Stephanie Tsai Karlik

Freedom in Formosa: A Diasporic Asian Women’s Storytelling Retreat

November 23-29, 2025

Tainan, Taiwan

A storytelling and healing retreat for Asian women to reclaim their medicine, their family’s wisdom and unique history, and to tell and write their herstories in an inclusive and safe community with gentle guidance. Whether you want to storytell for storytelling’s sake, wish to transmit your lived experiences to others, or to publish articles or books, we our here to help you along your journey.

Itinerary

(subject to adjustment)

Other Optional Activities:

(available for arrangement upon early request; service fee separate from retreat cost)

Taiwanese Tattooing

Chinese Medicine Doctor Visit (herbs, cupping, acupuncture)

Taiwanese Fortunetelling (Suan Ming Style)

Taiwanese Matchmaker God Temple Visit for Soulmate Luck

1-on-1 Sessions with Toni or Stephanie (Life Coaching or Intuitive I-Ching Readings)

Why Tainan?

Tainan is the fourth largest city in Taiwan. It’s the former administrative capital of the island and contains a very rich and unique history famous throughout the country. It also happens to be Stephanie’s maternal ancestral home and her new home for the last two and a half years after an epic return migration journey. In many senses, Tainan is very different from Taipei, a global city most are familiar with.

Firstly, Tainan is very temple-abundant. There are 1613 temples in Tainan City, 94 temples alone in the district we’ll be staying in (West-Central District), which is three times the number of 7/11s in the district (31). To say Taiwan is infused with spirituality and enchantment as a result of its temple density is an understatement.

Secondly, Tainan is also considered to be a food paradise, which is why we’ve arranged this retreat to encourage roaming and eating throughout the neighborhood and the grander city if people wish. We want everyone to feel free to take advantage of the vibrant and bustling surrounding city area whether that includes street stalls, night markets, izakaya, dumpling shops, food courts, noodle huts, or affordable fine dining. Eating out is cheap and accessible. Taiwan is also known to be a “fruit kingdom” for its plentiful variety of tropical and subtropical fruits, available throughout the year. Fruit consumption in Tainan among families is constant, and you’ll often find passionfruit, papaya, mangoes, dragonfruit, lychees, and other tropical fruits you may not have heard of always on deck.

Thirdly, Tainan is well-known for being very safe, even for lone female travelers at night. In fact, Stephanie’s favorite time to go out for solo walks is after sundown, like a lot of other Taiwanese women. We encourage those needing solo exploration time to do so without fear.

Fourthly, Tainan has a characteristically southern charm, making it a place especially hospitable and friendly to foreigners and outsiders. Unlike Taipei, which is known for having a bit more of an urban edge to it, people in Tainan generally have a more provincial yet open outlook. The culture is known for taking people in, feeding them, and making sure they’re looked after. We want you to feel welcome on this land, and we want you to return home with fond memories of Taiwan and the people you connected with.

Fifthly, Taiwan is a contemporary example of thrivance in the midst of colonization. Having been ruled by the Dutch, Portuguese, Chinese, and Japanese just in the last couple of centuries, Taiwan demonstrates to us that even amidst great upheavals, we can maintain our wholesomeness, spirit, and strength. We hope everyone can take a little piece of that aspect of Taiwan on their journey with them, facing life with a renewal of hope and energy.

Why Now?

Without a doubt, we are facing a time of great unrest and uncertainty around the globe. Wars are being waged with new players getting involved week to week it seems. Hypernationalism, technofeudalism, and fascism are all on the rise. Nevertheless, because this is the current global climate, we feel it’s more important than ever for us as diasporic Asian women to come together in community, tell our stories, and lift our voices. We have, for too long, been overlooked, marginalized, and disenfranchised unless we played by the rules of white supremacy. This no longer needs to be the case as we watch these systems of oppression collapse all around us through civic movements, social unrest, and collective demands for change. We are here to be the midwives of the new world we want to see come to life. Part of this process is the unraveling, decolonizing, and dismantling of what we’ve been programmed to think of as “acceptable” or mostly thinking in terms of binaries. What happens when we make our subconscious programming conscious? We will do this work together, gently and honestly, imagining a new kind of future for all of us that‘s more aligned with who we authentically are and how we wish to fully express ourselves in the world.

Your Hosts

Stephanie Tsai Karlik is a writer, linguist, and teacher. She’s particularly interested in themes related to geopolitics, colonialism, war, Taiwan, Taiwanese folk belief and customs, nostalgia, America, East Asia, cultural cosmopolitanism, diaspora, womanism, pan-Asianism, and ancestral healing.

She enjoys guiding those who are wanting to heal wounds and transmute pain into beauty and liberation, more specifically from a perspective of holistic healing and family lineage pattern breaking. Her research and personal experience has made her specially adept at working with those in the East Asian diaspora and through the medium of writing and language. Shanghai Seduction, her first novel, is a colorful and realistic portrait of Shanghai's French Concession foreigners' scene in a time of great growth, wealth, and expansion for China's sexiest cosmopolis. Shanghai Seduction was ranked #7 on Amazon’s top 10 bestselling China guides. Stephanie’s forthcoming book Street Fighter examines illness, recovery, Taiwan, and the Taiwanese-American experience.

The spiritual teachers that have taught Stephanie the most in her life journey include Malcolm X, Thich Nhat Hanh, Ram Dass, Marina Abramovic, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Shoda Kanai, and Aki Hirota Quetzalyolotzin.

Dr. Toni Liu, aka Dr. Tooni is a nomadic physician, cartoonist, author, speaker, sex educator & coach. She empowers, educates, and advocates for women, Asians & children of immigrants from high-pressure backgrounds, LGBTQ2IA+ & other minorities. She helps you honor your family AND yourself too – creating an authentic life of joy, meaning, & “success” on YOUR terms!

She runs multiple programs focused on self-love, women’s health, sex positivity, emotional wellness, and mental health, including her Shame-Free Sex Ed courses, conscious relationship coaching, Acceptsians online community, “Untigering”-themed workshops, and others.

In addition to the various programs Dr. Tooni facilitates, she is also the author of two books including Why You No Doctor Anymore? and 50 Things to Know About Becoming a Doctor.`

Dr. Tooni’s playful essence is often captured in her cartoon art like Howie the Asthmatic Wolf, a children’s book, and comic series like Learn Chinese with Comics: The Adventures of Monkman.

You can learn more about Dr. Tooni at her website https://drtooni.com/

Getting There

The nearest international airport is Taoyuan International Airport near Taipei (TPE). After flying into Taoyuan, please take the airport train to Taoyuan High-Speed Rail Station (HSR), aka the “bullet train.” That is about a 20-minute ride. From Taoyuan’s HSR Station, please travel to Tainan’s HSR Station. That’s about an hour and a half ride and a scenic one at that. From Tainan’s HSR Station, please take a taxi to the retreat location. We will provide more specific instructions once you’ve reserved your spot, and we may be able to accommodate those wishing for accompaniment after reaching Taipei and/or Tainan.

Considerations

• Respect: All workshops will be taught from an anti-racist spiritual liberation perspective. We hope to create an environment of safety, privacy, anonymity, consideration, and mutual respect in this healing container. Those who have a habit of malicious gossip, laughing at others’ expense, or unhealthy female competition should not attend. Issues that come up during the course of the retreat should be voiced and directed to the co-facilitators ASAP in order to address concerns adequately and have things continue to run smoothly.

• Boundaries: We want to encourage people to be in a practice of lovingly voicing boundaries and respecting others’ boundaries. As diasporic Asian women, we understand that many of us underfunction in this arena, but we encourage everyone to mindfully engage in boundary work with one another for the sake of group harmony. Anyone who repeatedly disregards boundaries after having spoken with co-facilitators will be asked to leave the retreat, however, we do not anticipate this to be an issue due to our application process.

• Self-awareness: A level of self-management and self-understanding will be necessary as this retreat is partially planned and partially spontaneous in order to create a balance of structure and flow for optimal enjoyment and benefit. Individuals have the freedom and right to opt out of anything they do not want to participate in whether due to energetic capacity or other reasons.

• Consent: We encourage any and all activities to come with consent from its participants. This includes photo-taking, story-sharing, and promotion of one’s own work to others.

• Communication: We want to keep a healthy loop of communication going throughout our time together. Being direct about your needs is very much encouraged so that we can accommodate everyone the best we can. We hope to use language that supports and uplifts others as opposed to diminishing remarks or putdowns. Please try to be mindful.

• Responsibility: As we are basing this retreat on a system of self-awareness, self-management, and local community interaction, we, as facilitators, will not be held legally responsible for medical, personal injury, unwanted trauma response, or other related travel hazards. If medical assistance is needed during your time on the retreat, we will absolutely facilitate medical assistance, hospital transportation, and follow-up care for the course of the retreat, however, we will not take on financial or legal responsibility.

• Grace: None of us are perfect; that’s what makes us beautiful and multi-dimensional human beings. We ask that you give yourself and others grace during this retreat and in this healing container. As Asian women, it’s quite possible many of us are assault or abuse survivors, that colonization and immigration has impacted our nervous systems deeply, and that we are never necessarily fully “healed” or done with our work. For this reason, we extend grace, patience, and love to ourselves and others.

• Closed Participation: We ask that you not bring outside guests into the retreat house. Please feel free to meet up with any new friends outside of the house during your free time.

• Drug-Free and Limited Alcohol: Taiwan has a very non-tolerant attitude towards drugs. Even so much as CBD oil is not allowed, much less weed or other recreational drugs, even for medicinal usage. If you end up questioning it while packing your bag, it’s best not to bring it. Also, for the sake of our healing container’s safety, we are asking everyone to keep their alcohol consumption at outings to one drink. This request is in consideration of what will ultimately serve our greatest growth and transcendence. You will likely be exposed to new and/ or unfamiliar herbs and potions on this trip.

• Meals: This retreat site will not have meal services included. This is not only due to the amazing food scene around us but also in consideration of our desire to leave heavy kitchen work behind for a week and focus on other arenas of our lives as women. Having said that, a kitchen is on site for anyone to use, and water and snacks in the house will be abundant.

• Feline: Stephanie’s cat will be on-site, so those with cat allergies may want to take that into consideration. His name is Turkey, and he is constantly hungry and adorable. He also is a rescue and migrant cat who made the long journey from Southern California to Taiwan with his mom. He is precious and treasured as the divine feline he is.

Your Retreat Takeaways

• Once-in-a-lifetime experience of an ancient Taiwanese city with locals and liaisons

• Deeper self-awareness of ancestral wounds and gifts for your ascendancy

• A week’s worth of inner reflection and healing container love

• Greater access to your own magic

• Enhanced storytelling skills, both oral and written

• The starting of and/or layout of a book you may want to bring to fruition

• A community of kindred spirits and like-minded friends and potential collaborators

• Maybe a little Mandarin?