I lived in Minnesota for eight years and I’ve lived in California for the past two years. I was supposed to fly back to Minneapolis, MN to visit friends in March, but I had to cancel my flight because of the virus. I rescheduled it for early June so I could visit friends, and also so I could attend the George Floyd protests because I knew him.

My boyfriend and I had plans to go to Switzerland in April of 2020 to see his family and friends. We bought tickets in January of 2020, but in March of 2020 when the pandemic began seriously affecting the U.S., we were told we were not going to be able to leave the country for our vacation. We wouldn’t even be able to leave the house! And we had no idea for how long. At first we thought we’d reschedule for the summer, thinking there was no way the stay-at-home and the travel restrictions could last more than a few weeks, one or two MONTHS, at most.

I am an actress and a pop singer in the entertainment industry. I was very excited to be starring and hosting a new TV series. We were only half way through the series episodes when the company had to shut down production due to the pandemic. I was also booked on a movie that was scheduled to start production in April 2020, but they had to postpone. This was very disheartening to me, the cast and crew looking forward to the work. I am hopeful things turn around soon, for all of us.

I met her on a warm summer night in August where we walked her dog for hours as we talked about ourselves and our dreams for life. After several months of trying desperately to extinguish the torrent of emotions I was feeling for this woman that would *surely* wash her away like a tidal wave if I didn’t keep them under control, she began to open up to me and expressed her desires to travel internationally. I was overjoyed that I could begin to show her how deeply I felt for her, and I happen to be Swiss, and so I suggested that we go visit my homeland and see my sister and father and perhaps some of my old childhood friends as well.