about me

“Life is a journey to be experienced, not a problem to be solved.” — Winnie the Pooh

Last year, everything was different. I was a lawyer living in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio, cuddling with my dog, spending my evenings at home reading or crocheting, waiting for my husband to come back from his latest business trip to Asia. It was good. It was comfortable.

Then my husband’s company asked him to move to Tokyo. JAPAN. It was a radical life change. I quit my job, our income took a serious hit, our dog moved in with my parents, and we moved across the world to a country where I didn’t know the language, didn’t know a single person, and, at 5'9" with blue eyes and blonde hair, stuck out like a bit of a sore thumb.

Being an expat in one of the world’s largest cities has definitely been an adjustment for me. I’ve never lived in a big city before. I’ve never been able to master a foreign language. I’m a homebody at heart.

But the craziest thing has happened. Somehow, I’ve fallen in love with this expat life. This unpredictable, surreal, eye-opening, exhausting, uncomfortable, challenging, magical expat life. It isn’t always easy, but it sure is entertaining.

This is a blog about being an expat, from an American homebody’s perspective. I wanted to write about my thoughts and experiences on being an expat, traveling the globe, and getting out of my comfort zone. I’ll also share with you all the great local places in Tokyo that I’m discovering as I get more comfortable here.

For those of you reading, if there are any, come explore with me! I promise we’ll eat some really good food along the way.