ABOUT US

Anja

It was never my intention to start a tea company like Tea in Motion. I have been working as a pediatric nurse for many years and I still love doing it. Tea has always been a shared hobby. Our holidays almost always consisted of trips to tea producing countries. When we came home from a tea trip, a suitcase full of samples, we tried to get tea suppliers enthusiastic about the delicious teas we had discovered. We received standard reactions such as, too expensive, too exclusive, nobody will like it.

We already knew that especially the latter was nonsense. Our friends and colleagues loved the tea they drank with us. When asked: “where can I buy this tea” I always had to say “nowhere”.

After a few years I got tired of it and decided to start selling tea myself. Tea from farmers I know and have been to. I try to give the people behind the tea a face. That is also an important goal of our trip!

Richard

I love helping people with knowledge and skills. Helping them one step further on the path they are on. In order to gain knowledge yourself, it is important to talk to the people who have knowledge. To see processes with your own eyes. For tea, this means that you have to travel a lot. This is my second great passion. Meeting new people, getting to know cultures and, most importantly, discovering new food and tea.

With this trip I would like to introduce our customers and students to the people behind their cup of tea. Wonderful stories of people who make tea with great skills and a lot of passion.

Anja & Richard

We got to know each other more than thirty years ago when we worked as nurses on the same ward. There was an immediate spark and not much later we went in our first car, a Fiat Uno, on a trip to the North Cape, Norway. The beginning of a life full of travel.

We have two daughters. There is something magical about discovering the world through the eyes of children. During their first trip to India, they looked a bit anxious. Our driver noticed this and asked me “should we do something about this”? When ik nodded, he stopped the car at a tea stall that was hidden under a plastic sheet. Next to the tea maker, his children played with some pots and pans. It didn’t take long for our girls to play along. When we were back in the car a while later, a surprised comment came from the back seat: “dad they were just people”.

JAN

Jan stands for “Just another name” but is also the name of my father. The person in my life who got me excited about discovering new things.

JAN is a 1999 Toyota Land Cruiser 75. He spent the first part of his life with a French farmer in the French Alps. The big advantage of this car is that everything works mechanically. This means that every mechanic can handle the car without having a computer with analysis software.

Why are we doing this?

First of all, we love to travel. We are curious. Curious about other people, cultures, landscapes and eating habits. We find it interesting to see the faces behind what we eat and drink.

We love tea and we would like to know everything about it. This means that we have to travel as very little tea grows in our part of the world. In addition, different varieties are used to make tea in different countries and the techniques also vary enormously.

At our academy there is a sign with the text: “searching for knowledge to share”. We are happy to share our knowledge and stories. But we think it’s even more important to show the faces behind a cup of tea. Faces behind the most beautiful teas you’ve ever drunk, but also the faces behind the tea bag you find in the supermarket.

What do we do?

Our plan is to drive with JAN from Scotland (the most northern tea garden) to Nepal. Along the way we visit as many tea gardens as possible to get to know the people behind the tea. We would like to share the stories of these people with you.