“It was a pretty amazing experience, even for a newspaperman. It was far from any safe city tethers, a place of magic and meditation, wilderness and wilful weather, introspection and inscrutable peaks.

“It took me a month to re-acclimatise to the heat and dust of Delhi. But it set the mind free and blew away the cobwebs.

“I wrote an article on the trip called ‘Road to Satori’ that got picked up by a magazine and landed me a job in Bangkok, from where I moved to Hong Kong. A transcendental experience, that.

“Now, whenever I seek peace and clarity, I climb to high ground.”

Yu Jin Rosa Hong, wholesale manager, Guess

“In Cusco, I volunteered for a programme to help disabled children. It was a real eye-opener, taking care of youngsters with major physical and mental disabilities who had been abandoned. The world can be so cruel, yet so beautiful when you can give back to those in need.

“That year marked a huge turning point in my life. I left a job I had been with for over a decade. I turned 40. I travelled to an unknown country on the other side of the world. It gave me courage to step outside my comfort zone and reconnect with myself and rediscover who I am. I learned to face many fears and let go of judgment, and transition into a more mindful, peaceful and self-loving person.

“And I picked up Spanish again, a language I loved so much back in high school.”

Holly Graham, managing editor, DRiNK Magazine Asia

“We also explored ancient burial grounds, trekked through the desert and spotted wildlife like guanacos [related to camels], whales, penguins and armadillos. We stayed at the Bahia Bustamante Lodge, which has its own vineyard, and we ate and drank like royalty.

“Overall, Argentina was incredible – I visited Buenos Aires, too – so I’m very keen to get back.”

Samson So Ngai-hung, wildlife photographer

“The trip opened my eyes to mega-fauna: elephant, buffalo, rhino, giraffe, hippo and predators such as crocodile, eagle and lion. Being an ornithologist, I was also amazed by the vast number of birds in Lake Nakuru – some 500,000 of them!

“I made up my mind after that trip that I would return to Kenya, and return to the wilderness and wildlife. I started to organise and lead tours to African countries in 2012.

“Since then, I have visited Kenya over 30 times. The takeaway is that there are special places you can visit again and again, each time with new discoveries and excitement.”

Andrew McDonald, flight simulator instructor, Cathay Pacific

“In 2017, I was experiencing some difficulties in a relationship and decided I needed to take some time to think. With some trepidation, I decided that the ancient pilgrimage route Camino de Santiago would provide me with both the physical and mental challenge I needed to get my life back on track.

“I started in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, in France, trekked across the Pyrenees, then crossed the whole of northern Spain to the traditional finishing point, in Santiago de Compostela. I continued to Cape Finisterre as a fitting end [Finisterre is from the Latin finis terrae, meaning “end of the Earth”] to my journey.

“In total, I walked 900km (560 miles). The physical challenges were many, with blisters and shin splints being a constant reminder that this was a pilgrimage. I took away from this experience some firm friends from among the people I had met, the confidence to undertake more physically demanding adventures and the realisation that I needed to start living rather than simply existing.

“There is a saying: ‘The Camino will provide’. It certainly did, and continues to do so.”

Amanda Hyndman, general manager, Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong

“Back in 1996, I flew out to Belize to meet my then boyfriend, who was sailing the North Atlantic circuit. We were aiming for Tikal, a 2,000-year-old ruined Mayan city in the middle of the rainforest in Guatemala. It was real, raw Indiana Jones territory – there were no safety notices or guardrails, you just had to clamber as best you could.

“We then hitchhiked back over the border and went horseback riding in the jungle; I have a phobia about snakes but incredibly we didn’t see a single one.

“We finished off sailing past the Blue Hole to Caye Caulker, an island about 30km off the coast, snorkelling with turtles in the sea, which was utterly crystal clear.

“My life today is somewhat more urban, but I still treasure the simplicity of living out of a rucksack and exploring wherever curiosity led me.”

Corinna Yap Li-chin, director of wellness, Asaya

“I was lucky. My adenoid cystic breast cancer, which is extremely rare, was diagnosed early, and the treatment was successful. But the aftershock hit me harder than anything else.

“I had heard very good things about VIP Ski [ski chalet group], and they had availability at an amazing chalet and were kind to not charge me double because I was travelling on my own; usually you have to pay for two people per room.

“Physically exerting myself for the first time properly for many months, eating fabulous cheese and drinking far too much, laughing more than I had in ages – this solo trip helped start the healing process and made me really feel like living again.

“The power of nature and being high in the mountains, and even more so, time on your own to really listen to and process your thoughts, is what can make any trip an experience of a lifetime.”

Steven Ballantyne, movie location producer

“Over time, I have gradually come to understand my strengths and abilities through facing challenging situations on my travels.

“I used to be a psychotherapist in London, and first went to Papua New Guinea in 2002, to research bereavement rituals, which I thought I might be able to incorporate in my work. The country was highly unstable at the time, and I was taken captive and held against my will for eight days until I was rescued by the Australian Army.

“That time in captivity made me realise I wanted to change the direction of my life and help other people more. I then became involved in filmmaking, and have returned to PNG several times.

Antony Chan Chi-ngai, creative director

“In the early 1990s, while I was studying French civilisation at the Sorbonne, in Paris, I took a trip to Malta with some fellow students and stayed in a house of Maltese vernacular architecture with a vast garden. Although it was a holiday home, everything inside was built to last, using stone and moulded concrete.

“The food was terrific; we would hunt snails from the hillside, purge them and bake them; the steamed, field-picked artichoke was fresh and delicious cooked simply with olive oil, salt and lemon; fish came straight from the sea.

“The design of the house, its interior and decor, the food, the kitchenware – all combined to make this trip a lesson about the quintessence of gourmet cuisine, and that lifestyle has impacted my design thinking ever since.”

Muhammad Arshad, chief imam of Hong Kong

“When I was a little boy, I had a dream that I was visiting Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, the holiest city in Islam. None of my family had been there – we were lacking sufficient money. I wrote to a scholar who replied that the dream meant I would go to Mecca one day. I still have his letter.

“I first travelled there in 1992 [from Pakistan] – it was the first time I had flown in an aeroplane, so I asked permission and was allowed to have a look around the cockpit – and have made the haj [pilgrimage] 15 times altogether. It takes about three weeks, and during that time pilgrims perform a number of rituals, which are followed by the three-day festival of Eid al-Adha, which is celebrated around the world.

“During the haj, you feel a sense of happiness and excitement, and that you have been chosen by God to visit His House. Someone who has completed the haj is addressed as Haji; afterwards you feel you are shriven of your sins, and become more religious and pray more regularly.

“What started as a dream finally came true.”