Anastasia Makus, a student in Germany, tells PEOPLE about the story behind the viral TikTok she created with her father
Anastasia Makus
Anastasia Makus and her father in Switzerland in August 2024
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Anastasia Makus and her boyfriend planned a holiday to the Balkans, but then they broke up
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Instead of doing nothing during her vacation, she went hiking with her father in Switzerland, and a TikTok video about their trip went viral
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“It was a big surprise that it was so hyped,” Makus tells PEOPLE, adding that “the reactions were also very heartwarming”
Anastasia Makus, a 21-year-old student from Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, originally planned to spend her summer vacation with her boyfriend in the Balkans. The trip was one of the first things they had discussed in their relationship when they first met about a year ago.
“It happened,” Makus tells PEOPLE about the vacation. “We had already booked the tickets at the beginning of April. We were planning the routes, where we would stay, the car, everything.”
However, on July 18, the couple split and those plans were scuttled. But instead of feeling sorry for herself because she had nowhere to go, Makus decided to go hiking with her father in the Swiss Alps instead.
Footage of the father-daughter duo doing silly dances while enjoying their unexpected vacation went viral on TikTok and has been viewed more than 200,000 times.
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Before going viral, Makus was in a long-distance relationship with her current ex, who lives in Barcelona. And from the start, going on holiday together was on the agenda.
“Literally a week after we met, he called me and asked, ‘Would I be interested in exploring the Balkans?’ she remembers. “We planned to stay almost three weeks.”
After the breakup, Makus initially considered making the trip to the Balkans alone — she had previously traveled alone after graduating from high school, including a trip to Australia. However, her friends warned her about it, and she received a similar response from her parents when she visited them the following week.
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Then another thought occurred: she and her father Gennadij, a 46-year-old mechanic, could take a two-day hike in the Swiss Alps. And so on August 18, Makus and her father drove to Kandersteg, Switzerland, to visit Lake Oeschinen, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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During their journey, Makus also says her father let her talk about the breakup on her terms. “I didn’t feel pressured,” she says. “He just listened.”
“He just said he was happy that I decided to spend my summer vacation with him and that I’m doing well,” she adds. “That was very helpful.”
As for the idea of filming themselves out in nature, Makus says her dad “is a pretty funny person” and she wanted to make a video of them “dancing the entire hike.”
Makus says her father didn’t understand her vision at first, but she promised to show him before posting it.
“When we got back to the campsite it was raining,” Makus remembers. “There wasn’t much to do. I was sitting in a tent editing the video, and then, I think, at dinner I showed it to him. He said, “Okay,” but didn’t get a big response.
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After their short hike, Makus’ father left to return to work, but she continued her stay in Switzerland to volunteer on a farm. When she eventually returned home, she hung out with friends before resuming her university studies in early September. “Spending time with my friends helped me completely forget about the break-up and I had such an adventurous, warm and joyful time in those three weeks,” she says.
Makus initially didn’t pay attention to how her TikTok was going. Then, after a few days, her friends warned her about the growing popularity of the clips.
“I think one of my friends texted me and said, ‘Your video has gone kind of viral. I thought, ‘Really?’ ‘ she says.
“It was a big surprise,” she adds. “And the reactions were also very heart-warming. I called my dad and said, ‘People liked your moves.’ It really made him happy.”
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Makus doesn’t know if her ex has seen the clip, as they haven’t kept in touch. “Maybe he saw it, maybe he didn’t,” she says.
Overall, she hopes her TikTok video will encourage people not to give up on their happiness just because something goes wrong. “You have the power to do things and you don’t really need other people,” Makus says. “Of course it’s more fun to share with someone, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you just have a bunch of friends. It can be like your mother or your father… your parents can also be your best friends.”
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