It was one of her dreams. While there, she worked with a local entrepreneur– he ran a consumer packaged goods business and she thought she could help.

She lived with locals, got to know Rosario through their eyes and they showed her a side of Argentina she’d never have seen as a tourist. “It changed my perspective,” she said.

That’s when Zhi Min Seetoh decided to quit her five-year job with BCG and together with co-founder Heidi Shum,  started Indiescapes,  a curated marketplace of unique travel experiences.

The website went live with the beta version of the website in April this year with 500 unique experiences across five South-east Asian countries.

The two founders have been hard at work since November putting the content together.

Said Min, “Whether it’s a spending a day with living like a Balinese villager or a Thai street food crawl with a best-selling local food writer, travellers can expect to find localised and unique travel experiences on the website.

“The reason we started Indiescapes is that we want to connect travellers to a foreign land in ways that’ll leave them both refreshed and invigorated, and not simply bring home rip-off souvenirs.

“In addition, travellers also know that their spending is going directly to the local communities to help them make a living and preserve local traditions.”

Added Heidi, who also quit her corporate job with HSBC for this new adventure, “Indiescapes enables travellers to purchase “experiences” directly from the “hosts” (providers of the activities) through the platform. Through a curation process, Indiescapes handpicks their hosts with a genuine desire to provide a unique journey for travellers.

“This way, we ensure customers get only the best, and help them save time crawling through the overcrowded internet.”

It is currently free to list on the website and Indiescapes take a percentage from each successful transaction made. Both hosts and customers are protected through a refund and cancellation policy should there be no-shows or last-minute cancellations. 

Having travelled and lived across multiple continents, Min and Heidi always had their local friends share insights of their countries with them.

“When we returned to Singapore, many of our friends started asking us for tips on authentic experiences when they travel and we realised that what is easily available on the market is usually the touristy and commercialized stuff.”

Indiescapes will target travellers who are travelling to and around the region. They see their market as working professionals and frequent travellers. “It’s so much easier to travel these days and people are looking for much more than a sightseeing trip. Usually people feel tired after a holiday, we want them to have experiences that will continue to stay with them even after they have returned,” says Min.

As a passionate traveller herself, she sees travel as more than just sightseeing but getting in touch with locals and seeing life from their view. “It’s more about learning from other people that changes your ideas of living.” she said.

She also believes her background in management consulting will stand her in good stead in this start-up. “I went into management consulting because I love solving problems. It’s also trained me to be resilient and disciplined. If you have a problem, you have to solve it, and solve it fast.”