[CitizenKane]

Not a clinician or anything, but I'm autistic and honestly you sound pretty similar to me. In fact I'm writing this from Singapore where I'm surrounded by folks haha. I don't think being autistic is really what it's made out to be frankly, and the description of the condition is generally the outsider's view not the insider's view.

Some autistic folks will avoid sensory stimulation while others seek it out. I'm definitely one of the ones that seeks it out and I'm pretty extroverted. It's a heterogeneous condition, and indeed a spectrum. Who knows for your situation, but you may be autistic.

That being said though, I think the important thing isn't the neurotype but rather that you've found what matters to you and what makes you happy. At the end of the day that's what counts, not the underlying neurology.