Detours Gay Travel Blog
Our Travelers Keep Coming Back
- Apr 15, 2026
Many guests book more than one Detours trip. Gerald Manwah books them all.
On average, more than half the people on any given Detours departure have traveled with us before. It's a number the team is proud of, and one that shapes how every trip is designed. But Gerald Manwah, who just finished his16th trip, is one of the most frequent Detours travelers and he shows no signs of stopping.
If you ever spend a few minutes talking with him, you'll quickly understand that the number is beside the point. For Gerald, Detours stopped being a travel company a long time ago.
"They aren't trip leaders," he says. "They're my friends. Detours has become my family. It's become my safe space."
He's traveled with Detours so much that he might start repeating trips just to keep moving. If he's reading this, he'll be relieved to know we have something new coming for travelers ready to take things a little further. More on that soon.
But first, Berlin. In 2024, Gerald was on the 10 Days in Central Europe trip when his birthday fell on June 4th. He hadn't mentioned it, hadn't asked for anything. But somehow, the day became something he still talks about.
"It's not something you expect or request," Gerald says. "But everyone celebrated my birthday with me. Oliver made it happen. We had a lovely dinner, a birthday cake, and a toast. It was a planned dinner and my birthday became part of it."
Oliver Armstrong, though if you’ve traveled with him you’ll know him as Ollie, has been Gerald's trip leader across three destinations. Of course, Gerald has traveled with almost every Detours trip leader over the years, except the three newest additions to our team. Somewhere along the way, they have all learned the same thing about him. Gerald makes a point of getting a massage in every country he visits. Every trip leader knows about it. Ollie, across three different destinations, has always tracked down exactly the right person.
"Note the difference between a masseur and a masseuse," Gerald says, laughing. "He always finds me the best."
Exceptional service is a part of the Detours Travel Concept. We’re known for being fast, friendly, reliable, and always going the extra mile. For Gerald, Ollie has embodied all of it across multiple trips and multiple countries. When Gerald needed a dentist in Cambodia after breaking a tooth on New Year's Eve in Thailand, Ollie arranged an appointment and a taxi. When his luggage wheels broke en route, Ollie organised a tuk-tuk to take Gerald to find new bags, and it waited while he shopped.
In every new country, he also makes a point of buying a bucket hat. If you look through his instagram, you’ll see it’s part of his statement look. He even has a dedicated packing cube inside his suitcase, with a different bucket hat for each day of any trip. Finding a new one isn’t always easy, but Ollie has helped make it happen.
“He goes all out," Gerald says simply. "They all do, but Ollie is such a special person."
While chatting, Gerald kept pointing out that it wasn’t any of these gestures on its own. It was the consistency behind all of them. All these trips in, he’s part of the Detours story.
"It's been seamless," he says. "I've seen it before, with Miles, and after with Daniel. There hasn't been a change, which is a positive thing. You want to maintain the status quo."
Gerald is also, it should be said, a candid traveler. He loves to provide feedback on our trips, especially if he feels there is an opportunity to improve. What keeps him coming back, in part, is that Detours listens.
"Feedback isn't taken as a criticism," he says. "It's always taken as an opportunity to improve."
All of these trips have given Gerald a long view, and what he sees is a company that takes its community seriously.
He has maintained a friendship with Ollie well beyond any single trip. That, more than anything, is the part Gerald finds hardest to explain to someone who hasn't experienced it.
"I sometimes say that my next of kin is Detours," he says, laughing. "And the trip leaders are my best friends."
For anyone wondering whether a Detours trip is worth it, asking Gerald Manwah is perhaps the clearest answer available. He's already booked trips seventeen and eighteen. And he's waiting on us to offer more.