left the next hurdle to overcome: how can I get to Toronto and back without breaking my bank account and still make it in time for the concert?Â
I was keen on driving to Toronto, but my parents were very much against that idea. After a lot of brainstorming, I came up with the final game plan. Some may think it is ludicrous; I was going to take a flight from Boston to New York, Uber to Niagara, walk the Canadian border across the Rainbow Bridge, and then take a bus from Niagara to Toronto. The way back was more simple, just take a bus from Toronto to New York, and then a flight from New York to Boston. I certainly had my work cut out for me.Â
The actual day itself was chaotic, with a lack of sleep and food, but a lot of adrenaline and anticipation. There was a slight scare when the bus that was predicted to arrive at 6:00 pm arrived at 6:40 pm. This left me scrambling to figure out what to do with my bag that wouldn’t be allowed at the stadium, as there wasn’t enough time to go to the hotel and not miss the show. After all the hustling and a last-minute bite to eat on the run to the Rogers Centre, I had finally arrived at the stadium. Â
Ever since The Tortured Poets Department came out, which ended up being my most streamed album of the year, my best friend and I were determined to see the Eras Tour once more. We are long time Taylor Swift fans who wanted to see TTPD live. It was surreal standing in my seat, in section 114, waiting for the Taylor Swift to get on stage. I had seen her before, and it still felt unbelievable. After all the chaos and worrying about not making it in time for the show, we made it. Two weeks ago we didn’t even have tickets, and now we were in Canada ready to see our favorite artist of all time.Â
The night was as expected, enchanting, sparkling, flawless, call it what you want. The journey was treacherous, but long story short, it was all worth it. My experience was unforgettable, and it really made me realize that even through the stress of having three exams that week, I was able to do something spontaneous, and it really felt like I was living my life beyond just studying and stressing. Will I do something like this again? Time will tell, but I’m forever grateful for the memories and experiences that I had.Â
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