Tab 01 · The letter
A letter from Nakul
Founder · Travalong Journeys · Mumbai
It's past midnight and I'm comparing two ferry timetables for a trip that isn't even mine. One ferry is forty minutes faster. The other leaves at dawn and catches the islands waking up. I've been at this for an hour. The dawn ferry wins. The dawn ferry always wins.
That's the kind of person you're dealing with. Hello, I'm Nakul.
I started Travalong Journeys in 2015 because all of this, the maps, the timetables, the absurd joy of finding a route nobody else bothers to find, refused to stay a hobby.
My lens is simple: a trip is everything that happens between a strange bed and a good sunset. Wake up somewhere worth opening your eyes for: a treehouse, a riad, a tent doing a very convincing impression of a five star hotel. Spend the day on something you'll exaggerate for years: walking on a glacier, drifting over a valley, jumping off things. (Safely. Mostly.) Then end it where the sky shows off: a dune, a ferry deck, a rooftop still warm from the afternoon. Museums, monuments, long lunches? Absolutely, if they're your thing. It's your trip, your ingredients. But strange bed, one good adventure, a sunset you didn't have to rush: that's the skeleton I build everything on.
What I won't build is the other thing: eight countries in nine days, waving at Europe through a bus window. That's not a journey. That's a delivery route, and you're the parcel.
The other half of the job starts when you board. An atelier doesn't just cut the suit; it fits it, adjusts it, and repairs it mid wear. So while you travel, the desk stays open: the table rebooked, the boat held a little longer, the day rebuilt when the weather has opinions. Most travel companies hand you an itinerary and wish you luck. We hand you a number that answers.
People ask me my favourite trip and I honestly can't answer. The trips have melted into moments, and the moments have melted into me. But ask me about any year of my life, and I'll answer with a place. 2015 is a bridge in Prague at 5:40 in the morning.
That's what a good trip does. It doesn't stay a holiday. It becomes how you remember your own life.
So that's what I build now, for anyone who asks: trips that turn into years you can name.
NakulFounder · Travalong Journeys
P.S. The email at the bottom is really mine. Tell me which year you're trying to make memorable.
Tab 06 · Proof, handwritten
What they wrote back.
from the desk, unsorted, like all good memories
Japan ·
their 2026
"We have done guided trips before. This was the first one where we forgot it was one. Felt like travelling with a friend who knows everyone."
Priya & Karan
Mumbai
Thailand ·
their 2026
"I told them: no temples, no museums, just food. They built an entire trip around it. Every meal was a discovery."
Arjun M.
Bangalore
Sri Lanka ·
their 2026
"My parents are in their sixties. Nakul designed something slow, comfortable, but never boring. They came back glowing."
Rhea K.
Pune
Morocco ·
their 2025
"They put us with a family in a kasbah. Two nights I'll think about for the rest of my life."
Sneha & Vikram
Delhi
Finland ·
their 2025
"The aurora was the smallest part. The sauna in the snow, the husky guide who'd lived there forty years, those are what we still talk about."
Aditya R.
Hyderabad
Singapore ·
their 2026
"Three generations of us. Singapore for the kids, Samui for the grandparents, Travalong managed the seam. We didn't argue once."
The Iyer family
Chennai
Tab 06½ · The fine print, out loud
Questions people ask at 1 a.m.
we know, because that's when they WhatsApp us.
How does paying for this actually work?
A deposit holds your trip (or your seat at The Long Table); the balance is due closer to travel. UPI, bank transfer, cards, all fine. And custom sketches cost nothing until you say yes to one. That's The Redraw Promise: unlimited redraws, free, until the route makes you grin.
What if I have to cancel?
Honest answer: it depends on the hotels and airlines underneath your trip, and we'll tell you each one's rules before you pay, not after. If life happens, we fight for every refundable rupee and reroute what we can. Travel insurance is mandatory on our trips for exactly this reason.
Are flights included in the price?
Quoted separately, on purpose, so you see exactly what each piece costs and we can hunt fares for your dates rather than padding a "package." We find them, we book them, we rebook them when the airline has feelings.
Will you deal with my visa?
Yes. Checklists, appointments, the photo with the exact right background colour, we guide the whole file. It's tab nine of fourteen and we genuinely enjoy it, which worries even us.
I'm travelling solo. Is this for me?
Very much. The Long Table is the easy door in: small group, no organising, instant dinner companions. And custom trips for one are some of our favourite drawings: nobody to compromise with.
Can you handle my whole family, kids, parents, opinions?
Multi generation trips are a speciality. The trick is building days with exits: gentle mornings for some, one good adventure for others, everyone back together for the sunset. We've refereed worse than your family. Probably.
What does the concierge actually cover?
Tables, boats, helicopters, access, childcare, celebrations, recoveries, rescues. The honest list lives on the Concierge page. If it's legal and it improves the trip, we chase it. If it's impossible, we say so before you've set your heart on it.
Is there a limit to requests?
No menu, no counter. Some weeks you'll need nothing. Some days you'll need three things before lunch. That variance is already priced into how we build trips, so ask.
What if something goes wrong mid trip?
You message the same thread you've been using all along. We rebook, reroute and rebuild the day, usually before you've finished your coffee. Strikes, storms, a closed mountain pass: we have re run worse. The line answers around the clock for the length of your trip.
Do you charge per request?
No. The concierge is not an upsell menu; it's built into how we price the trip. Third party costs (the charter, the tasting menu) are yours, and always quoted before we book. Our time chasing them is not billed by the ask.
