“AmeriExit” – A New Chapter (July 8, 2026)

June 29, 2026. Minneapolis – Chicago – Tokyo  

July 5, 2026. Tokyo – Manila – Bali

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People ask when I’m coming back. There isn’t a return date. Not because I have a grand plan. I don’t. It could be six months, a year, or five years. I’ll know when I know.

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My AmeriExit isn’t about one election, one politician, or one bad experience. It was the gradual realization that the America I chose when I became a citizen no longer feels like the same place.

America is where I went to college, built my career, raised Kai, and chose to become a citizen. I’m grateful for everything.  But for now, AmeriExit feels like the right next chapter.

Healthcare

People often work not because they want to work but because they simply cannot afford to lose their company sponsored health insurance.   A system that calls a colonoscopy “preventive” while billing the anesthesia separately or expects me to spend $17,500 out of pocket before insurance begins to cover me feels broken.

Politics

We seem less able to have respectful dialogue partly because social media rewards the loudest and most extreme voices.   This January, in the aftermath of the ICE immigration raids in Minneapolis, some immigrant friends started carrying a copy of their passport, just in case they got pulled over and needed to prove their citizenship.  A woman at the YMCA asked whether it had been difficult for me to learn English. Seriously? I’ve lived in the U.S……. for decades.

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Why Now?

Some of you know my mom passed away in January 2026 two years after a debilitating stroke.    The day before her stroke, she and I were chatting about my upcoming visit to Tokyo and traveling with her to southern Japan.   She ended the call by saying “I’ve got to go because I’m playing golf in the morning. See you in a couple of weeks”   We never made that trip together.

Her stroke was a reminder that life can change in a single day. One day you’re healthy and independent. The next, everything can be different. Waiting for the “perfect time” isn’t always an option. I’m choosing to travel and experience more of the world while I still can.

I’ve been spending more and more time in Asia scuba diving and escaping Minnesota’s brutal winters. Earlier this year, I spent 10 weeks in Nusa Lembongan, a small island 45 minutes by ferry from Bali.  I settled into everyday life, making friends, occasionally helping at the dive shop, swimming laps at the pool, attending Wednesday trivia nights, and becoming a regular at coffee shops and restaurants.

Returning to Minnesota in mid-April, things started to line up.   The lease on my townhome ended June 2026, Kai was established in his own apartment and in his job for a year and Murphy, my 13 year old fur baby, could stay with Kai.

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What I’ll Miss

I’ll miss the routines – walking Murphy twice a day, seeing Kai and hanging out in Minneapolis, playing pickleball with friends, people I can meet up with to discover new coffee shops, parks and walking trails, summers spent at the Shoreview YMCA pool, driving to Costco or Trader Joes. I’ll miss gardening, long Minnesota summers and sunsets at 9pm.

I’ll miss the friends who have become family. The comfort of knowing there’s always someone to meet for coffee, play pickleball on a Sunday afternoon, or help with a ladder when you need an extra pair of hands.

I’ll miss infrastructure too: tap water you can drink, toilets where you can put toilet paper in, roads where traffic mostly follows the rules and internet that doesn’t slow down on a cloudy day.

And I’ll miss my 5pm (sometimes 4pm) glass of wine with cheese and salami ritual.

But I know that Kai and I will stay close. He’ll send videos and photos of Murphy. My friends and I will stay in touch. Some of them might even come to visit. I don’t know where this journey will lead or how long it will last. I hope you’ll come as I find out. For now, I’m choosing curiosity over certainty.

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Love,

Mimi & Jingles (more on Jingle’s history in a coming post)