As part of her spiritual journey in the Himalayas, Renard practiced celibacy and abstinence between November 2001 and March 2005. During a vacation in Thailand in the winter of 2005 she started dating a Thai physician of Chinese descent. Renard returned to India three months later but finally decided to immigrate to Thailand. Renard lived in Bangkok for 5 years before she returned to the Netherlands in 2011.