Italy: Bologna and Ravena

After being rained out of the mountains on our hiking trip to Italy we decided to go back to Milan, re-plan the journey and continue with the adventure despite not being able to wander around the mountains. After a day of much-needed rest, we set off to Bologna- a safe place to go in rainy weather due to the seemingly endless supply of covered walkways giving much-needed shelter.

We kicked off our first hour in Bologna by taking the bus in the wrong direction and being talked at by a lady in Italian for 5 minutes (she didn't give us a chance to tell her we couldn't understand and after the two minute mark it would have been too awkward so we stood there smiling, hoping she wouldn't ask us anything) after which our bus came and since she didn't get on we were in the clear. Having picked up the keys to our accommodation we set off on a quest to find some food and do some sightseeing. 

Our route took us through the university the atmosphere of which was pretty incredible. Political murals and graffiti covered the walls and students were actively advertising their groups and events to passers-by. Our lunch destination was within the university area and so we got a little taste (hihi) of what it was like to be a student there.

 

We continued to walk around the city hitting the historical buildings, churches and parks where we took a bit of a rest from tourist'ing to spin some poi. We ended the day off at a Couchsurfing meeting where we hoped to find a host. Instead had a couple cool conversations with travelers with some interesting stories.

The next morning we set off to Ravena with a mission to visit a Basilica with some special mosaics. A great part of this bit of the journey was time spent on the train. This was a time to reflect and rest from the constant rush from place to place. We did end up running to catch the train back (which after all that ended up being late...), but you can't have everything go smoothly now can you?

Back in Milan we wanted to do something nice for my sister to thank her for hosting us. We decided to cook Chinese food for dinner so spent some time walking around china town buying produce and even popped into a restaurant to try a Chinese take on a pasta dish (not sure I'll ever have such an experience again).

Despite having to completely change our original plans I had an amazing time on this trip. It was wonderful to travel with a dear friend, spend time with my sister and see more of Italy- by far my most visited country recently.

Italy: hiking around Lake Como

Right after giving my big talk at the Login conference I was off to Italy with a friend that came all the way from Hong Kong to visit and travel together. We flew to Milan where we spent a lovely evening hanging out wit my sister and her friends, playing guitar and my ukulele on their beautiful terrace. Even got to share some of my favorite Lithuanian songs.

The next day we got a ride to the mountains where we started what was to be a whole week of hiking. However, having checked the weather forecast which predicted rain for most of the week with thunderstorms at the end to top it off, we weren't so confident in being able to fulfill our initial plans. Nonetheless, we bought enough food to last us 3-4 days and began walking. It took us all of 10 minutes to get lost, confused by the way the trail markings (or lack of). Luckily an Italian family happened to pass us and pointed us in the right direction. 

The hike was incredible, the views breathtaking and so we made sure to take a number of stops to just be in the moment and take it all in. I realized how much I had missed being in the mountains and that I need more of this in my life. More of just getting away from my busy life and taking the time to just be with my thoughts with no distractions.

Going down we took a path nobody else seemed to walk along and we quickly learned why. The slope was quite steep with parts of the path being boulders where you had to hold on to metal chains to get down which were quite a challenge with our big packs. We managed to get down safe and sound in the end despite some slips on the way.

yup, this is what we went down...

Once we got down we needed to find some water as our supplies were low. We rang the bell at this huge house not really expecting anyone to come out and as we were about to leave the gates opened, the residents came out and when we asked for water they happily gave us some :) It was getting quite late at this point, started to rain and we weren't sure where we were heading so we set up camp in a field behind some trees. While cooking dinner I was getting a bit paranoid that someone was gonna tell us to pack up and leave, but luckily that didn't turn out to be the case. 

The next day we woke up to fog and rain. This meant we needed to rethink our plans as we weren't too excited about hiking for a week under these conditions. We decided to go visit the towns by the lake which you could reach easily by ferry, have a more relaxing day and head back to Milan to regroup and plan out the rest of the week.

Spending time by the lake and in the towns was a lot of fun even with some annoying circumstances getting in the way to fully enjoy it. One of us was even able to cross off some things from their bucket list ;))

LOGIN

Last week I did something that was a pretty big deal for me - I spoke at the largest tech conference in the Baltics. Doing something like this has been a life goal for me and I didn't expect an opportunity to come along so soon. I guess when you do work you're passionate about and share it with the world you stumble across more opportunities to get the message out. 

We spoke about how technology can help us come back to nature. How with its help we can create systems that are more efficient, more adapted to current lifestyles. Of course, we finished our speech talking about our initiative which is the reason we were invited to give the talk in the first place. Once again, doing the work I love has opened the door to new positive experiences and I can only hope that there are more to come.

This has been amazing even remembering the two weeks of anxiety and nervousness before the big day complete with a few mini panic attacks and not being able to eat properly for a couple of days (stage fright is no joke man). However, as soon as we were on that stage and got through the first couple sentences I managed to fully relax and really enjoy sharing our message with the people who came to listen. Also, truly be excited that so many came. Hopefully, I'll keep on doing things that are worth sharing and have more opportunities to do this again in the future.

Thanks to everyone for the support :)

Thoughts: don't only be the supporter

Stop playing it safe playing supporting roles. Sure it can be comfortable simply supporting others, never being the one on the spot. You don't need to make the final decisions and can avoid the worrying, the stress, the self-questioning that comes with that responsibility and learning to navigate unknown areas of life. And being the supporter feels nice. It's nice to be the person people turn to for help and to know that you are part of something good. 

But when you're the supporter you're simply not the one out there getting things done for yourself. You are part of the process, but you're not the one leading the way. You are walking behind, and it's not as rewarding. You're not learning as much, and you're not getting the street smarts and the knowledge of how you deal with the emotions that arise from these new situations. These are things you need to be receiving because these are the experiences that help you grow, learn about yourself, improve and live a full life. 

Sure, supporting others is a crucial role, because everyone needs help and not that many can honestly give it. But supporting shouldn't be the only thing you do. You can't always be helping people eat and not eat anything yourself. Just because you helped someone make dinner who ate the food, does not automatically mean that you did. Them eating does not make you full. You need to eat too. Or rather, be eating the foods that may not taste all that nice at the time or might be unusual at first glance, but in the long run are ones that are vital for you to be healthy and more resilient. 

You are not the fairy godmother which exists solely in other people lives. You are living your story, where you are the protagonist. So live for yourself first. Feeling achievement through others is like needing others to make you happy, others to feel love. Don't give away that power to other people. Don't define yourself through the actions of someone else, through their achievements. You are as capable of taking action of having agency as anyone so why limit yourself to half of the full human experience? Why settle?

Don't disguise your fear of the unknown, of taking the first steps behind altruism, selflessness or self-sacrifice. Living your life for yourself first is not selfish. Being a better, well-rounded, self-aware person benefits everyone. When you are strong, when you know your needs, your strengths and weaknesses you can help others much more efficiently. Most importantly you do not lose or neglect yourself in the process. 

Vine earrings

Any time a friends birthday comes around I start searching for DIY projects I could make as gifts. As my wire wrapping Pinterest album is overflowing I decided it was high time to actually make something from it. After gawking for a good while at all the pretty things people have made I got enough inspiration to make few of my own pieces. As minimalist jewelry is trending quite a bit right now, I decided to make a few very simple earrings. The only twist is that they're vines and so snake up the ear instead of hanging down like standard earrings. Made a cute little photoshoot of them on my baby cactus. Not the best way to accentuate the pieces, but just some fun for me :)

Song of the day

Basically have had this song stuck in my head or repeat for 3 days now. Love this singer, so much feeling in her songs and such interesting vocals too! If you like this song I recommend giving "The Fool" a listen as well as "Octahate". Hope she releases more songs soon. Enjoy! ;)

Status update

The last few months have been pretty hectic with so much going on. Finally, my social project that will help connect young people who want to grow their own food with elderly people who want to share their land and pass down their knowledge is seeing some results. I have learned so much from doing this that no matter what happens next, I am happy to have set off on this mission. Personal growth, new contacts, friends, skills... have all received a huge boost. So grateful to all the people who have gotten involved and so incredible to see that an idea can resonate with someone that they are more than willing to work to make it happen. Registration starts this week and so the moment of truth about whether people will get on board the CoolŪkis train has come. Wish us luck!