EXPERT PLANNERS

Cari Gray

Cari Gray traveled the world initially as her parents’ excess baggage on overseas work assignments, and later as an insatiable explorer in her own right. After becoming a lawyer, her passion for travel trumped legalese.

For the next 15 years, Cari worked for the luxury Canadian biking and walking company, Butterfield & Robinson. In 2009, spotting a new niche in the industry, Cari founded Gray & Co. The company crafts the most upscale private active journeys for discerning travelers, most of whom travel by private jet. As the woman who always knows where to go next, Cari’s words and views have been captured in many high-end media outlets including a win of Travel & Leisure’s World’s Best Tour Operator. She and select team members are once again 2024 Condé Nast Traveler Experts. Cari is a 2024 Spear 500 Travel Advisor, a Robb Report Travel Master and a founding member of the AFAR Media Travel Advisory Council.

Gray & Co. supports sustainable and responsible travel practices and is a member of the Adventure Travel Trade Association and the Family Travel Association.

Carolyn Werry

Canadian-born Carolyn’s passion for travel was ignited by a year of travel and volunteer work in Southeast Asia and Africa. After completing her masters in Business and Italian at University of Edinburgh, she worked in London for a cutting-edge software company before joining Gray & Co. in 2013. Carolyn enjoys scuba diving, triathlon, golf, cycling and hiking. In addition to examining the pavement and absorbing the marvels of nearly 20 countries, Carolyn has guided trips in such active destinations as California, France, Utah, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, and Mallorca. This year, Carolyn was proudly named a Condé Nast Traveler Top Travel Specialist.

Veronique Soubry Kossuth

Veronique brings her finance and organizational skills, as well as her deep passion — and talent — for travel to Gray & Co.’s HQ. Born and raised in Canada, Veronique earned her International MBA from Toronto’s York University then lived and studied in Europe. Returning home, she joined the Canadian banking industry then moved to the U.S. to raise four future global citizens. On top of her love of numbers, Veronique craves all things travel related. Recent destinations include Morocco, France, Belgium, Italy and Singapore.

Hannah Riordan Bryson

Hannah’s passion for people, animals and places –  as well as her inexhaustible energy  – make her presence on any Gray & Co. trip a true asset and delight. Born and raised in New York, Hannah joins the travel space after a career in bio-tech, where she refined both her innate interpersonal skills and her top-notch organizational abilities. A superb athlete, Hannah most recently finished both the Boston and New York marathons, raising money along the way for near-and-dear charities. Her most recent travel exploits include Tahiti, Africa, France, Costa Rica and the Bahamas.

Christian Chumbley

With more than 30 years of planning and guiding active travel in over 35 countries, Christian is truly in a “league of his own!”. Born in Germany and “raised all over”, Christian boasts an anthropology degree from the University of California, Berkeley. His career at Backroads included European and North American explorations, as well as extended forays to South Africa, Botswana, Bhutan, Myanmar, Vietnam, and India. To Christian, Gray & Co. creates curiosity and connection, and in the process “cultural curtains get pulled back in the most genuine and fun way.” WARNING – Christian will say YES to whatever street food dish you put in front of him.

Patricio Daly

Buenos Aires-born Patricio Daly has been passionate about all things active since he was nine years old. At age 20, he climbed Aconcagua (6,969 m) – his most recent alpine ascent was the puny Domuyo Volcano in Chile (4,250 m). Beyond the Andes, he has produced epic Gray adventures for the past decade in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Israel, Jordan, and beyond.  Patricio is a passionate mountain biker, dad and dog-owner in his home base of San Martin de los Andes, where he also skis, hikes, horseback rides and kayaks in Lanin National Park. He’s Wilderness First Aid certified and a National Instructor in archery. Patricio’s recent Gray journeys include hiking multiple sections of the Camino de Santiago, parts of Austria’s SalzAlpenSteig Trail, and Tuscany’s Francigena.  He’s just back from biking Mallorca and Menorca.  Travellers love his calm demeanor, big smile, and insatiable appetite for anything sweet. And we mean ANYTHING!

Anna Belonogoff

Multi-lingual and multifaceted, Anna brings her whip-smart insights to all aspects of Gray & Co. trips. Her decade of mastering high-end service in Hawaii combined with her omnipresent wanderlust equip her with great energy, taste and talents. But her biggest gift is her love of people – she opens doors and makes lifelong friends wherever she goes!

Moana Avvenenti

Suitably named, Moana grew up on a sailboat on the sunny island of Saint Martin in the French Caribbean. This multi-lingual talent’s next stop was the prestigious Berklee College of Music where she graduated cumma sum laude. Moan is now an exceptionally talented musician based in Los Angeles. Her singing and songwriting credits include gigs for Netflix, Disney, Hulu and many more. She lends her love for the outdoors, keen athleticism, sophisticated French/ Swiss taste and sunny nature to Gray & Co. trips around the globe – most recently hiking on exotic Menorca, Spain.

Jacqui Goodwin

A native of Cape Town, Jacqui achieved a doctorate in molecular biology and dipped her toes into big pharma before following her passion for tourism. Her sharp intellect and omnipresent curiosity mean that she’s as up to date on global politics as she is on local African creatures and environments. She’s also a superb athlete – on two-feet as well as two-wheels. Jacqui has been on the Gray & Co. team since the company’s debut trip. If you’re lucky, Mr. Goodwin – a veteran biker, rock climber and trail runner – may tag along your trip as a bonus guide.

Andrew Sessa

Andrew’s work with Gray & Co. began when he was the senior travel editor at Departures magazine and covered Cari’s launch of the company. His travels with Gray & Co. include Southern Italy’s Puglia, Mallorca’s Palma and South Africa’s Cape Winelands. A true believer and consummate fan, today, he ensures that all company communications are fun to read, correct, informative, enticing and consistent with the brand. When not wielding his pen (or, more often, laptop keyboard) for Gray & Co., he’s got his finger on the luxe pulse, writing stories for such publications as AFAR, Architectural Digest, Conde Nast Traveler, Robb Report and Travel + Leisure. Longtime New Yorkers and inveterate travelers, he and his husband — dads to an active, adventurous toddler — now split their days between Boston and Provincetown, on Cape Cod.

John Canning

After years of traveling the world as an executive for Microsoft and Yahoo, John now balances his time between global technical consulting and media production, specializing in travel and cause-related projects. His most recent Gray & Co. forays have included biking in Texas, Aspen, Catalonia, Uruguay, Chile, Whistler, and Argentina.

James Bigelow

James has been a part of Gray & Co. trips to New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, Spain, Italy, Whistler, and Texas. As an engineer specializing in Water Resources, he’s the master of any map, GPS and elevation profile. He loves to hike, bike and surf around the world.

Dylan Victor

Dylan is a native South African who, at an early age, started competing in elite mountain biking events. He went on to win national and world titles in Trials, Cross-Country, Four-Cross, Marathon and Downhill races. These days, Dylan is a father of two, owner of a high-end bike shop in Cape Town and host of cycling events.

Claudia & Martin Muchitsch

Claudia was born and raised in Vienna. After her language studies at the University of Vienna and working as an interpreter for some years, she began to work for the Freud Museum and then decided to become a city guide. She passed the exam and started as a licensed Austrian guide in 2007. Since then she has worked with the best travel agents and has guided the most wonderful guests from all over the world.

Born in a small village in the Carinthian Alps (the southernmost province of Austria),
Martin knows about the beauty of the Austrian countryside; after highschool he moved to Vienna for University and a career in finance and trading, then insurance and investment.
In his second career he helps his wife Claudia with her planning and administrative work
for her guiding passion and makes sure that all transportation needs are met perfectly; his strong interest in arts, geography and history make him a well educated driver-guide, who is happy to take you everywhere in beautiful Austria.

Hannah Gray

Hannah recently completed her undergraduate degree in Concurrent Education at Queen’s University. Her early exposure to travel, the outdoors, and athletics, combined with an insatiable appetite for history and culture has ignited her love of globetrotting. Her passion to see the world has taken her to over eleven countries including Portugal, Greece, Brazil, and Italy, to name a few. Hannah has spent several summers working at Gray & Co.’s HQ and she continues to assist with special projects.

Laura Christie

Born in Africa, Laura spent her formative years exploring family farms in Zimbabwe where, with the exposure at a young age to places like Lake Kariba and Mana Pools, she developed a passion for nature and wildlife. This lead to a career as a safari guide, where she has managed lodges and guided at some of the top establishments in South Africa, Zambia, and Tanzania. More comfortable on her feet or a bicycle, she’s naturally moved towards leading active trips, equally happy tracking elephants on foot or riding through the Cape Winelands.

Hernan Acevedo

Born and raised in Bogotá, Hernan was lucky enough to travel from an early age but never thought he could make a career out of his love for discovering new places. After studying electronic engineering at university, quite by accident Hernan ended up working as a tour leader for Colombians traveling to the Caribbean – which led him to see the opportunity for inbound tourism to his mother country. Initially juggling his tour leader role with a job in the telecom industry, in 2010 Hernan was able to take the leap to a full-time position developing new products for international travelers to Colombia. Nine years later, he has seen first-hand the power of tourism to transform the lives of both travelers and local communities. Hernan is passionate about cycling and he is an expert in Cycling Tourism. He has operated cycling trips in different areas of the country for the last 7 years.

Claire Reyes

Claire Reyes’ casual elegance and deeply caring nature make her an extraordinary Gray & Co. guide who easily anticipates travelers’ needs. She has guided cycling trips in New Zealand, Czech Republic, Provence, Puglia, North Carolina, and more. When not on a bike, Claire keeps busy designing brands and websites and most recently completed a masters degree at Rutgers University.