Meet the True Places Travels
Leadership Team
Cate Caruso
Founder and CEO
Cate is a globetrotter at heart - born to a Navy family and destined for a life of travel. Growing up in London allowed her to deeply explore the UK and Europe, experiencing the region as a local.
Fast forward, and Cate found herself working most of her professional life in the high-tech industry of the Silicon Valley in Account Executive and Project Management roles. Many of her skills from those years are highly leveraged in the deep consultative process she brings to her client work today. Fast forward again, and a sabbatical took her sailing for 5 years and then landed her in the role of an internationally recognized travel professional.
Cate has been tapped for her travel expertise by many high-profile publications including Condé Nast Traveler, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Hemispheres United in-flight magazine and the award winning Virtuoso Life.
In March of 2021 Cate was invited to join the highly regarded Condé Nast Travel Specialist list.
When she is not traveling the world, personally experiencing unique destinations to bring firsthand knowledge to her clients, she can be found in the great Pacific Northwest.
Travel Specialties:
• River Cruising • Worldwide Expedition Cruising • Culture, History & Arts • Food & Wine • Independent Tours • Safaris
Destination Specialties:
• United Kingdom • Australia • Canada • Ireland • Italy • Costa Rica • France • India • Japan • Netherlands • Africa • Iceland • Spain • South and Central America
Melody Hartwig
Director of Client Services
Melody’s travel experience began very young as a Navy brat. She was born in Hawaii, lived in Guam and moved around Southern California. Instead of being nervous to leave one place, she remembers being excited to experience new places and meet new people. That feeling has fueled her travel experiences throughout her life. After college, she took her first 6-week tour to Europe and was hooked. She went on to backpack around the world for a year and continue through the years to plan and take many more trips to various destinations around the world with groups of friends, solo and with her family.
Her professional background has been in hotel group sales, catering and conference services, planning events, managing business travel, and now working in leisure travel.
Melody is based in Southern California.
Travel Specialties:
• Culture, History & Arts • Family Travel • Food & Wine • Safari • River Cruising
Destination Specialties:
• Germany • Australia • Fiji • Greece • Iceland • Indonesia • Ireland • New Zealand • Spain • Turkey • United Kingdom • California • Hawaii • Austria • Switzerland
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