Honestly? Booking that Rugby World Cup trip stressed me out way more than I thought it would. Figured I’d share my whole mess since tickets just went on sale last week.
The First Panic Moment
Right after buying our stadium seats online – which felt like winning a lottery, by the way – me and my buddy just looked at each other. “Okay genius,” he says, “where we sleeping?” Total deer-in-headlights feeling. Jumped straight on my laptop, fired up the maps. Zoomed in hard on Sydney and Brisbane, ’cause that’s where our games are. Scrolled until my eyes hurt. Every decent spot near the train or stadium looked booked solid already or cost crazy money. Like, “sell a kidney” crazy. Felt my stomach drop big time.
Digging Deeper Than I Wanted
Fine. Needed a Plan B, fast. Started widening the search. Looked at towns further out – places with train stops leading straight into the city centers on match days. Took hours. Seriously. Flipped between hostel reviews, those vacation rental sites, even proper hotels. Tried every filter they had:
- Checked the calendar like a hawk: Made darn sure the dates overlapped perfectly with the matches.
- Transportation became everything: How far is the walk? Train station close? Bus stop outside? That became the gold standard.
- Budget reality check: Nearly choked seeing prices. Set a firm max number and stuck to it, filtering out anything stupid.
Finally, finally lucked out on a small apartment kinda halfway between the city center and the stadium near the train line. Not perfect, but good enough. Clicked “Book Now” faster than a scrum-half passing the ball. Felt like scoring a try.
Fights… Uh, Flights
Thought flights would be easier. Boy, was I wrong. Searched everywhere – all the big travel sites, airline pages directly. Those combo deals? Useless. Flying into one city and out of another? Prices made my wallet weep. Ended up playing chess with dates and times. Flying in super late one day, leaving stupid early another. Saved a good chunk doing that, even if it meant sacrificing sleep. Booked the flights feeling slightly queasy but relieved.
Stuff They Don’t Tell You (But You Need)
Here’s the extra bits I figured out the hard way:
- Public Transport Passes: Looked into weekly passes for Sydney trains and Brisbane buses already. WAY cheaper than paying per ride.
- Pack Light, Seriously: Saw luggage fees for domestic hops between cities? Forget it. Backpack and carry-on only, fellas.
- Adapter Madness: Australia uses weird plugs. Ordered adapters online right after booking the apartment. One less thing.
- Phone Survival: My regular plan would bankrupt me there. Researched SIM cards you can get right at the airport arrivals. Essential.
- Cash is Still King (Sometimes): Heard some smaller food stalls or market vendors might prefer cash. So yeah, gonna grab some Aussie dollars from the bank before leaving home.
Feeling Ready(ish)
Took me a solid weekend of feeling stressed and glued to screens. Was it fun? Not really. But knowing the flights are done, the bed is sorted, and how I’m getting around? Huge weight off. Trust me, if you’re dreaming of RWC 2027, start hammering the details now. Last minute? No chance. Save yourself the panic attacks!
