Owner - Director: Brett Naisby is originally from Ottawa, Canada. He studied in both Canada and France, and in 1990, he graduated from McGill University with a Master's Degree in International Studies. That summer, he started guiding luxury biking and walking tours in France for “Butterfield & Robinson”. H returned to Canada in late 1991 to pursue a career with the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs.

In 1994, he made a momentous decision to leave Foreign Affairs and to return to Europe for B&R on a full-time basis. Instead of France, he landed in Tuscany and immediately fell in love with its charms. He has made the Chianti wine-growing region of Tuscany his summertime base ever since.

He established Customwalks Ltd., in 1996 and slowly but surely grew the business. In 1997, he ran his first tour in Tuscany for REI Adventures, which led to a 23-year collaboration. Customwalks provided hiking and biking tours to REI in France and Italy until 2021, when REI Adventures stopped doing tours outside of the USA. Brett has organized hundreds of tours for thousands of people in dozens of locations throughout Italy, France, Spain, Croatia, Turkey, Algeria, Greece, Slovenia, the Republic of Georgia, and New Zealand. In total, there are four jewels in the company crown, Customwalks, Mondo Bike Tours, Scooterbella Vespa Tours, and Hike NZ. In 2018, Brett established Customwalks Italia Srl, a bonded and licensed tour operator in the European Union.

Brett oversees all aspects of Customwalks in a very hands-on way. He continues to research and develop new tours and he guides several tours a year. He is the first to admit that he's not a businessman at heart (we're hardly a marketing juggernaut!) but rather a bon vivant and traveler who has been lucky to apply his interests and passions to create a thriving little company. He is ably helped by the wonderful people you see on the "Our Guides" page. Brett divides his time between homes in Christchurch, New Zealand, and Tuscany.

Brett Naisby                      Owner-Director, Speranza Travel Ltd.
Hike NZ                            Guided hiking tours in New Zealand
Customwalks                    Guided walking tours in Europe
Mondobiketours               Guided cycling tours in Europe
Scooterbella                      Guided Vespa tours in Europe