It started as a flight of fancy. Fly into the upper Amazon and canoe to the World Cup. Eight years, three countries; seven cities, nine in-person matches and countless inspirational interactions with people of innumerable countries: the journey is over.

The journey brought me closer to many of the big political controversies of the day. Corruption; environmental impact; 3^rd world poverty; covert and overt Russian aggression; petrochemical power; women and LGBQT rights. Were we duped, manipulated to a positive view of the places we visited? Maybe. Many wouldn’t have gone. Wouldn’t have endorsed the leaders who fly in the face of these issues.

I’m glad I went. Grateful for the privilege to see things for myself. To think more deeply about the issues. To form my own point of view, independent of the stream of mediocre media. For in the end, the journey was all about the people we met.

Mira who opened her home to us in Manaus. The tribal leader who welcomed us to his village in the Amazon. Yulia and her policeman son, Alex, who we talked to late into the night on a train in Sochi. I think of Alex sometimes and hope he is safe. Soviet Stan in Leningrad who saw much change in his life. My little Welsh mate, Harry, so excited when Bale scored that penalty against the USA. Sri Lankan immigrant workers in the Doha café. Iranians, passionately supporting their country, while vocally denouncing its leadership

Leaders may mess things up. But the world is full of wonderful people. I’m eternally grateful for these opportunities to travel, to meet them, to form my own point of view and, in some small way, try to influence opinions.

Football. Stupid game. Twenty-two people, men in this case, running around a field trying to kick a ball into a net. Laugh out loud ridiculous. That it brings the world together as it does with so much shared joy is a cause for celebration.

Till the next time.