Stranded 4,000 miles away from home

Emily C Start Date: Dec 9, 2021 - End Date: Apr 8, 2022
  • Cincinnati, OH, United States of America

My Travel Story

by: Emily C Start Date: Dec 9, 2021 - End Date: Apr 8, 2022
Hello everyone!

Well, to start off… I’m Emily and my husband is Bobby.  We have been together for 10 years, since we were 12 years old. We moved in together at 17 and lived on our own in a rental. We both came from struggling, abusive households. We are all each other has ever known. We are hardworking, motivated young adults. We worked for everything we’ve ever had. Unfortunately, we both struggle with mental health… so along came Ollie! Our dog, who is like our child since we can’t have kids of our own.

When COVID hit, it hit us hard. We were both sick for 3 months last year and we both lost our jobs. Due to this, we were unable to pay for our apartment and we had no choice but to move back in with my family. We lost everything we worked so hard for. My family refused to let us stay inside of their home to sleep. We slept in a shed during the peak of summertime for 6 months. We were not allowed to run any electricity, nor let our dog leave the shed or his small fenced area. We begged my family to change their minds, but they didn’t so we kept working towards getting back on our feet.

Then, my step-sister (who I barely know, other than a few visits here and there… she’s older and lives across country… but good relationship for the most part) offered to help. She offered to move us to Alaska, as long as I started college this upcoming summer. Due to health reasons, our dog cannot fly and he had to drive through Canada with my sisters girlfriend. We flew from Ohio to Alaska. My sister bought us a car, put us on her phone plan. All of these things we paid for with our jobs in Alaska. No strings attached.

Unfortunately though, my sister and her girlfriend broke up. This, understandably, caused a huge mental breakdown for my sister. We tried to help her grieve and cope, but she pushed us away. Even to the point where she said and done unforgivable things. She sold our phones and our car (that we paid for, but was in her name) and she said she didn’t care if we ended up homeless. This caused us to lose our job again because we have no car nor phones. We still live with her ex (who we’ve lived with this entire time) and we have only a few hundred dollars to help get us by with food. We came here with nothing but our dog and the clothes on our back. We want to start a life for ourselves, but we seem to always get knocked back down.




Our goal is to move back home, to Ohio. We have a place to live and jobs lined up but we have no way of getting home. In order to do so, we’ll need to buy a car and drive through Canada.




This money will go towards buying a new car and the necessities needed to drive for this trip i.e. gas, food, emergency repair kits, etc. We appreciate any help and will be willing to answer any questions, if needed.
  • Cincinnati, OH, United States of America