Time-Out from America

For decades, Randall Wixen built a life many would envy, a successful career in music publishing, a home in the Santa Monica Mountains, and adventures that carried him across the globe. 

But as retirement neared, Los Angeles no longer felt like home. The city he loved had become crowded, expensive, exhausting, and increasingly unfamiliar.

Seeking a slower pace, better quality of life, and a fresh start, Randall and his wife Sharon began exploring their options. Portugal, France, and Greece all beckoned. Instead, a little-known opportunity in Latvia led them somewhere they had never seriously considered, and unexpectedly fell in love with.

Part memoir, part travel journal, Time Out from America chronicles their five-month journey in Riga through candid, real-time diary entries. From wrestling with Latvian bureaucracy and stumbling through a new language to apartment hunting, health challenges, and cultural surprises, Randall shares the highs, lows, frustrations, and joys of building a new life abroad.

Warm, witty, and deeply relatable, this is more than an expat story. It's a thoughtful reflection on reinvention, belonging, and the courage to embrace change when the familiar no longer fits. 

For anyone who has ever dreamed of starting over, or wondered what lies beyond America's borders, Time Out from America offers an inspiring and unexpectedly moving answer.