This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Peter Millard, a 78-year-old retiree living in Chiang Mai, Thailand, with his wife, Rita. It has been edited for length and clarity. My wife and I spent more than 20 years moving between countries, trying to find the right place to grow old. We met while working in the health service in Birmingham, UK, before retiring on health grounds in the late '90s. Not ready to stop working, I retrained as a podiatrist and ran my own practice for five