Kosmos

St. Olav’s Way is the Norwegian version of Spain’s Saint James’ Way: Pilgrims make the journey from Oslo to Saint Olav’s burial place, a church in Trondheim. Farms provide simple accommodation all along the 640-kilometer trail.

A visit to Japan is too expensive? That’s true if you stay in a hotel. But the cheaper and more authentic alternative is to walk the 1700-kilometer Tokai Trail from Tokyo to Osaka – and pitch your tent in the evening.

You’ll need plenty of time to walk the Great Trail, the world’s longest at 24 000 kilometers, which crosses Canada, connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific coasts. The final gaps in the trail were closed last year.

At a top speed of three kilometers an hour, a ­rafting trip on Sweden’s Klarälven River is a ­leisurely drift. But first you have to build your own raft – using whole tree trunks.

vildmark.se

Build your own kayak, row- or sailboat in only a week at the Great Lakes Boat Building School in the U.S. state of Michigan. Then set sail straight into the water sports arenas that are the Great Lakes on the doorstep.

glbbs.edu

Foam surfboards are a dime a dozen. At Patrick Burnett in Cape Town, you can make your own beautiful, ecofriendly, custom wooden board – and then test it at South Africa’s top surf spots.

burnettwoodsurfboards.co.za