A luxury advisor has revealed how a painful loss inspired her to design ‘healing’ trips after noticing a gap in the market. 

The Travel Studio founder Kerri Lisa had always wanted to help others for a career, having grown up thinking she’d become either a doctor or a nurse one day. She soon came to realise, however, that she didn’t need to be saving lives to make a difference. 

“I started thinking, what are we doing with people when they are living their lives? How do we make the most out of their time on this Earth?” Kerri told TTG. 

The US agent would go on to become Director of Travel at Four Hundred, a New York-based membership club, having previously worked at Fischer Travel and Quintessentially. 

In 2021, she launched The Travel Studio, a boutique advisory firm operating under Global Travel Collection, part of Internova Tavel Group. The decision behind the move was largely driven by Kerri’s passion for working closely with people – a practice that became difficult at Four Hundred due to the seniority of her position. 

“I wanted to build deep, long-lasting relationships with both my team and clients,” she said. “The things that people now tell me on the phone make it so you are almost like a confidant in their life.” 

She was determined to design itineraries that felt hyper-personal and responded to the individual needs of each client, ensuring every hotel and experience has been screened and approved by her.

Kerri Lisa

It wasn’t until a devastating loss, however, that she discovered just how powerful her services could be. 

Kerri was left “totally broken” by the passing of her sister two years ago – a grief only compounded by the painful end of a relationship.

“I needed to go somewhere to heal after that,” she said. “But I also needed to take care of my family, including my sister’s one-year-old, whom I’m raising with my mom.” 

Encouraged by her mother, Kerri decided to take a solo overseas trip to South Africa – a country she had long associated with spiritual renewal and warm hospitality. 

Under the recommendation of a supplier friend, she checked into Sterrekopje, a luxury ‘healing farm’ in the Western Cape valley of Franschhoek. 

Founded by Nicole Boekhoorn and Fleur Huijskens in 2022, the remote property focuses on holistic wellness through regenerative farming, seasonal food and ancestral healing rituals. 

Guests can expect a ‘soulful playground’ aesthetic, complete with 11 luxurious guest rooms, a mountain water lake and a Mongolian yoga yurt. There’s also a bathhouse and apothecary, where clients can enjoy everything from hammam scrubs to breath-work sessions. 

The three-day visit ended up being one of the most “profound” experiences of Kerri’s life – providing her with support at a time she needed it most. 

“I’d never felt so held,” she said. “I could cry thinking about my stay there.” 

Sterrekopje’s modus operandi is ‘by women, for women’, underpinned by a strong matriarchal ethos that runs deep throughout the property. The core practitioners, culinary team and retreat guides are predominantly female, and the design is proudly feminine – think clay pink buildings, floral structures and soft lighting. 

Sterrekopje

“They really have built a place to rest, reset and heal,” Kerri said. “It felt like being carried by spiritual guides.” 

All aspects of the personalised schedule were optional, with clients free to do as much or as little as they pleased. Mornings often include spa treatments, while afternoons usually has a wholesome activity like baking bread or visiting the farm animals. 

Menus are also designed for the individual, with each client submitting their food preferences pre-arrival.   

“I wound up having an experience that makes me want to fly around the world again just to go there for three days,” Kerri said. Blown away by the impact of one trip on her mindset, the New Yorker returned to the US adamant about helping others heal from loss. 

She began researching ‘grief retreats’ to see what was being offered on the market, and found that many of the existing programmes were notably structured and intensive. 

“In a lot of them, the clients are facing their grief head-on – but not everyone is ready for that. I know I wasn’t ready for that myself.” 

Instead, Kerri wants to provide something softer – using travel itself as a therapeutic tool. 

She is now actively building her product knowledge by scouting new destinations. Over the past few years, she has visited Bhutan – and sent clients there – as well as two lodges of Singita, a luxury safari destination in South Africa. 

Singita

“Little pops of magic happened throughout that latter trip,” she recalled. “I went on a game drive one morning and the guides told us a story about a lone female lion. They don't often travel alone like that. They explained that she had lost her family pack, and that lions will travel alone for two years to grieve before finding a new pack when they are ready. I felt this wild connection to her story. I was incredibly moved.” 

When Kerri arrived at the second Singita lodge, she found a framed photograph of the lion with a handwritten note next to her bed. 

“Gestures like that just open you up and make you believe again” she said. “Those are the experiences I am looking for, beyond just a hotel that labels itself a wellness hotel. It's hard to find that without trying it firsthand.” 

It’s now a priority of Kerri’s to vet a destination before she recommends it to clients. In September, she will spend three weeks exploring India – having always been curious about the country’s portfolio of healing experiences. 

“I just know in my bones there is special stuff going on there that I'm not hearing about,” she said. “I’ve not had many clients go to India, but I believe they would really respond to it.” 

Kerri also supports clients throughout their trip, having personally navigated the travel anxiety that often follows losing a loved one.

“Feelings are going to come up – you’re going to grieve, you’re going to cry. That is part of the healing journey,” Kerri said. “But afterwards, it becomes one of the most rewarding and profound experiences of your life. I am an example of that.”