My Why

A letter from our founder

I loved Urban Undercover. I still do. We made beautiful clothing — finely tailored, made to fit — but the clothing was never really the point. The point was to give women the comfort and the courage to be their truest selves and get out into the world: to explore, to live, to dream.

New here? Urban Undercover was the travel-inspired clothing line I built and poured myself into for years — beautifully tailored pieces designed to give women the confidence to get out and explore. If you’re just meeting us now, welcome. You’re arriving at the very best part: the beginning of what’s next.

I built it because I believe, deeply, in the power of travel. Travel changes you in the best ways. It opens your eyes and softens your heart. You never come home the same — and I’m convinced that ripple, multiplied across enough people, quietly makes the world a better place.

But here’s the honest part. Clothing is a beast. The bigger we grew, the further we drifted from the cornerstone that started it all — travel. It became more about the garments and less about the reason for them. Somewhere in the sizes and the colors and the endless inventory, I lost the thread.

So I’m returning to the root. To the passion. To travel.

There’s a personal why, too. I became a mom later in life, and I want more time — with my family, and out in the world with them. I want to build something that lets me live the very thing I’m encouraging in you. Getting back to travel is where I want to be. Honestly, it’s where I’ve always been.

Trouvaille — it means a lucky find, something wonderful discovered by chance — is a collection of travel planners and journals, digital and physical, along with bags and thoughtfully chosen accessories. None of this is new to me. It’s a lifelong obsession finally pointed in the right direction.

I’ve kept a planner since the fourth grade. No joke — my friends called it “her life,” because I wrote everything down: books I’d read and wanted to read, places I’d been and dreamed of going, all of it. I never stopped. I’m a journaler and a reader and a writer, and I believe in the quiet magic of pen on paper — not just romantically, but because it works. Writing by hand engages more of your brain and helps you remember; journaling helps you process what you’re feeling and preserve the moment before it slips away. Putting it down on paper makes it real.

And bags. Don’t get me started on bags. (Can a woman ever really have enough?)

But I’m also, unapologetically, a digital person. The pace of the world can be exhilarating and exhausting in the same breath — it’s so easy to feel overwhelmed. Done right, though, technology is magic. So everything we make, from the digital to the physical, is built around one idea: organization in service of simplicity. Less friction, less stress, a better experience — especially when you travel. Less is more. Keep it simple. That’s the whole philosophy.

And then there’s the Collective. Travel brings the world closer — physically, yes, but more importantly figuratively. In a world changing this fast, we’re all craving the human perspective. Connection. Community.

The collective I want to build is a group of women who love to travel — curious, kind, respectful of each other and of the earth. A place to trade ideas and tips and destinations, to ask for advice, to be helped and to help. As a passionate solo female traveler raising a daughter, I know exactly how much it matters when women support women.

A note on what’s coming: everything is still on its way. I’ll be rolling out the planners, journals, and bags a little at a time over the coming weeks and months — nothing is for sale just yet. I’d so much rather share it thoughtfully, piece by piece, than dump it all at once. Consider this the beginning.

That’s it. That’s the why.

Travel. Simplicity. Kindness. Living in the moment. Discovering who you’re meant to be. Those are the cornerstones — of everything we’re building, and everything that’s coming.

I can’t wait to show you all of it. Very soon.

Warmly,
Sairey
Trouvaille Collective