IT was late in the evening and I was all hot and sweaty. Still in my workout outfit, I was walking home from the gym and suddenly it dawned on me – I was settled.

I had been living in Myanmar for about six weeks and had constantly been asked, “Are you settled yet?”

Sometimes I answered yes, sometimes no. But the truth was that I had no idea. What does settled mean? Calm? Adjusted? Acclimated? No, after six weeks living in Myanmar none of those adjectives applied to me yet.

And then – one evening – just returning home from the gym. Doing something so mundane, something I have done in the States and could do anywhere.

Going to the gym is not something I do when I am a tourist inspecting a new country.

It is part of a routine, an aspect of daily life. Something that makes me feel at home.

I love travelling, but the feelings of excitement and over-stimulation are entirely different from those of making a home.

And it is those very routines that I will miss most when I leave Myanmar.

I will miss going to Choice Café before work in the morning. It is not a particularly special restaurant, and all I usually order is fruit and coffee.

But I love that when I walk in the waitresses recognise me and shout “Mingalabar!” I love that before I look at the menu they say, “Fruit – no papaya?”

When I leave my job I will miss my daily chats with the editors who sit next to me. I’ll miss listening to them joking in Myanmar, even though I never have any clue what they are saying. I’ll miss them reading internet articles aloud and asking me how to pronounce weird English or Spanish words.

I’ll miss that every time the receptionist calls to say one of their eh the (guests) has arrived, I tell them their a they leh (sweatheart) is here, and we all laugh out loud.

I guess those are just silly things about life in Myanmar – or maybe life in general – but they are what makes it home. And when I return in years to come, I can always visit Shwedagon or go shopping at Bogyoke Aung San market, but it will not be the same.

I still have three months left in Myanmar. But suddenly it is dawning on me that I am not only settled, I’m happy here. And when I pack my bags to leave, no matter how many pictures I have taken or memories I have created, it will never be home again.