THE WOMAN WHO TOOK INDONESIA TO SEA
This month, as we mark World Humanitarian Day and Women’s Equality Day, we wanted to share the story of the woman behind Silolona Sojourns.
Patti Seery, spent decades travelling through Indonesia, following a curiosity that took her far beyond the places most visitors ever reached.
It began with textiles. Patti was fascinated by Southeast Asia’s extraordinary weaving traditions and travelled from island to island in search of them. But the deeper she went, the more she discovered. A piece of cloth could tell the story of a family, a village, a ceremony, a belief, or generations of knowledge passed from mother to daughter.
She sought out master weavers, sat with families in their homes, attended ceremonies and returned to the same communities again and again. Over the years, introductions became friendships, and friendships became relationships that would span decades.
Through those relationships, Patti came to know an Indonesia that few travellers had the opportunity to experience: extraordinarily diverse, deeply connected to the sea and land, rich in tradition, and shaped by thousands of islands and the people who call them home.
Travel should create understanding.
She wanted other people to experience some of what had captivated her. To travel slowly enough to pay attention. To meet people. To ask questions. To understand where they were, rather than simply pass through it.
That idea would eventually become Silolona Sojourns.
When Silolona launched in 2004, Patti finally had a way to share the Indonesia she had come to know over so many years. She wanted to take people further into the archipelago, travelling by sea to extraordinary landscapes and remote communities, and creating opportunities for genuine connection along the way.
That thinking has shaped Silolona ever since.
Only months after her launch, the Indian Ocean tsunami devastated coastlines across Asia. Silolona was immediately put to work in the relief effort, transporting international medical teams and surveying damaged ports along the west coast of Sumatra to help establish where aid vessels could safely land.
For Patti, there was no question that Silolona should be useful wherever she could be. The boat, her crew and their knowledge of Indonesia’s waters were there, and they could help.
More than twenty years later, Patti’s influence is still deeply felt in Silolona. Today, her son Tresno Seery and daughter-in-law Sarah Seery lead the company, carrying forward the relationships, curiosity and sense of responsibility that have been part of Silolona from the beginning.
Together with long-standing partners including Misool Foundation, Reshark, and marine biologist Dr. Mark Erdmann, we remain committed to protecting Indonesia’s oceans while preserving the cultures and communities that make this archipelago unlike anywhere else on Earth.
More than twenty years later, Silolona and Si Datu Bua continue to sail with the same purpose they were built for: to inspire meaningful journeys, celebrate Indonesia’s remarkable heritage, and leave every destination just a little better than we found it.
