I moved to Thailand the month after I retired so I didn’t really have time to reflect on what I would and wouldn’t miss until weeks later. Now that things have settled down, I wonder how I ever found the time to work and how I tolerated my living and working environments for so long.

Along the way, I found some things I actually like better than ‘how we did it back home.’ Like paper money in different colors for different denominations and the custom of not wearing shoes in homes.

Of course there are some things I was happy to leave behind. Here are some things I don’t miss.

• Honking Horns
• All-Same-Color Paper Money
• Partisan Bickering
• High Heels
• Commuting
• Wearing Shoes Indoors
• Sports

CANNES, FRANCE – MAY 18: Marilou Berry, shoe detail, attends the “Inside Out” Photocall during the 68th annual Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 2015 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images)

• Being Invisible
• Driving
• United Airlines
• The Beltway
• Presidential Motorcades
• Working
• “No Problem”

• High Prices
• Mass Shootings
• Public Displays of Affection
• Alarm Clocks
• My Third Floor Walkup
• Handshaking and Hugging
• Snow

I’ve only heard the sound of a car horn three times since I got here and had no idea that horn honking was not the norm everywhere. I’m flying to Chicago in October and I wonder what it will be like to be surrounded by honking taxis at ORD after being away for so long.

I can’t wait to find out!