Melissa

I'm Melissa, based in Germany, and I've been quietly obsessed with India for almost a decade. My first trip was in 2019, when I flew to Rishikesh for a 200-hour yoga teacher training. I thought I'd stay four weeks. Six months later I was still there, slowly working my way south, living in little guesthouses, learning to cook dal from the aunties who ran them.

I've been going back every year since — sometimes for a month, sometimes for half a year. I've done the long bus rides, the overnight trains, the ashrams, the beach towns, the mountain villages. I know the feeling of being a European traveller in India — what's overwhelming on day two, what clicks on day ten, and what you end up missing the most when you get home.

Professionally, I've worked in the travel industry in Germany for years, so I know exactly how European travellers think about booking — what questions you'll ask, what guarantees you need in writing, how you want your itinerary structured before you commit. Personally, India is part of my family — my daughter has Indian roots, and her grandmother's house is where I learned most of what I know about everyday Indian life.

My job at GoTrustelle is to take care of everything on the European side. I answer questions in German and English, help you prepare properly (visa, packing, food sensitivities, what to expect in the first 48 hours), and make sure there's nothing left to guess about before you board your flight. Shikha handles you on the ground. I handle you before you get there.

If you've been curious about India but didn't know where to start, or you've tried bigger packaged tours and felt pushed through — that's exactly the gap I wanted us to fill.