Support Sami's Trip to GCX 2025

Thank you SO SO MUCH for stopping by. Whether you end up donating or not, your support just clicking the link means the world to me. ♡ I have lots of info below to help answer any questions you may have.

→ TLDR: Raising funds to go to GCX (Community Gaming Expo) because I haven’t traveled since 2017 or been around more than a handful of people in 5 years because of health risks, and I very very much need to get out. Asking the community for help because I cannot work also due to my health, which has worsened over the first part of 2025, affecting my ability to stream a sustainable amount to put funds toward living expenses and GCX.

AMOUNT: $1500 USD

FUNDRAISING DEADLINE: ASAP

TRAVEL & EVENT DATE: July 24-28

DETAILED INFO BELOW: (1) The Goal; (2) My Story; (3) My Health and Precautions; (4) Details and Breakdown of Expenses; (5) Stipulations and Conditions; (6) Social Links

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• ✦ 1. THE GOAL ✦ •

I haven’t traveled since 2017 and haven’t hung out with more than a few people in the past 5 years because of my health. I want to make GCX (Community Gaming Expo) my “worth the risk” trip.

I’m asking for $1500 to help cover all expenses for me for, before, during, and coming home from the trip. They include flights, hotel, ride share (to/from airports), additional events and activities, and food and drink. (I have a detailed breakdown of each below.) I’ve kept each expense fairly accurate, but also slightly over to make sure I have enough.

I know I’m asking for a lot, and I don’t know if it’s reasonable to ask or probable to raise the funds, but I really want to try. I need to try. And I think you’ll know why shortly.

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• ✦ 2. MY STORY ✦ •

I’ve always wanted to go to GCX, but due to my health, I haven’t been able to. As a matter of fact, because of my health, I haven’t been able to do much of anything since first getting sick in 2017, and then even more so when the pandemic hit in 2020.

You see, I have lupus, an autoimmune disease where my immune system can’t tell the difference between the healthy cells in my body and the bad ones, so it attacks indiscriminately. To help stop that from happening, I have to take multiple medications that suppress my immune system, which makes it easier to get diseases like COVID, which can drastically affect my health in a very negative way. So I’ve spent the last five years cooped up in my apartment, almost completely away from society. I haven’t traveled or spent time with friends or family except maybe four or five people who came to me, but even then, not for long. It was just me, my ex-husband, and our cats for years. That was until we separated last January, and I’ve been alone with the cats since. And because of my health, I can’t hold a job, which makes me alone, cooped up, and broke.

But to help get me through my isolation, I started streaming. And through streaming, I’ve built an incredible community and met an incredible amount of people from all over the world. The opportunity to connect and thrive socially over the distances helped me and changed me in many many ways over the years, making my life even fuller, but also—in some ways—more noticeably lonelier when it’s just me IRL. I’d give anything to see and meet these incredible people, and finally hang out in the same physical space as them. Finally not so alone.

GCX is going to be a BIG change. I haven’t been out around people in public, let alone massive crowds, in years. I’m going to have a lot of anxieties being in a new place with a lot of traffic and having a lot of interactions with people I’ve never met in person before. The stimulation and excitement will be overwhelming at times, but change is what I desperately need in my life right now. I need something to jumpstart me. I think this massive endeavor may be just that.

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• ✦ 3. MY HEALTH AND PRECAUTIONS ✦ •

Going to GCX would be so very good for me mentally and emotionally, which in turn will help my physical health. My doctor said it will always be a risk going out in public, and while he can’t say it’s okay for me to travel or attend events (it’s ultimately MY decision if it’s worth the risk), he said my mental health definitely matters too. The pandemic—and the risk of COVID—isn’t going away anytime soon, and being cooped up and away from people is detrimental to my wellbeing and health.

PRECAUTIONS:

I ASK THAT YOU PLEASE DO NOT APPROACH ME IF YOU ARE SICK.

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• ✦ 4. DETAILS AND BREAKDOWN OF EXPENSES ✦ •

**Some amounts are ESTIMATES, and I will not know exact totals prior.**

>> FLIGHT — $375

>> HOTEL — $450

Universal Orlando Resort - Aventura (GCX block)

>> Events and Activities — $335

>> TRANSPORTATION — $140

>> FOOD AND DRINKS — $200

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• ✦ 5. STIPULATIONS AND CONDITIONS ✦ •

I am very grateful for any and all financial support provided, but I do want to set firm boundaries before you donate so we are both 100% clear on my expectations at the event:

I do not want people to donate toward a specific expense*, and the amount you donate does not equate to how much time you’ll get with me or what events I will attend with you. IT ALSO DOES NOT GUARANTEE we will spend any time together IF you are sick in ANY WAY. It also does not mean you’ll automatically get a hug. (Health reasons.)

I have a lot of people to see, many of whom are in different groups and run in different circles. I don’t want somebody to “tag along” who may not feel comfortable because I will feel like I need to tend to their comfort. I won’t be able to do that because I need to focus on tending to my own anxieties, and there will be a lot.

HOWEVER, I will make an effort to stop and say hi and chat for a while if we meet up while walking around. But I’d do that anyways, whether you donate or not.

*Some very generous people have already offered to use frequent flyer miles for flights or have us stay with them in an Airbnb for no cost. I’ve made the decision to not take these offers, as kind and sound as they may be because I (1) do not feel comfortable sharing my personal information required for flights, and (2) I want to stay on the convention grounds in case I need to slip away for awhile because of my physical or mental health.

***** CONDITIONS ******

Conditions I will NOT go:

At this time, being only a couple weeks out, I don’t foresee this being an issue.

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• ✦ 6. SOCIAL LINKS ✦ •

❉ Twitch (SamiKat)

❉ Twitter (SamiKatPlays)

❉ Bluesky (SamiKat)

❉ YouTube (SamiKat)