It started as the trip of a lifetime for a young Dubbo couple who jetted off to America earlier this year, but the ongoing coronavirus pandemic suddenly halted their trip.
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In late February, Georgia Ulgiati and Tristram Quinn made their way from Australia to America for a much needed two week holiday.
The global COVID-19 restrictions currently in place had not yet been enforced at the time of their trip and international travel was still permitted.
So they were still able to journey to California, New York, Colorado and Wyoming, where they watched three National Basketball Association (NBA) games, ventured up the Empire State Building and saw a Broadway show in New York.
"It wasn't until probably the last seven days of our holiday that we felt the keen sting of the virus," Ms Ulgiati said.
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As COVID-19 had not really taken off at the time of flying overseas, Ms Ulgiati said they initially had no hesitations about travelling.
"As our holiday progressed the only worries we had were whether or not we could get home after there were discussions about closing the borders," she explained.
Ms Ulgiati and Mr Quinn were also lucky enough to visit Disneyland in California before the operators announced its closure.
At the time of visiting the popular theme park, social distancing restrictions were not even in place, Ms Ulgiati said.
"I don't believe there was even discussion of it closing down when we visited," she added.
"Everyone was acting normally, social distancing wasn't a thing at this point. The NBA games were the same, everything was normal."
While everything seemed fine at that stage, Ms Ulgiati said restrictions were starting to take place.
"We were actually at the last NBA game to be played for the foreseeable future. We were in the middle of watching the game when Tristram received a notification on his phone saying that the remainder of the NBA season will be postponed," she explained.
"So we got in just in time and luckily so because we had really great seats for that game."
One of the last places the Dubbo couple visited during their holiday was at a well known ski town - that survives off tourism - when the shut downs, social distancing and restrictions were starting in America.
"All restaurants and bars in town were closed, the ski fields were closed earlier than usual, all tourism activities had been shut down. So it was really hard to enjoy ourselves when there wasn't much to do at this point," Ms Ulgiati explained.
The only worries Ms Ulgiati had about travelling back to Australia was the uncertainty of whether or not they would be allowed to fly.
"Especially when my family back home would send me articles from every media outlet with different information," she said.
"We ended up calling the Embassy and getting the right information. The panic started setting in when the government announced they were closing the borders."
Ms Ulgiati and Mr Quinn arrived safely back home about a week before the federal government put in place the international travel ban for Australians.
This also meant they were able to self isolate at home, something Ms Ulgiati said they felt very lucky to have been able to do.
"We just tried to stimulate ourselves as much as we could, we would do gym workouts on our driveway, sit and draw, read in the sun outside," she said about being at home for 14 days.
"We found getting outside made us feel so much better. I attempted to refine my cooking skills, while Tristram worked from home on his laptop.
"The only painful thing was having our friends and family do our grocery shopping for us and have them drop it off. It can be quite an inconvenience for them and for us as well."
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While the couple were adjusting to life being restricted to home, Ms Ulgiati was dealt another blow when the government made the announcement of closures to non-essential businesses.
Ms Ulgiati co-owns and operates brow and lash studio, Millennial Brow Co, with her business partner Katt Bartley, but they have had to close the doors for the foreseeable future.
Ms Ulgiati gave a special thank you to Millennial Brow Co's accountant, Melissa, for helping them during this very difficult and uncertain time.
"Anyone that knows Katt and I knows that we aren't very good business women, we know how to do eyebrows and that's about it," she said.
While things are still very much unknown in regards to closures and restrictions, Ms Ulgiati said she and Ms Bartley are still keeping connected to their much loved clients through social media and products being available online.
Taylor Jurd
Hi, my name is Taylor Jurd. I am a journalist with Australian Community Media, I write for the Western Magazine and Wellington Times.
Hi, my name is Taylor Jurd. I am a journalist with Australian Community Media, I write for the Western Magazine and Wellington Times.
