My best friend and I have been Swifties for years, so we were ecstatic when Taylor Swift announced The Eras Tour.
I'd been fortunate enough to experience her Speak Now and Red Tours but haven't been able to score affordable tickets to her other tours since.
So, this time, I was determined to make it to The Eras Tour. In fact, I wanted to try to see it twice.
My best friend and I wanted to see Swift perform at one of her MetLife shows in New Jersey, which took place from May 26 through May 28.
As a Capital One card holder, I tried to get tickets during the presale. It took me nearly six hours to get out of the queue, and once I did, I learned tickets had sold out.
We were still determined to see Swift at MetLife, so we tried to get tickets through Ticketmaster the week leading up to the concert.
After dealing with errors, constantly refreshing the pages, and checking resale sites, we finally bought two obstructed nosebleed tickets for about $800 each.
The price was worth it for the best night of our lives.
My best friend and I had already been planning a trip to Spain, Italy, Paris, and London, so we decided to try to get tickets for the European leg of the Eras Tour next summer.
We wanted to get tickets for an Amsterdam show, as we'd never been there together and we think the weather will be pleasant during her July shows.
We weren't selected for the European presale, but a generous Dutch Swiftie I met through social media sent us her presale link and code after she bought her tickets.
Compared to the ticket-buying experience in the US, this was a smooth, easy process.
We bought VIP packages with great seats for $440 each for one of her shows at Amsterdam's Johan Cruijff Arena.
We've yet to book our airfare, trains, or hotels, but we plan on flying into London first. I'm hoping to spend a maximum of $700 on my flight from New York City to London.
Once we spend a few days in England, we'll head to Spain and Italy and end our trip in Amsterdam. I estimate my flight back from Amsterdam will cost a little less than $1,000.
I'll probably spend about $150 per ride traveling to each country by plane or train and we'll hunt for good hotel and Airbnb prices to make our trip as budget-friendly as possible.
Overall, I plan to spend about $2,000 to $3,000 on my trip.
Though adding Amsterdam to our travel plans creates some extra costs, I know going to The Eras Tour again will be worth it.
Seeing Taylor Swift in the US was an unforgettable experience, and I can't wait to do it again in Europe.