When in Roam: Exploration, Identity and Finding Home

“Exploration is a mindset—the courage to start fresh, get lost, and ultimately, find pieces of yourself.”

“When are you coming back?” is what my grandmother always asks me whenever I call home. She can’t keep track of where I am anymore, and to be fair, I don’t blame her. I’ve called her from Bali, basking in the hot summer sun, from subzero Seoul, living out my K-pop dreams, and from Istanbul, as I scarfed down plates of syrupy-sweet baklava. The truth is, she doesn’t care where I am, as long as I eventually come home.

I grew up as a gap-toothed, bowl-cut Canadian-Chinese kid in Burnaby, BC, who didn’t start exploring the world until after high school when my mother booked us on a three-week long trip through Tokyo, Beijing and her hometown of Hong Kong. I was upset about having to miss my favourite Canadian rock festivals that summer, but ended up loving Asia so much that I moved to Hong Kong two years later to study abroad.

Hong Kong was an onslaught on the senses in the best way possible—from the neon-lit street signs and high-decibel sounds of non-stop traffic to the nostril flare-inducing smells of street foods like stinky tofu—this was a city that was constantly buzzing with an electrifying energy. There was so much to explore, whether you were wandering in one of its densely packed urban neighbourhoods or trekking along its lush green hiking trails.

It was also an involuntary exploration of identity for me, as I encountered brutally honest locals who repeatedly rejected my attempts at blending in. Hong Kong taxi drivers complained about my crappy Cantonese, while local beauticians recoiled in shock at how “wide” my shoulders were during (what was supposed to be) a relaxing facial.

In Amsterdam, where I moved next for an internship, I tried on a new identity as a Dutch girl—exploring the city on my omafiets (lit. ‘grandma bicycle’ in Dutch), eating loads of Gouda (pronounced with a guttural ‘g’) cheese, and listening to The Netherlands’ god of trance, Armin van Buuren, religiously. It was ‘gezellig’ (“cosy”), but I eventually gave into my cravings for tastier food and made my way back to the land of dim sum.

The truth is, every destination I’ve explored, either as a resident or a traveler, has taught me so much about myself. Exploration is a mindset—the courage to start fresh, get lost, and ultimately, find pieces of yourself. It also happens to be the theme of this issue, something our cover star Max Loong knows all about as a globetrotting multi-hyphenate in entertainment and hospitality who is continuously exploring new ventures, the world and his identity. As our world hurtles towards the future with the rise of embodied AI and robots, we explore what it still means to be human.

Travel-wise, discover some further-flung destinations like Bhutan, Nepal and Azerbaijan, and get to know Diriyah, Saudi Arabia’s new lifestyle and cultural hot spot. Proof that the old and new don’t have to clash, we’re also examining the future of supercars in an ever-electric world, plus ancient healing methods in modern wellness.

Whenever I return home to my grandmother’s side, she is never upset that I’ve been gone. An explorer herself who made the journey from Chaozhou to Hong Kong to Vancouver many years ago, she can, however, always tell that something is different. Her granddaughter is back, but so are the many different versions of myself that I’ve collected abroad.

We tend to think exploration and home are polar opposites—one about leaving, the other about staying—but for third-culture individuals, exploration is how we find home. So, whether you’re exploring a new destination, hobby or way of being, I hope these pages inspire you to embrace the unknown. Happy exploring.