You could live your whole life and never be fortunate enough to go on such a trip. But for one lucky mate and I, this became our reality last month as we blazed a trail across America in search of the ultimate sports fan experience.

Our goal? To embrace US sporting culture, so different from our own. To mingle with the fans in the nosebleeds and bleachers, whose hard-earned dollar keeps the wheels of the American sporting machine turning and the millionaire athletes in their luxury mansions. 

So, after almost 20 hours of travel ex-Australia we touch down in San Francisco, but there's no time for jet lag. Bags are quickly dropped at the hotel before we hop on the train across the bay to Oakland for our Major League Baseball debuts. The scenery on the train ride is a culture shock to say the least. As we arrive at our stop, we are greeted by a barbed wire walkway, which takes us all the way from the train to the Coliseum, home of the Oakland Athletics. You didn't have to be a Rhodes scholar to realise that venturing outside that barbwire would be unwise. 

However the hostile surroundings are soon forgotten once we enter the stadium and take our seats to see the hometown A’s take on the visiting Texas Rangers, formerly owned by George W. Bush. We're like a couple of sponges as we sit there trying to soak in the great American tradition that is a night at the ballpark. For a couple of devotees of the 2011 Brad Pitt film Moneyball, which was primarily filmed inside the Coliseum, it's a surreal feeling to be there in the flesh. From the throwing out of the ceremonial first pitch our first Major League Baseball experience is a resounding success, quenching our thirst for a taste of America's summer pastime.

Two nights later we're at AT&T Park, home of the World Series winners, the San Francisco Giants. Located conveniently in the heart of downtown, every single thing about this stadium is impressive. Still riding high off World Series victories in 2010 and 2012, the Giants have sold out 240 consecutive home games and everything about their operation screams success – and money. Which I guess is why they can charge $US190 ($205) for a Giants jersey, much to our disgust. But on a beautiful, still Thursday evening in San Fran, the stadium is packed and the atmosphere electric as the Giants lock horns with the Arizona Diamondbacks. There isn't a bad seat in the house and just before the game starts the sun sets over the bay, creating what is arguably the most picturesque sporting setting in the world. 

Unfortunately, the Giants appear hung over from their 2012 heroics and are having a shocker of a season, which sees the visitors leave with the victory. However the result is almost irrelevant, as nothing can take the shine off one of life’s great spectating experiences.

Next stop on our travelling road show is a weekend in Chicago, home of the deep-dish pizza, Oprah Winfrey and Michael Jordan. First item on the agenda is to sample a time-honoured Chicago tradition – Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field watching the Chicago Cubs. So we hit the subway destined for 1060 West Addison Street.

If AT&T Park is the sophisticated ballpark of the future then Wrigley is the exact opposite – an old-time cathedral in every sense of the word, drenched in history and character. It is one of the last stadiums in America to operate a hand-turned scoreboard, it doesn't have a big screen and fans in the outer sit on wooden benches more likely to give you splinters and back spasms rather than provide any meaningful support. But that's all part of the Wrigley Field experience. The outfield walls are lined with a perfectly manicured ivy hedge and all in all, it's not hard to see why Wrigley is arguably the most iconic ballpark in America. 

Having tasted premium seats behind home plate in our first two games, we decided to hit the bleachers (outer) on this occasion, and it proves to be a good decision. We sit ourselves in the middle of some travelling Milwaukee Brewers fans and the friendly banter lets fly. Which is a blessing in disguise on this particular day because the Cubs, very much the lovable losers of American sport, are stinking it up on the field. After a great afternoon that included a marriage proposal and a chat with my new mate Dale from Wisconsin, Wrigley Field has been conquered.

The next day we change codes to see the Chicago Bears take on the Cincinnati Bengals on the opening day of the 2013/14 NFL season. On the short bus ride from downtown to Soldier Field it becomes obvious that while baseball might be the national pastime, football is truly America's national sport. A procession of fans stream in the direction of the stadium, every single one dressed from head-to-toe in Bears colours in a merchandiser’s dream. The NFL is not a very affordable sport, with our seats in the very top row of the stand stinging us $US190 ($205). In a tense, see-sawing struggle, the Bears pinch victory in the dying moments, sending the 60,000-strong home crowd into raptures and finally give us a home town victory at our fourth attempt.

Fast forward two nights and we're back at the baseball in the borough of Queens to watch New York's other team, the Mets, play the Washington Nationals at Citi Field. The ballpark is located in the same complex as Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows, which only a night earlier was abuzz with the US Open Tennis finals being played. On this particular night though, it resembles more of a ghost town as the Mets aren't exactly the hottest ticket in New York in 2013.

However, what could have proved to be a dud night actually turns out to be one of the best experiences of the whole trip. New York might be a Yankees town but the Mets, themselves World Series Champions in 1969 and 1986, are clearly investing heavily in their own future with a great new fan-friendly stadium and an excellent value night out. Rank outsiders in this contest, the underdog Mets play their way into our hearts with a gutsy effort that sees them come up just short, but not without giving the visiting team from the capital one hell of a fright.

After a bus tour through America's deep south, we arrive in Louisiana for what is possibly our most eagerly awaited sporting event – a New Orleans Saints game at the Superdome. The Saints are widely credited with galvanising the city of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, culminating in a famous Super Bowl victory in 2010. And the Superdome is much more than just a football stadium to the city, having sheltered thousands of people from Katrina's devastation.

The atmosphere surrounding the Superdome pre-game was like nothing I'd ever experienced before. Thousands of people packed into Victory Square, a band rocking out on a giant concert stage, bars everywhere, grills cooking – it was what a sporting event should be like. Once inside the stadium, the enclosed roof creates a cauldron-like atmosphere, and the New Orleans fans are louder than anything I've ever heard before. The Saints' star quarterback Drew Brees, whose name and number adorns the back of almost every fan, puts on an absolute clinic as the local heroes run rampant all over the hapless Arizona Cardinals. It's an unforgettable experience, and the sheer passion and decibel level of the 72,000 rabid fans packed into the Superdome that day will live long in my memory.

At the time, we believed that closed the book on our sporting adventure. However Las Vegas, that renowned oasis is the desert, provides us with one last sporting lifeline before we fly home. A chance Google search finds that an NHL pre-season game between the Los Angeles Kings and the Colorado Avalanche is being played at the MGM Grand Casino the night before we leave. Last-minute tickets are bought and instead of packing our bags, we're enjoying the sheer brutality that is professional Ice Hockey. The combination of the physical contest on the ice and the Vegas party atmosphere makes for a perfect finale.