Rethinking What It Means to Belong

On nomadism and global identity beyond motion versus roots.

I pass through the curtain into Backdoor Bodega, the speakeasy hidden behind a hipster T-shirt shop in Penang, Malaysia.

The scent of bitters and citrus hits me before the voices do: laughter, the clink of glasses, the hum of playful conversation. I sneak up behind Thanesh—a bartender friend and a darling of the Southeast Asian cocktail scene—and poke h…