I’ll walk you through Freddy’s cross-country World Cup road trip across America, the moments that caught national attention, the rental car chaos in Vermont, and the small, human scenes that turned foreigners into fans of the United States.
Freddy, the German traveling fan, has been turning a soccer pilgrimage into a tour of American sights and ordinary kindnesses. He started in Pennsylvania and kept heading east, using Germany matches as reasons to explore towns, parks, and regional culture along the way. His stops have included Amish country in Ohio and scenic pockets of New York state, where the landscapes themselves felt like a part of the experience. People he met, and music he grew fond of during the trip, made the journey feel personal rather than just a string of tourist photos.
Even officials noticed the trip; Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy recognized what Freddy was doing and pointed out a few highlights. Freddy’s soundtrack for the road trip included country singer Ella Langley, which he mentioned with a grin as part of his cultural sampling. Those small cultural exchanges—what someone from abroad can pick up and enjoy—are exactly the kind of thing that makes travel memorable. It also underlines how Americans show hospitality in unexpected ways.
Freddy reached New York’s Finger Lakes and paused to take in Watkins Glen State Park, calling the views stunning and the lakeside calm a welcome break from the road. He spent time at Seneca Lake and shared the quiet, the kind of lakeside scenes that slow you down and reset the trip’s pace. Long drives and short walks between small towns became as important to him as the matches he attended. Those moments added perspective to the World Cup itinerary.
https://x.com/SecDuffy/status/2070281904272597168
Logistics became a test of patience when Freddy and his travel buddy were juggling rentals between Canada and the U.S. They drove long stretches to make a cross-border swap and joked about eating “healthy” while surviving on fast food stops and roadside coffee. When they reached Burlington to pick up a Vermont rental, “reservation” turned out to be little more than a hopeful promise. The hiccup forced plans to change and pushed Freddy into a short stay in town that he hadn’t planned on.
Vermont’s rental shortage left Freddy stranded enough that his travel buddy kept driving to Montreal to return the Canadian car while Freddy stayed behind to sort things out. The situation led to a hotel night in Burlington, where he managed to catch the U.S. vs. Turkey match on TV and soak up the atmosphere with other fans. What began as a frustration turned into a small bonding moment with fellow spectators at the motel and in local bars. It highlighted how travel problems can open unexpected local encounters.
It’s complete chaos today. We drove to Burlington, VT to pick up a rental car but even though we had reserved one they had no cars available (until Sunday). My travel buddy now continues driving to Montreal to drop off our Canadian rental car and I’m staying here to try get a car from one of the other rental companies in the city tomorrow who were already closed now.
Relief arrived when Hertz stepped in, and Robert, a rental manager, personally collected Freddy from his motel and handed over keys with a smile. Robert even gave Freddy a soccer ball, a small but meaningful piece of goodwill that turned a travel headache into a feel-good anecdote. Those individual acts are the glue of a civil society; they create the stories visitors take home. For Freddy, that soccer ball was a souvenir with a story attached.
On the road again, Freddy kept looking for moose and laughing about how many fast food meals he had consumed, as if admitting a travel sin makes it more charming. He marveled at how far the trip had taken him and how much of America he’d seen between matches and rental counters. Simple pleasures—big lake sunsets, open highways, and unexpected kindness—kept coming up in his updates. Those things gradually seemed to tilt his view: the U.S. felt less like a place to pass through and more like a country to admire.
Along the way, he encountered other tourists who were similarly smitten; a Swedish visitor and a Scottish traveler named Shaun joined in the fun and asked about becoming Americans on some level, a sign of how travel can reshape loyalties. Freddy even used a GIF pleading for one, a playful moment that showed affection rather than political debate. These small, human exchanges made the tour feel like more than sport—an informal celebration of what visitors find attractive here. That curiosity and fondness are what travel diplomacy looks like on the ground.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.
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