From self-discovery retreats in nature to off-the-grid hikes, boutique stays to botanical art journeys, a new wave of women is redefining the female travel experience – centring it
We hear from the women leading this movement and explore the transformative experiences they offer.
Lianne Ngoi’s fascination with Chinese culture dates back to childhood, where she consumed palace dramas, Chinese classics and music. At 12, a trip to Beijing and the Forbidden City left her spellbound, and even as she built a successful career in banking, logistics (as part of Ninja Van’s founding team), and crypto, China remained a constant pull.
In 2017, while hiking in Sichuan, she summitedAotaina, her first 5,000-metre mountain. “Back then, people didn’t think of China as a hiking destination,” she said. “But it’s as wild and beautiful as Nepal or Patagonia.”
She was also captivated by Mount Siguniang (Four Sisters Mountain), where she hiked and ice-climbed against a backdrop of over 50 snow-capped peaks and alpine lakes.
Lianne Ngoi, founder of Shan China Tours, has been captivated by China since she was a child. (Photo: Lianne Ngoi)
Frustrated by cookie-cutter mass market tours, Ngoi began crafting slower journeys for friends and family. In late 2024, she launched Shan China Tours.
The personalised tours span both iconic cities and lesser-known regions – from the imperial capital of Beijing, the misty peaks of Zhangjiajie to the calm waters of Guilin, the wild and rugged Sichuan, the relaxed charm of Yunnan, to the lush greenery of Guizhou.
Each itinerary is crafted for unhurried discovery: Stylish stays, English-speaking guides and real community interaction.
In 2025 alone, she’s planning close to 100 journeys, supported by a lean, all-women team of three. Tours average S$2,500 per person, per week.
At Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Yunnan, during a tour with Shan China Tours. (Photo: The Traveling Qipao)
Exploring Xijiang Miao Village, Guizhou, a cultural highlight on a Shan China Tours itinerary. (Photo: The Traveling Qipao)
Her tours especially resonate with style-savvy women – around 70 per cent of enquiries come from women, many of whom are planning trips for their partners or families.
Looking ahead, Ngoi,wants to dig deep to develop more interesting tours, especially in Yunnan and western Sichuan, along the dramatic Sichuan-Tibet Highway – known for its scenic beauty and challenging terrain. “I want to show people the most beautiful places in China,” she said.
Led by Carrie-Ann Lee, president of the Botanical Art Society (Singapore) and founder of Botanical Art Journey, the art organisation offers intimate workshops across Asia that pair botanical illustration with cultural immersion – drawing a community of mostly female participants.
Carrie-Ann Lee, founder of Botanical Art Journey. (Photo: Botanical Art Journey)
“When I started Botanical Art Journey, I wanted to create a platform to bring together enthusiasts with those who want to start teaching, but are not quite ready to take on the challenge of organising the whole suite of activities and sourcing venues at the same time,” said the 51-year-old.
“I also wanted to raise the profile of botanical artists in Asia to the greater worldwide community, as well as raise awareness of flora native to this part of the world,” she added.
Botanical pencil drawing. (Photo: Botanical Art Journey)
A botanical art session in progress. (Photo: Botanical Art Journey)
The first official botanical art journey launches in October in Taipei: A week-long masterclass led by Taiwanese artist Annie Chen, combining indoor and outdoor sketching in colour pencil to capture the delicate details and vibrant hues of nature, with visits to the botanical garden and a flower market.
In early 2026, two retreats will be hosted in Chiang Mai, Thailand, focused on graphite and watercolour techniques, led respectively by artist Kelly Bassett and plant scientist Dr Sasivimon Swangpol of Mahidol University. Field visits include Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden, Doi Inthanon National Park, and the city’s annual flower festival.
Future field trips are planned for Sabah and West Malaysia, where the rich flora will provide further inspiration and botanical learning.
In the misty foothills of the Sikkim Himalayas, guests with Feels Like Om don’t just visit – they are welcomed as family.
Through community-led experiences, guests slip into the rhythm of local life: Foraging for vegetables, churning butter, chopping firewood and sharing Sikkimese home-cooked meals. It’s a slower way of living that invites rest, reflection and reconnection with nature.
Lim Zi Hui, founder of Feels Like Om, pictured after viewing the sunrise over Mount Khangchendzonga in Sikkim, India. (Photo: Feels Like Om)
Founder Lim Zi Hui’s path to this work began with a university service-learning trip to Sikkim in 2015. The serene Indian state – bordered by Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan – left a deep imprint on her.
“Their reverence for nature and the interconnectedness of everything stayed with me,” she said. “Growing up in Singapore, we’re so used to fulfilling an agenda. But in Sikkim, people just wanted to be our friend.”
The 29-year-old recalls rituals where locals tossed rice to the earth in gratitude or sought nature’s permission before ceremonies.
Learning about traditional handloom techniques from women self-help groups in Sikkim. (Photo: Feels Like Om)
Over nine years and seven return visits, she learned the local language and forged deep ties with guides and homestay families.
With a background in education, Lim spent years helping students explore their life purpose, before finding her own. In 2022, after her grandparents’ passing, a five-day solo trek in the Sikkim Himalayas brought clarity: Dedicate her life to honouring this land and the community that shaped her.
Learning Sikkimese home cooking on a traditional wood-fired stove from Elan’s grandmother (left). (Photo: Feels Like Om)
Sharing laughter and love over a campfire dinner. (Photo: Feels Like Om)
Jhalmuri picnic by the river. (Photo: Feels Like Om)
In June 2025, she formally registered Feels Like Om as an experiences provider.
One signature experience is the 11-day Feels Like Home journey in Yuksom, co-created with Elan, her first friend there.
Anchored at his family’s cosy homestay, Ejam Residency, the experience is about living in rhythm with the land, like connecting with nature through mindful treks and gaining clarity about what life truly means.
Contributions from her experiences directly support local community projects, including sanitary pad distribution, flood relief, toilet construction and upcoming efforts in education and tree planting.
Over six days in January 2026, a small group of guests will unplug from their digital lives and reconnect with nature, community and themselves. The overseas retreat is co-led by two Singapore-based facilitators: Jane Tor, 33, co-founder of the human design academy Let Me Be SG, and Omsira Barry, a soul consciousness guide.
Jane Tor, co-founder of Let Me Be SG. (Photo: Jane Tor)
Under Let Me Be SG’s new retreat business with local partners offer curated retreats and healing experiences that blend personal transformation with deep rest in nature.
In an ancient mossy forest, then later in the cooling tea hills of Cameron Highlands in Malaysia, there’s “no phone signal, no rush, and no rigid agenda, only space to breathe”, says Tor.
Days centre around kundalini yoga, sun-gazing, forest bathing, barefoot waterfall walks, rebirthing ceremonies, guided vision boarding and communal healing circles, which nurture a return to childlike wonder.
The food is as intentional as the programming: Organic, vegetarian and grown at Terra Tree House in the Malaysian highlands, using biodynamic methods.
Through soaking in nature in the Cameron Highlands, guests find a sense of peace. (Photo: Jane Tor)
A waterfall hike in Cameron Highlands. (Photo: Jane Tor)
Terra Tree House is a homestay built deep inside the mountain region of Cameron Highlands, Malaysia. (Photo: Jane Tor)
For Tor, the retreats are rooted in personal transformation. Following a divorce, she turned inward, devoting herself to the work of self-discovery and energetic awareness.
“When I finally gave myself permission to be, everything changed,” she says. Through Let Me Be SG, she now helps other women navigate their own return to authenticity.
Canvas Trails founder Seet Ming Juan curates experiences in some of the world’s most visually stunning and remote destinations – Xinjiang and Yunnan in China; Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia; and Pakistan.
In these expansive landscapes, travellers traverse ancient Silk Road cities, ride horses through grasslands and connect with locals whose lives are deeply rooted in the land. Confronted by the vastness of nature, city dwellers learn to slow down, reconnect and explore.
Seet Ming Juan, founder of Canvas Trails, hiking in Yubeng, Yunnan, China. (Photo: Canvas Trails)
Photography is a key offering, where Seet, 39, partners with local tour operators whose driver-guides double as photographers and drone pilots, capturing stunning visuals.
In some places like Yunnan, she arranges makeup and photo shoots in traditional ethnic wear. Her clients – mostly women in their late twenties to forties – are willing to pay a premium for boutique stays and quality photography.
In April, Seet hosted her first all-women’s trip to Pakistan during apricot blossomseason, where travellers soaked up the vibrant blooms. Operating solo, she runs tours averaging S$2,500 per person.
Canvas Trails’ first all-women group taking in the apricot blooms in Chunda Valley, Skardu, Pakistan. (Photo: Canvas Trails)
Before founding Canvas Trails in late 2024, Seet worked in commercial real estate and data centres – “a fast-paced world of deals and numbers”. Like many busy professionals, she didn’t have time to plan her own trips, but longed for holidays that were adventurous, immersive, and comfortable. After taking a few local tours, she saw a gap in the market for such experiences.
It’s also a way for her to share her love for hiking. While many focus on reaching the summit, Seet is more drawn to the journey itself, tackling one major hike each year.
Through Canvas Trails, she also offers hiking training in Singapore, Taiwan and China, creating a community where women can train, grow, and explore together.
For Seet, being in nature is infinitely rewarding. “In the face of snow-capped mountains and rolling grasslands – which we don’t have in Singapore – we’re reminded of how small we are, just fleeting visitors on this vast land. It puts our problems into perspective, and our hearts just open up in nature.”
CNA Women is a section on CNA Lifestyle that seeks to inform, empower and inspire the modern woman. If you have women-related news, issues and ideas to share with us, email CNAWomen [at] mediacorp.com.sg.
Continue reading...
We hear from the women leading this movement and explore the transformative experiences they offer.
SHAN CHINA TOURS: BOUTIQUE JOURNEYS INTO CHINA’S WILD BEAUTY
Lianne Ngoi’s fascination with Chinese culture dates back to childhood, where she consumed palace dramas, Chinese classics and music. At 12, a trip to Beijing and the Forbidden City left her spellbound, and even as she built a successful career in banking, logistics (as part of Ninja Van’s founding team), and crypto, China remained a constant pull.
In 2017, while hiking in Sichuan, she summitedAotaina, her first 5,000-metre mountain. “Back then, people didn’t think of China as a hiking destination,” she said. “But it’s as wild and beautiful as Nepal or Patagonia.”
She was also captivated by Mount Siguniang (Four Sisters Mountain), where she hiked and ice-climbed against a backdrop of over 50 snow-capped peaks and alpine lakes.
Lianne Ngoi, founder of Shan China Tours, has been captivated by China since she was a child. (Photo: Lianne Ngoi)
Frustrated by cookie-cutter mass market tours, Ngoi began crafting slower journeys for friends and family. In late 2024, she launched Shan China Tours.
The personalised tours span both iconic cities and lesser-known regions – from the imperial capital of Beijing, the misty peaks of Zhangjiajie to the calm waters of Guilin, the wild and rugged Sichuan, the relaxed charm of Yunnan, to the lush greenery of Guizhou.
Each itinerary is crafted for unhurried discovery: Stylish stays, English-speaking guides and real community interaction.
In 2025 alone, she’s planning close to 100 journeys, supported by a lean, all-women team of three. Tours average S$2,500 per person, per week.
At Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Yunnan, during a tour with Shan China Tours. (Photo: The Traveling Qipao)
Exploring Xijiang Miao Village, Guizhou, a cultural highlight on a Shan China Tours itinerary. (Photo: The Traveling Qipao)
Her tours especially resonate with style-savvy women – around 70 per cent of enquiries come from women, many of whom are planning trips for their partners or families.
Looking ahead, Ngoi,wants to dig deep to develop more interesting tours, especially in Yunnan and western Sichuan, along the dramatic Sichuan-Tibet Highway – known for its scenic beauty and challenging terrain. “I want to show people the most beautiful places in China,” she said.
BOTANICAL ART JOURNEY: CREATIVE EXPRESSION IN ASIA’S GARDENS
Led by Carrie-Ann Lee, president of the Botanical Art Society (Singapore) and founder of Botanical Art Journey, the art organisation offers intimate workshops across Asia that pair botanical illustration with cultural immersion – drawing a community of mostly female participants.
Carrie-Ann Lee, founder of Botanical Art Journey. (Photo: Botanical Art Journey)
“When I started Botanical Art Journey, I wanted to create a platform to bring together enthusiasts with those who want to start teaching, but are not quite ready to take on the challenge of organising the whole suite of activities and sourcing venues at the same time,” said the 51-year-old.
“I also wanted to raise the profile of botanical artists in Asia to the greater worldwide community, as well as raise awareness of flora native to this part of the world,” she added.
Botanical pencil drawing. (Photo: Botanical Art Journey)
A botanical art session in progress. (Photo: Botanical Art Journey)
The first official botanical art journey launches in October in Taipei: A week-long masterclass led by Taiwanese artist Annie Chen, combining indoor and outdoor sketching in colour pencil to capture the delicate details and vibrant hues of nature, with visits to the botanical garden and a flower market.
In early 2026, two retreats will be hosted in Chiang Mai, Thailand, focused on graphite and watercolour techniques, led respectively by artist Kelly Bassett and plant scientist Dr Sasivimon Swangpol of Mahidol University. Field visits include Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden, Doi Inthanon National Park, and the city’s annual flower festival.
Future field trips are planned for Sabah and West Malaysia, where the rich flora will provide further inspiration and botanical learning.
FEELS LIKE OM: LIVE LIKE A LOCAL IN SIKKIM, INDIA
In the misty foothills of the Sikkim Himalayas, guests with Feels Like Om don’t just visit – they are welcomed as family.
Through community-led experiences, guests slip into the rhythm of local life: Foraging for vegetables, churning butter, chopping firewood and sharing Sikkimese home-cooked meals. It’s a slower way of living that invites rest, reflection and reconnection with nature.
Lim Zi Hui, founder of Feels Like Om, pictured after viewing the sunrise over Mount Khangchendzonga in Sikkim, India. (Photo: Feels Like Om)
Founder Lim Zi Hui’s path to this work began with a university service-learning trip to Sikkim in 2015. The serene Indian state – bordered by Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan – left a deep imprint on her.
“Their reverence for nature and the interconnectedness of everything stayed with me,” she said. “Growing up in Singapore, we’re so used to fulfilling an agenda. But in Sikkim, people just wanted to be our friend.”
The 29-year-old recalls rituals where locals tossed rice to the earth in gratitude or sought nature’s permission before ceremonies.
Learning about traditional handloom techniques from women self-help groups in Sikkim. (Photo: Feels Like Om)
Over nine years and seven return visits, she learned the local language and forged deep ties with guides and homestay families.
With a background in education, Lim spent years helping students explore their life purpose, before finding her own. In 2022, after her grandparents’ passing, a five-day solo trek in the Sikkim Himalayas brought clarity: Dedicate her life to honouring this land and the community that shaped her.
Learning Sikkimese home cooking on a traditional wood-fired stove from Elan’s grandmother (left). (Photo: Feels Like Om)
Sharing laughter and love over a campfire dinner. (Photo: Feels Like Om)
Jhalmuri picnic by the river. (Photo: Feels Like Om)
In June 2025, she formally registered Feels Like Om as an experiences provider.
One signature experience is the 11-day Feels Like Home journey in Yuksom, co-created with Elan, her first friend there.
Anchored at his family’s cosy homestay, Ejam Residency, the experience is about living in rhythm with the land, like connecting with nature through mindful treks and gaining clarity about what life truly means.
Contributions from her experiences directly support local community projects, including sanitary pad distribution, flood relief, toilet construction and upcoming efforts in education and tree planting.
GOING SLOW ADVENTURES: STILLNESS AND SELF-DISCOVERY
Over six days in January 2026, a small group of guests will unplug from their digital lives and reconnect with nature, community and themselves. The overseas retreat is co-led by two Singapore-based facilitators: Jane Tor, 33, co-founder of the human design academy Let Me Be SG, and Omsira Barry, a soul consciousness guide.
Jane Tor, co-founder of Let Me Be SG. (Photo: Jane Tor)
Under Let Me Be SG’s new retreat business with local partners offer curated retreats and healing experiences that blend personal transformation with deep rest in nature.
In an ancient mossy forest, then later in the cooling tea hills of Cameron Highlands in Malaysia, there’s “no phone signal, no rush, and no rigid agenda, only space to breathe”, says Tor.
Days centre around kundalini yoga, sun-gazing, forest bathing, barefoot waterfall walks, rebirthing ceremonies, guided vision boarding and communal healing circles, which nurture a return to childlike wonder.
The food is as intentional as the programming: Organic, vegetarian and grown at Terra Tree House in the Malaysian highlands, using biodynamic methods.
Through soaking in nature in the Cameron Highlands, guests find a sense of peace. (Photo: Jane Tor)
A waterfall hike in Cameron Highlands. (Photo: Jane Tor)
Terra Tree House is a homestay built deep inside the mountain region of Cameron Highlands, Malaysia. (Photo: Jane Tor)
For Tor, the retreats are rooted in personal transformation. Following a divorce, she turned inward, devoting herself to the work of self-discovery and energetic awareness.
“When I finally gave myself permission to be, everything changed,” she says. Through Let Me Be SG, she now helps other women navigate their own return to authenticity.
CANVAS TRAILS: BOUTIQUE ADVENTURES IN THE WORLD'S WILD PLACES
Canvas Trails founder Seet Ming Juan curates experiences in some of the world’s most visually stunning and remote destinations – Xinjiang and Yunnan in China; Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia; and Pakistan.
In these expansive landscapes, travellers traverse ancient Silk Road cities, ride horses through grasslands and connect with locals whose lives are deeply rooted in the land. Confronted by the vastness of nature, city dwellers learn to slow down, reconnect and explore.
Seet Ming Juan, founder of Canvas Trails, hiking in Yubeng, Yunnan, China. (Photo: Canvas Trails)
Photography is a key offering, where Seet, 39, partners with local tour operators whose driver-guides double as photographers and drone pilots, capturing stunning visuals.
In some places like Yunnan, she arranges makeup and photo shoots in traditional ethnic wear. Her clients – mostly women in their late twenties to forties – are willing to pay a premium for boutique stays and quality photography.
In April, Seet hosted her first all-women’s trip to Pakistan during apricot blossomseason, where travellers soaked up the vibrant blooms. Operating solo, she runs tours averaging S$2,500 per person.
Canvas Trails’ first all-women group taking in the apricot blooms in Chunda Valley, Skardu, Pakistan. (Photo: Canvas Trails)
Before founding Canvas Trails in late 2024, Seet worked in commercial real estate and data centres – “a fast-paced world of deals and numbers”. Like many busy professionals, she didn’t have time to plan her own trips, but longed for holidays that were adventurous, immersive, and comfortable. After taking a few local tours, she saw a gap in the market for such experiences.
It’s also a way for her to share her love for hiking. While many focus on reaching the summit, Seet is more drawn to the journey itself, tackling one major hike each year.
Through Canvas Trails, she also offers hiking training in Singapore, Taiwan and China, creating a community where women can train, grow, and explore together.
For Seet, being in nature is infinitely rewarding. “In the face of snow-capped mountains and rolling grasslands – which we don’t have in Singapore – we’re reminded of how small we are, just fleeting visitors on this vast land. It puts our problems into perspective, and our hearts just open up in nature.”
CNA Women is a section on CNA Lifestyle that seeks to inform, empower and inspire the modern woman. If you have women-related news, issues and ideas to share with us, email CNAWomen [at] mediacorp.com.sg.
Continue reading...