Travel

Several years ago, a friend told Minneapolis furniture designer Bert Taylor he should look up “teardrop campers” on the Internet. It changed his life.

Shortly before a recently scheduled hike in the Sierra Nevada foothills, Peter Tremayne called to change plans.

Tucked away in northern Arizona, Flagstaff is known for its thriving arts and music scene against a backdrop of thriving outdoor activities. The city itself hosts weekend festivals and brings in desert lovers from across the country, but volcanic mountain ranges, hiking trails and ancient Native American civilizations can be found just outside the city’s boundaries.

One of the famous landmarks in Grants Pass is a large sign hovering over the city’s downtown proclaiming, in big white letters: “It’s the Climate.”

As the World Cup reached unprecedented levels of popularity the past two weeks in the United States, the question has again arisen: Is this the time Americans finally embrace soccer as a mainstream sport? For thousands of Americans who traveled to Brazil, though, that time came years ago.