Do you have a defining moment in your life?  A single moment you can point to that shifted the direction of everything?

Let me tell you about mine. It, of course, involves travel.

My parents always prioritized traveling in my childhood. Every year, we were heading off somewhere new, from road trips across the U.S. to journeys through Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean, and much of Europe. Young, naive, and innocent, I didn’t yet grasp the privilege of travel…it was just something we did, year after year.

I didn’t even know what a travel agent was…my mom used those “X for Dummies” books to plan our days, and while we had many faux pas, our trips are still my favorite and most vivid childhood memories.

Now, my mom was in the fashion business before she retired, and she was (and still is) my biggest role model. I grew up going with her to New York, walking the showroom floors, and sneaking peeks at trends for the upcoming seasons. And just to age myself, I grew up in the peak of consumerism. As I got older, I was obsessed with designers and, if I’m honest, with shopping. I knew every name on the Barney’s contemporary floor, collected more pairs of “Sevens” and “Citizens” than I care to admit, and devoured each September issue of Vogue as if it held the secrets to happiness.

In high school and college, I was convinced that my dream was to follow in my mom’s footsteps into a bigwig corporate career. I even joined the Retail Club in college to propel this dream faster.

And thank God for that – because here is where my defining moment comes in.

Through this organization, I had the opportunity to travel to China around 2008–2009. The trip took us to Hong Kong and Shanghai to visit factories and explore the complex relationship between production and the final product in the retail world.

Until then, Asia wasn’t even on my radar. My knowledge of China was based on Disney’s Mulan and an Economics course I was taking at University, where my professor was a high-level government advisor on China. Always drawn to adventure, I jumped at the opportunity and boarded that 16-hour flight from Chicago to Hong Kong. I even wrote a blog about my experience at a time when blogging was still in its infancy (it was called The Dark Side of the Moon for any of you other Mulan lovers out there!).

The sheer intensity of Hong Kong and Shanghai was beyond anything I’d experienced before. My mind struggled to comprehend what my eyes were seeing. When we first arrived, I remember the distinct impression the efficiency of the airport made on me. As we drove into town, I pressed my face against the bus window. Could these tiny stacked windows in towering buildings really be individual apartments? Did millions of people truly compress into this one microscopic slice of land? And why did New York City seem empty in comparison?

I had so many questions. So many thoughts! Is Feng Shui real? What about the dragons? Did people really eat chicken feet? Or use a hole in the ground for a toilet? Hong Kong was sensory overload. It was culture shock in its rawest, purest, most fabulous form. I had never felt so alive. Everything was new, everything was different—from the Walmart meat counter to the city corners where millions moved in a controlled chaotic throng of traffic and feet. Did I really have lunch at a restaurant called Modern Toilet? Why yes, yes I did.

But that still wasn’t my defining moment.

Somewhere on the streets of Hong Kong, down a curvy road I’ll never find again, I came upon a tiny tea shop. I don’t remember the name – this was pre-iPhone, and I took no photos – so it lives only in memory.

I remember the shop being both narrow and shallow – no more than a hole-in-the-wall – but brimming with teas and accessories: teas for gifting, for keeping, for every occasion under the sun…plus teapots, cups, strainers, and sets so charming I could hardly stand the “cu-tea-ness” (forgive me, I had to!). 

I was completely enchanted.

Then the mother-and-son owners approached. They spoke no English, and I spoke no Cantonese, but we all spoke the language of smiles, and kindness. We connected the way strangers do when words fail them…with the gleam of eyes, the vocabulary of hands, and the language of laughter. They brought out tea set after tea set. They sat us down on their tiny chairs and showed us the intricacies of brewing, pouring, and drinking the perfect cup of Chinese tea. 

That mother and son, whose names I will never know, did not simply share tea with me. They shared their story, their culture, and their passion. They opened a window for a stranger to glimpse their traditions, their art, their origins. With a smile, a laugh, trust, and a tiny cup of tea, they shared their hearts.

This was my defining moment. 

This is when I realized that travel – real travel – is not about monuments, designer shops, museums, or landscapes. Travel is about the people. It is about seemingly ordinary moments that transcend logic and leave an extraordinary imprint on your heart. Travel must connect you to the soul of a destination, and the only way to touch the soul is to meet the people who shape the place. Even if you can’t communicate, even if you can’t exchange names or heaven forbid – take a photo! – you can leave forever impacted. Forever changed. 

I look back on that experience compared to the types of unique moments I now plan for our O&A travelers and laugh at the silly simplicity of it. Of course, I’ve learned and grown so much since.

But it was that moment, that memory that made its way into every story I told about that trip. It is that interaction that I remember in a visceral way, deep in my soul, in the very beats of my travel-loving heart. 

And it was that moment that had me chasing a dream I didn’t even know I was chasing, for all of the years between then and the official launch of Olive & Atlas.

Every trip after China became a search for something similar: more connection, more immersion, more depth. I thought I could pursue this passion for travel while also climbing the corporate ladder, but eventually the dream grew too big to ignore. In my subconscious, the dream was fighting for its freedom to have a life of its own.

This moment created the dream which pushed me toward a risk I otherwise might never have taken, let alone considered. My mother, for all her practicality and risk-aversion, never once tried to sway me to a more comfortable, or familiar, path. 

It was time to trade stilettos for sneakers, and Vogue for Travel & Leisure. It was time to make my own path. 

And so, Olive & Atlas was born – not from a business plan, but from a single cup of tea that changed everything.

And at the very core of what we do, at the heart of our mission and our vision, lies the memory of that tea shop. Of a nameless mother and son, with light in their smiles, generosity in their hearts, and a shared moment that changed my life forever.

And maybe, just maybe, we can change yours, too.

If you are ready to see if travel can be the impetus for your next defining moment, let’s chat!