Journey to Us

There's somebody I love very dearly with all of my heart. Somebody who turns down the tick, tick, ticking of my anxiety. Somebody I would love to be with when day is day and not night is day or day is night. 

What does that last sentence even mean?

It means him and I orbit around the sun on exact opposite sides of the globe. 

I live in Baltimore, Maryland and Caleb, my boyfriend, currently resides in the far away world of China, specifically ChengDu. This puts us at an exactly twelve hour difference. 

We met in Denver, Colorado about a year ago and bonded over our shared love of music and songwriting. We’re that cheesy couple, you know the kind that on occasion serenades each other when we write a song that’s good enough.

Since we’ve been together I’ve gotten to visit with him in person a couple of times. Those visits were almost a year apart, neither lasting more than 48 hours. 




I struggle with severe social anxiety, the reason I bring it up is because it greatly effects my life. Because of it’s constant presence, it’s lead me to have a rather small world. Sometimes I click with people but most of the time I’m too nervous to even try. However with Caleb everything snapped into place as if we were puzzle pieces, really weirdly shaped, jagged puzzle pieces that fit together perfectly.

I don’t believe you should ever need somebody and be completely dependent upon someone outside of yourself. But just as I believe that, I also believe that it’s just as important to have people there to be your rock and to ground you.

I cannot think of a year in which I have grown more than the one in which he is present. In the beginning of the year things were a bit rough for me but every morning he reminded me that I wasn’t alone, that no matter what happened he would be there to listen.

I have faced some of my deepest fears because I know that there’s someone to lean on when it gets scary. I have done things I would have never done in a million years because I watched the way he faced the world and it empowered me to face mine.

In June not only will Caleb be turning 18 but he will also be graduating high school. Both of these occasions take place within a few days of each other. I would love to be there in person supporting him the way he has supported me over the past almost year.

Graduating high school to me is a momentous occasion in a person’s life. Because of my anxiety I took a very untraditional education path and won’t be able to experience a formal graduation ceremony myself. While I won’t get to graduate next to some of my closest friends, I know how much it would have meant to me. I want him to be surrounded by everybody he loves, everybody who loves and cares about him. I would very much love to be in the audience supporting him.

My goal would be to visit him in China and celebrate together. However for this trip to happen, a lot of expenses have to be met. For me, as I am only 18, it's quite costly and while my parents are very supportive of me going, they aren't in a position to provide any financial aid. Because June, the time of the trip, is right around the corner I’m hoping to have everything saved by May 28th.

As of now I am able to cover any and all ground transportation, food expendatures, and my travel visa. 

While I am continuously working to earn and save money these are the expenses I'm struggling with:

Round trip plane ticket $1,666 - $2,000

The cost of a hotel $699 - $1,000

It's kind of a shot in the dark starting this campaign and sharing this with people or anything you're willing to donate would mean the absolute world to me.