Help Me Say Goodbye in Person

We’re asking for loans or donations to get us—and our two dogs—back to Georgia so I can get to the U.S. to see my mom before it’s too late.

We drove from Georgia to Southeast Asia, hoping Vietnam would be a fresh start where no one cared about our nationalities. But because of his passport they only let Ari stay in the country for 20 days, took our car at the border, and drained both our visa time and our bank account to get out to Laos – even threatening to cancel our escape at the last minute if we didn’t come up with extra money.

Here the roads did our car in quickly, and repair parts were too expensive. We tried opening a burger shop for delivery, but FoodPanda’s app wouldn’t show us as open no matter how much we protested. We applied to register a business to get long-term visas, but after two months we were denied unless we moved down to the capital where the heat would kill our dogs. We got a donated camper, but these roads destroyed it too almost immediately.

Then we got the news that my mom was in the hospital, and she doesn’t have much time left. Not long after, our visa extensions ran out. Because Thailand and Cambodia are fighting on their border, neither country would let Ari in for a visa run – Thailand stalled him and when he took buses all the way to the Cambodian border the guards there sent him back. If Ari was deported, it would be disastrous for him. I haven’t made a border run because staying together feels safer, but together we’re racking up $20/day in fines.

We need to get both of us (plus our dogs—we won’t leave them) back to Georgia ASAP. From there I can fly to see my mom, and after that we can both work again. If you can help:

• Loan us funds – neither of us have ever defaulted on a personal loan.

• Donate – every bit helps.

• Donate airline miles – the first step is 2 people + 2 pets from Vientiane to Tbilisi

• Share this fundraiser – visibility is critical, and if enough people share a social media post there will be a snowball effect.

Thank you for anything you can do.