About Us

TravelMaven offers guided tours to independent-minded travellers. Please let us explain.

A few years ago,  Barry overheard a guest describe TravelMaven by saying, "Barry looks after us, but we get to do what we want." In that moment, Barry realized that Bill had verbalized exactly what he was trying to create with TravelMaven.

As we all know, travellers today have an incredible variety of options. One of the most popular is DIY (do it yourself) where you do your own research, make your own bookings,  then look after yourself on the trip. If travel planning and logistics are a hobby for you, and you're comfortable dealing with airlines, hotels and the odd curveball, this might be the way for you to travel.

At the opposite end of the scale, some want a travel professional to research, plan, book and manage all aspects of their vacation. The result is usually a group tour (20-50 people), where you're with a Tour Leader and busload of people on a mostly programmed agenda. On these tours, you basically show up and let someone look after you, making almost all the decisions about your trip to enhance your peace of mind. This travel style appeals to some as it's very easy and stress-free.

TravelMaven offers something that bridges the gap between independent travel and large group tours. Our middle path offers the peace of mind and safety that group tour clients seek, while eliminating the lack of freedom that many independent travellers find stifling. (Interestingly enough, many TravelMaven clients are happy DIY'ing in North America or Europe, but don't feel that way about Africa or Asia.)

To provide this best of both worlds, TravelMaven offers small group tours to exotic locations that allow our guests as much freedom and flexibility as practically possible. Our recipe is to offer the planning and logistics of a large group tour, while granting guests the freedom to make many of  their own decisions.

Finally, TravelMaven now offers our tours in two ways. The first is scheduled and includes Barry as your escort. The second  is a private tour, scheduled when you want, and escorted by one of our trusted local partners.  If either of those sounds good to you, maybe you should join us!

A 'maven' (from the Yiddish word 'mevyn') is a person with a deep understanding of a subject built up over many years of practical experience (unlike an 'expert' who typically has formal training).

Mavens are the people you turn to for advice, whether it's about cars, fashion, computers or travel. Imagine you need winter tires. Is there someone you'd ask for advice? That's your tire maven! In recent years, the term gained widespread exposure when Malcolm Gladwell explored it at length in his bestselling book 'The Tipping Point'.

Barry Devolin's first passion has always been travel. He made his first trip to Europe when he was 15, and has subsequently lived in 4 countries, visited 40+ more (does East Germany still count?), crossed 48 American states and explored 12 Canadian provinces & territories.

In 2015, Barry and his wife Ursula took their kids George and Molly (13 & 11 at the time) on a six month backpacking trip around the world. They took 17 flights, visited 19 countries and stayed in more than 40 places in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Australia. Barry planned every step and stop, and in so doing, learned that complex travel planning is his true calling.

And so, after several decades in government and academia, in 2018 Barry launched a new career in the travel industry. His goal was (and is) to share his love of travel with everyone he meets, and to show them that they can have the advantages of group travel without its stifling lack of freedom and flexibility. To this end, TravelMaven offers travellers small group tours that still allow people to do what they want.

BarryTravelMaven is an affiliate of and receives booking services from DeNure Tours, where it is licensed and insured under TICO (Travel Industry Council of Ontario).

When Barry started TravelMaven in 2018, his expectation was the company would offer 10 one-week tours to different cities around the world each year. However, things have evolved in some unexpected directions. Obviously, nobody could have predicted COVID, but there have been other significant changes made in response to demand from clients.

First, our original Great Cities Walking Tour of Cape Town (with a few days on safari added) quickly evolved into a broader focus on South Africa and our best-selling tour, Best of SOUTH AFRICA. As it turns out, there is huge demand for affordable safaris and visits to spectacular Cape Town. Today, South Africa accounts for 40% of TravelMaven's business. In 2024, we've also responded to demand by offering a stand-alone Kruger Safari, and Victoria Falls as an add-on to our South Africa offerings. In 2025, we will offer a two-week SOUTH AFRICA Highlights as a private tour throughout the year.

Second, the success of KRUGER SAFARI has spawned a new line of safari tours. In 2025, BORNEO SAFARI will be offered for the first time, and HAIDA GWAII SAFARI will premier in 2026. Barry and Molly (TravelMaven's SAFARI Brand Manager) have a goal of adding one new destination each year.

Third, TravelMaven developed a partnership with Haliburton Rotary in 2021 to offer tours  to their annual Rotary International Convention. Our Rotary Tours Brand Manager Ursula has developed pre-convention and post-convention tours to make trips to faraway places more practical and rewarding (MELBOURNE 2023 - New Zealand and Australia; SINGAGPORE 2024 - South Korea and Vietnam; CALGARY 2025 - Haida Gwaii; TAIPEI 2026 - Japan and Borneo). We also offer Rotary Service tours that do some good during our visits, and Fellowship tours that focus on particular interests of Rotarians.

Fourth, a focus on East Asia has emerged. This shouldn't surprise anyone, given Barry's experience in Asia and the fact that several upcoming Rotary Conventions will be in the Pacific region. Overall, our tour portfolio will eventually include South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Borneo and the Philippines.

Finally, TravelMaven also offers private tours for families or groups of friends, usually to places where small group tours are already offered. The most popular example is the 10 day KRUGER SAFARI.