Our roots in Bhutan
run 36 years deep.
Healing Highlands Getaway exists because of one person's extraordinary connection to a country — and a partnership built around making that connection available to the world.
Chechey was born in Bhutan and spent 36 years living, praying, trekking, and serving there before moving to the United States in 2024. She remains in daily contact with her family, her friends, her guides, and her community back home. Bhutan is not somewhere she used to live. It is where her heart still is — every single day.
Her husband built this platform around Chechey, her family's knowledge, their relationships, and a shared love for her country — because they believed the world deserved a better way to see and explore Bhutan. Together, they have also been able to support the monasteries and sacred sites she devoted so much of her life to — quietly, and out of genuine gratitude.
We are new as a registered travel agency. The knowledge and the connections behind us are not.
Chechey Trandell
Co-Founder · Born in Bhutan · 36 years living there
in Bhutan
monastery devotion
family & guides
The path she walked — in every season, for years.
A devotion that went well beyond visiting.
For the seven years before she came to the United States, Chechey trekked to the monasteries in her region of Bhutan nearly every week. This was not tourism, and it was not work. It was a personal spiritual practice — a quiet, consistent act of faith and belonging that became the steady rhythm of her life.
She brought food and supplies to share. She sat in prayer. She participated in the sacred rituals and ceremonies of Bhutan's spiritual calendar. During the most significant holidays and traditional observances, she would stay overnight — rising in the early morning to prepare food for all who attended, joining the prayers, fully present in the life of those sacred spaces as a member of that community.
Over time, her presence became deeply trusted and welcomed. She developed close personal friendships with some of Bhutan's most respected lamas and monks — as well as those at smaller, quieter monasteries that few outsiders ever find. Those relationships were never sought for any purpose other than genuine reverence and care. They are sacred to us, and we will never treat them as a tourism commodity.
Together, she and her husband were also able to contribute to the upkeep and safety of some of these sacred sites — an act of quiet gratitude for everything they had given her over the years. She organized everything on the ground herself, working with and alongside the local community, with the same respect she had always brought to those paths.
Two people. One shared mission. One team on the ground.
Chechey brings the roots — 36 years of living in Bhutan, a family spread across the country, friendships built over a lifetime, and a spiritual connection to the land that cannot be manufactured. She is the knowledge, the relationships, and the heart of this agency.
Her husband brings the platform — the website, the planning tools, the infrastructure that makes her knowledge accessible to travelers around the world. He has supported her work in Bhutan from afar for years, including contributing to the improvements made at the monasteries she dedicated herself to. He has not yet been to Bhutan — but he is building everything around the belief that the world needs a better way to find it.
When Chechey returns to Bhutan — which she will — this agency will have its founder back on the ground it was built for. Until then, she is there every day in every way that matters: through the family she speaks to, the guides she trusts, and the knowledge that 36 years does not simply pack away.
Behind every trip we plan is a dedicated team already on the ground in Bhutan — guides, drivers, hospitality contacts, and family members who have spent their lives in this country. These are not hired hands. They are people Chechey has known for years, trusts completely, and has chosen specifically because they share the same standard of care we hold ourselves to. When you travel with us, you are in their hands — and their hands are good ones.
What each of us brings
Chechey: Born in Bhutan. 36 years living there. Daily contact with family, friends, and guides on the ground. Spiritual relationships built over a lifetime of devoted presence. Deep knowledge of every region, season, and sacred site.
Andrew: Platform builder. Operations and planning infrastructure. Financial supporter and contributor to monastery improvements. The person who believed in this enough to build it — backed by a dedicated team committed to answering every inquiry personally.
Our team in Bhutan: Guides, drivers, hospitality partners, and family — all known personally to Chechey, all committed to the same standard of care. The people who will be with you every step of your journey.
Sonam Dema
General Manager · Hospitality & Operations
hospitality
Manager
& connections
The person who makes sure
every detail lands right.
Our General Manager brings something that is genuinely rare in boutique travel: a career that has lived on both sides of the equation. As a former Sales Director with a long background in hospitality, she has spent years understanding what guests actually need — not from behind a planning desk, but from inside the properties and teams that deliver the experience.
That background means she reads a trip the way a good hotel manager reads a room — quickly, accurately, and with genuine attention to what will make the difference between a stay that was fine and one that is remembered. She knows where the details matter, which ones travelers notice even when they can't name why, and how to solve problems before they become problems.
On the operations side, she oversees the day-to-day running of the agency — client communication, vendor relationships, itinerary quality, and the countless small decisions that determine how a trip actually feels on the ground. She is the person who holds the standard.
Her roots in Bhutan and her deep knowledge of its hospitality landscape give her an additional layer that no amount of industry experience elsewhere can provide. She doesn't just know how hotels work. She knows these hotels — and the people running them.
What she brings to your trip
Hospitality expertise: Years working inside Bhutan's hotel industry — she knows the properties, the standards, and the people who run them.
Sales Director background: She has been on the client side. She understands what guests are really asking for — even when they haven't found the right words yet.
Operations ownership: Day-to-day agency management, vendor relationships, and itinerary quality control — she is the person who makes sure what we promise is what actually happens.
A family that has always served Bhutan.
Chechey's father was one of Bhutan's most skilled and dedicated electricians — a craftsman who gave his working life to bringing light and infrastructure to communities across the country during a period of great change.
Upon his retirement, the Bhutanese government honored him with an official award in recognition of his decades of devoted service. It was a deeply meaningful moment for the entire family — a recognition of his character, his consistency, and his commitment to the people around him.
That spirit of showing up, of giving without seeking recognition, runs through this family. It runs through everything Chechey built in her years at the monasteries. And it runs through what we are building now.
Chechey & Sonam with family in Bhutan — early 1990s
A network built over a lifetime — not a weekend.
When you book with us, you are welcomed into a family and a community with deep, genuine roots across Bhutan. Every connection here was earned through years of presence, trust, and shared life.
Trusted guides & operators
Chechey has close personal friendships with Bhutan's best local guides and tour operators — built over decades of shared community life. Your guide is someone she trusts as a friend, not someone sourced from a directory.
A team built from inside the industry
Our General Manager brings a career spanning hospitality leadership and a Sales Director background — with deep personal knowledge of Bhutan's hotel landscape. When we recommend a property, there is genuine insider insight behind it, not just a star rating.
Sisters who are teachers
Her sisters are school educators embedded in their local Bhutanese communities. They give us a window into everyday Bhutanese life — its values, its rhythms, and what genuinely matters to people there.
Honored relationships with lamas & monks
Through years of devoted presence and genuine care, Chechey developed deep personal ties with some of Bhutan's most respected spiritual teachers — as well as those at smaller, quieter monasteries rarely known to visitors. These relationships are sacred and are never treated as a tourism feature.
Established agency partners in Bhutan
We work closely with experienced, operating travel agencies already inside Bhutan. They bring deep expertise in permits, seasons, and on-the-ground logistics — and they are friends before they are business partners.
A large family, fully committed
Behind this agency is a wide, willing, and deeply capable family and community network spread across Bhutan — all committed to making every trip we send the best it can possibly be. We are new in business. Never new in Bhutan.
Recognized across Bhutan — before we ever opened for business.
Over the years, Chechey and her husband built a TikTok community of over 108,000 Bhutanese followers — people who followed and shared their journey and the life they live. That community grew because people in Bhutan recognized something genuine when they saw it.
We are not starting this agency from scratch. The trust, the recognition, and the relationships were already there — built quietly, over years, without any intention of turning them into a business. This agency is simply the natural extension of a devotion that was always real.
What we promise every traveler.
We are a small, personal operation — and we mean that sincerely. When you reach out to us, you are speaking directly with our team. When your trip runs in Bhutan, it is being supported by people we know personally and trust completely. There is no anonymous layer between you and the people responsible for your experience.
Bhutan is not a destination to us. It is family. We will plan your journey the way we would plan one for someone we love — with honesty, with care, and with real attention to what will make it meaningful for you.
What you can always count on
- A personal reply from our team within 24 hours of your inquiry.
- An itinerary shaped around what you actually want — not a recycled template.
- Complete transparency on cost, every line item explained before you commit.
- Guides and drivers we know personally and trust as friends.
- Support throughout your entire journey — not just during the planning phase.
- Honest guidance — if something isn't right for your pace or timeline, we will say so.
Licensed & accountable
Bhutan requires all travelers to enter through a licensed tour operator. We hold that license — and we take the responsibility it carries seriously.
License No. DoT/2026/1085 · Issued by the Tourism Council of Bhutan · All visas, permits, and entry documentation handled through our licensed operation.
Come say hello.
Whether you have one question or twenty — send it here. We reply personally, we don't push, and we won't try to sell you a trip that isn't right for you. We just want to help you reach Bhutan the right way.
Prefer to call or text? (947) 622-0639 · Leave a message — one of us will get back to you personally.
Our first reviews are coming
We're a new company. We'd rather earn your trust than invent it.
What we commit to every traveler
- ✦A licensed, knowledgeable local guide — not a script
- ✦Transparent pricing with no surprise fees
- ✦Visa & permit logistics handled end to end
- ✦Itineraries built around your pace, not a template
- ✦Real replies from real people — within 24 hours
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