Built in Oslo, one outing at a time.
Native Treks is being started by Benjamin Goodaker-Craig, an American outdoor guide who lives in Oslo.
Benjamin is a Wilderness First Responder and is building Native Treks through BI Startup. Benjamin, the founder, is also an amateur photographer, and the photos of our own trips on this site are his. The idea came from living here: the best days out are rarely in a guidebook. They are with someone who knows the place.
Right now that means finding the first hosts, and talking with each of them before anything goes live.
Why I started this
I moved to Oslo for friluftsliv, the Norwegian habit of just going outside, in any weather, as a normal part of life.
What I kept seeing was a gap. Visitors get big group tours that skim the surface, while Norwegians with years of know-how in skiing, foraging or paddling have no interest in starting a guiding business.
Native Treks connects the two. Each outing is something the host would be doing on their day off anyway, and you come along. It should feel like a day out with a friend who knows the area, not a paid guide.
Benjamin Founder
What we hold to
- Small groups. Time to talk, and to stop when something is worth stopping for.
- People we know. Every host is someone we have spoken with.
- Plain descriptions. How hard it is, what to bring, what can go wrong.
- Leave no trace. The places matter more than the outings.
A few words you'll hear on a tur
- Friluftsliv
- Literally "open-air life". The Norwegian habit of spending free time outdoors, simply, for its own sake.
- Matpakke
- The packed lunch. Open sandwiches wrapped in paper, eaten on a rock wherever you stop.
- Kos
- Cosiness and good company. Coffee by a fire on a cold day is a lot of kos.
- Ut på tur, aldri sur
- "Out on a trip, never grumpy." An old rhyme, most often heard on a cold, wet day.
- Allemannsretten
- The right to roam. Anyone may walk, ski, pick berries and mushrooms and camp on uncultivated land, as long as they treat it with care.