Boutique journey businesses are redefining journey for Singaporeans
It begins at nighttime, lengthy earlier than daybreak, when the comforts of dwelling really feel furthest away. A information rouses the group, and inside minutes, they’re stumbling throughout sand or forest paths, chasing a fleeting second that no lodge concierge may ever schedule.
Whether or not it’s a turtle nest hatching beneath the celebrities on a seashore, a daybreak hunt with Tanzania’s Hadzabe tribe (one of many world’s final true hunter-gatherer tribes), or spending an evening or two tenting in a canyon, these experiences are uncooked, unpredictable, and profoundly memorable.
For a rising variety of Singaporeans, that’s the level of journey. As an alternative of selecting between luxurious resorts or funds backpacking, they’re turning to boutique journey corporations, paying 1000’s for immersive experiences. They ask vacationers to commerce air‑conditioning for authenticity, and in return provide one thing rarer—belief, intimacy, and connection.
Operators reminiscent of The Untold Course, Journey Collectively, and Jambo Journeys are assembly this demand, creating journeys for these prepared to be “comfortably uncomfortable.” We spoke to the millennials main these group journeys to search out out what’s piquing Singaporeans’ curiosity in travelling collectively on such excursions.
Getting “up shut & private” with the native lifestyle
Sometimes, these boutique businesses run small teams of fewer than 10 folks on longer excursions—typically 10 days to over two weeks—designed to fulfill a deeper curiosity in historical past, tradition, and nature, reasonably than the short, surface-level sightseeing of standard vacationer hotspots.
On The Untold Course’s extra off-the-beaten-path journeys, vacationers, outfitted with simply their backpacks, share open sleeper-train compartments with locals, merchants, and college students. Its founder, 27-year-old Ganesha Balakrishnan, explains that this shut contact breaks the standard vacationer bubble, fostering genuine engagement with the folks and locations they encounter.
“You stand up shut and private with the native lifestyle,” he mentioned. Round 90% of the corporate’s operations concentrate on Central Asia and the Silk Highway, with deep dives into the “5 Stans”: Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. Ganesha has progressively added itineraries within the Caucasus and Pakistan, too, however Central Asia stays the corporate’s core.
Working on a strict grassroots philosophy, Ganesha depends on public transport and wild tenting. This strategy permits vacationers to expertise native life as authentically as attainable whereas supporting the native inhabitants by means of tourism.
Teams are capped at six folks to protect the intimate “touring with associates” vibe and to suit onto native buses and trains. In nations like Turkmenistan—“a bit like North Korea,” he famous—vacationers should settle for being offline for seven days.
Journey Collectively applies the identical philosophy however in a distinct context. Based by 32-year-old Nicole Lim and her father, Marvyn Lim, the corporate focuses on moral, immersive wildlife tourism and conservation actions reasonably than polished tourism.
Their footprint spans Southeast Asia—Indonesia, the Philippines, Laos—whereas longer-haul journeys attain South Africa and Kyrgyzstan. Deliberate expansions embody Finland, Peru, and Botswana, with extra locations to come back as demand for off-the-beaten-path experiences retains rising.
Some environmental conservation actions carried out by the group embody planting timber in Borneo for orangutans, and serving to nestling sea turtles earlier than releasing them at night time in Tioman, Malaysia. These experiences typically contain staying in rustic lodging, reminiscent of kelotok river safari boats.
Constructing belief by means of native experience
Belief underpins each side of those journeys. At Jambo Journeys, co-founder 32-year-old Melvyn Koe personally checks out almost each property earlier than together with it in an itinerary, rigorously choosing every place and exercise.
The boutique journey company started with excursions in Tanzania. There, Melvyn would typically go to as much as ten lodgings for each one he selected, favouring lodging that mirrored the character of the land—like tented camps within the Serengeti, the place dawn filters by means of canvas and mesh as an alternative of blackout curtains.
“We would like all people to have a superb time as a result of they’ve trusted you with one thing particular—their time,” Melvyn defined.
Since then, he has expanded into East Africa, together with Kenya and Uganda, and extra lately into Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, and Armenia—every new area personally inspected earlier than vacationers arrive.
For Ganesha, belief is constructed by means of direct connections with locals. That’s why The Untold Course’s guides are folks he has met and befriended throughout his travels—a lot of whom later joined his company. These guides eat, sleep, and expertise every thing alongside vacationers, sharing their deep data of the locations they grew up in.
Working immediately with locals additionally streamlines logistics, from visas and border crossings to securing good lodging offers—particularly in additional closed-off nations like Turkmenistan, the place visas are troublesome to acquire, and a number of transfers between neighbouring nations are sometimes required.
Fingers-on journeys
On these excursions, corporations design experiences that flip vacationers from passive observers into lively individuals.
With The Untold Course and Journey Collectively, vacationers pitch their very own tents alongside high-altitude lakes or deep inside canyons, spending an evening—or extra—immersed in nature. Via shared effort, they construct each confidence and camaraderie, making the journey as a lot about connection because the panorama itself.
In Tanzania with Jambo Journeys, that immersion means becoming a member of the native Hadzabe tribe to hunt for meals throughout the day and eat sport meat.
In the meantime, in Uganda, vacationers get to interact immediately with each panorama and wildlife, navigating the steep, slippery trails of Bwindi Impenetrable Nationwide Park on gorilla treks utilizing picket strolling sticks.
What begins as a sensible instrument typically takes on emotional that means by the trek’s finish. Many are stunned when the Jambo staff presents sticks carved by native craftsmen, designed in reattachable items to take dwelling.
“They don’t count on it,” mentioned Melvyn. “In any case the hassle and the powerful trails, it turns into one thing sentimental—a narrative they’ll carry with them.”
Robust demand & offered out excursions
Regardless of costing 1000’s of {dollars}—relying on the size of the journey and actions—demand for these excursions has grown steadily through the years.
Since launching in 2022, Ganesha has grown The Untold Course to round 150 journeys, serving over 1,600 vacationers. About 75–80% are ladies, a lot of them solo vacationers drawn to areas typically perceived as intimidating. “Our itineraries promote out months prematurely,” he added.
In the meantime, in 2025 alone, Journey Collectively ran 11 journeys for roughly 100 vacationers. Jambo Journeys, then again, Jambo Journeys has guided round 50 journeys for about 300 vacationers since its 2023 launch.
Total, the three corporations famous that a good portion of their shoppers are millennials, who present explicit curiosity in these immersive, off-the-beaten-path journey experiences.
Nevertheless, working a boutique journey enterprise is way from a free vacation. Behind each photo-worthy second, the founders meticulously plan advanced flight routings, assess locations, and constantly coordinate with native connections. Researching new locations, Nicole mentioned, typically “felt like learning for an examination”—intense, however extremely crucial.
The lean operational mannequin of those journey businesses make the mannequin viable. All three corporations function primarily digitally, with small groups the place everybody wears a number of hats. This retains overheads low and danger manageable, whereas permitting progress to be deliberate reasonably than aggressive. Nonetheless, the founders shared that rising prices in nationwide park charges stay a continuing problem in maintaining their journey costs steady.
Meals costs in components of Central Asia have additionally tripled since 2022. However The Untold Course has stored journey costs the identical for 2 years, in keeping with Ganesha, by counting on its native guides’ negotiation abilities. Not each journey is very worthwhile, however the 27-year-old mentioned sustainability comes from wanting on the enterprise as an entire reasonably than particular person journeys.
A thriving area of interest
Finally, the rise of “comfortably uncomfortable” journey displays a broader shift in how Singaporeans discover the world.
Quite than ticking off vacationer hotspots from a guidelines, many are looking for experiences that problem them bodily, mentally, and culturally.
For boutique operators like The Untold Course, Journey Collectively, and Jambo Journeys, this shift has created a thriving area of interest—one the place vacationers are prepared to spend 1000’s for authenticity.
- Be taught extra about The Untold Course right here.
- Be taught extra about Journey Collectively right here.
- Be taught extra about Jambo Journeys right here.
- Learn different articles we’ve written on Singaporean companies right here.
Featured Picture Credit score: Jambo Journeys/ Journey Collectively/ The Untold Course
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