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Tired of working in the office
Before founding the betako.lt website and bringing groups into nature, L. Jaškūnas worked in the field of marketing and communication for five years. He has also been a soldier in the Lithuanian Armed Forces for six years and a volunteer soldier for the past three years.
The man worked in the office Monday through Friday, and on the weekends, as he jokes, “he went out into the woods and shed his hair with other soldiers.” During military exercises, he gained many practical skills: building a shelter from what he finds in the forest, extracting drinking water, orienting himself in the area, “reading” the terrain, working as a team, performing tasks, achieving a goal.
A little over a year ago, he realized that he was unable to work in a sedentary office five days a week – health problems began that doctors did not find the cause. What seemed even stranger was that the heavy military exercises, which exhausted many, helped him to recover. Finally, he decided it was time to change something.
And last summer L.Jaškūnas left his steady job as communication manager for the production company, sat on a bicycle, rode a lot, and not just in Lithuania wandered through the woods and camped.
Nature helped to recover
As he had more free time, he became even more immersed in military affairs: he contributed to the training of a new generation of soldiers in basic courses, gained practice and knowledge both in Lithuania and in international exercises.
“This break was very valuable because it helped to look at the experience with different eyes,” says the interlocutor.
One of the responsibilities of working as a communication manager was to optimize the company’s business processes and improve internal communication. Here, he often ran into problems where employees sought to do their part rather than the overall result. By comparing the experience gained in the military and on the job, he realized that simple things like discomfort and overcoming obstacles help team members put the word “I” in the country and make a “tribe” of the team, what each leader of your company wants.
While traveling, I realized that nature is ready to welcome us 365 days a year, and our skills in that basically depend on attitude.
This perception has led to the organization of nature walks, where the most important thing is not the route or the number of kilometers traveled, but the experience gained and the challenges overcome.
“While traveling, I realized that nature is ready to welcome us 365 days a year, and our possibilities basically depend on attitude,” said L. Jaškūnas. – After a good walk, any meal is tastier, thoughts cleaner, sleep sweeter. I also found that orientation in nature is excellent without a GPS or a phone, and sometimes without a compass – the sun, roads, hills, rivers, and everything you see around you help. Solving the problems we face requires attention and focus on the environment in which we live. It is hiking that can help us discover unity with nature, teaching us to think a little more than ourselves. “
Reality: There are a variety of situations that arise during walks, and decisions require creativity, dedication, and teamwork. Personal file photo
Why go
According to L.Jaškūnas, most people are separated from nature and accustomed to comfort. If there is a hotel, a bed, hot water, the mosquitoes do not come up, this is a rest for them. Accustomed to comforts, and everything he’s used to, in Ludwig’s opinion, is a bit wicked.
“There is a saying that two things in the world are the most addictive: heroin and a monthly salary that provides some stability but prevents people from changing and taking risks.” Similarly in comfort. When you say that comfort will have to be forgotten for a while, you ask yourself: how? Where is the pleasure without comfort here? My answer is that experiences and discoveries are a pleasure. But to find out, you must be determined, “said the hiker.
So why go? Firstly, according to L.Jaškūnas, the legs contain the largest human muscles. When we go, they contract and stimulate blood circulation. What is most often recommended for hard-working workers if they face a problem that cannot be solved in any way? Go for a walk. There are many cases in history where inventors and visionaries had ideas while exercising their legs. The walk is just an extended and improved version of this great thing: walking.
Why is it better to walk in nature than in the city? Fresh air, natural environment. You don’t even have to convince people that in nature people relax, they feel better.
Do your legs work while you walk and your brain rests? According to L. Jaškūnas, not necessarily. Rest if you do not have to think where you are going, look at the map, follow the path, try to orient yourself. Then you can dive deep into various reflexes. There are meditation schools that say that by dedicating time to meditation every day, they should allow their brains to think about what they want until one day they “invent” everything they didn’t have time for.
So walking is a great activity when you think a lot. Often, after seeing things a little differently, he comes up with new ideas and finds the most unexpected solutions.
The drawback is temporary.
According to L. Jaškūnas, nature walks should not go to those who cannot appreciate, protect and respect nature, nor to those who are afraid of the forest.
“Nothing should be forced into the forest,” said Ludvikas. – But I think that nature is a much more natural environment for man than cities. Yes, we are used to living in the city. I have lived in Vilnius for 10 years, I was born and raised in Panevėžys. However, just because I keep doing it doesn’t mean this is the best place for me. A person can get used to and feel comfortable in many places. “
Hot, cold, bite, rain – this is just the first effect. One is also used to this and the person can focus on things that are more important.
Getting used to it, according to the interlocutor, is not difficult: “I highly recommend people to take a walk for a few days, with an overnight stay, because our brains are reprogrammed when we sleep. So if you want a good weekend in nature you should drive right after work on a Friday. Not going too far, just falling asleep outdoors, listening to the sounds of nature around you. During that night, the brain will download an update deeply hidden somewhere: hey, we’ve seen it all somewhere, not a strange environment. On the second, third day of life in nature, you begin to get used to discomfort, because the body simply gets used to not reacting to stimuli, if any. Hot, cold, bite, rain – this is just the first effect. You get used to it and the person can focus on things that are more important. ”
It’s worth it: On the hikes organized by L. Jaškūnas, the most important thing is not the route or the number of kilometers traveled, but the experience gained and the challenges overcome. Photo by Butauto Barauskas.
Scrap magic
According to Ludvikas, a nature walk is an exit from the comfort zone, and then everything happens a little differently: ears, eyes, mind open to innovation. In addition, the walk faces very real and tangible problems: how to find a path, how to overcome an obstacle, how to orient yourself, how to save time. Even after the first hour of the walk, home and work problems don’t seem so big anymore.
People who travel longer start to get tired and develop: some become irritable, they don’t want to do anything anymore, others start looking for a way to cut a corner here, others are trapped in emotion, they accept fatigue as another challenge. Then you will see if people understand each other, are able to communicate, help each other. In such simple situations, you see what that person is to another person.
“You may have heard the saying: if you want to meet a person, go to him for information. I have gone to intelligence more than once and I will tell you a little secret: 90 percent. Intelligence does the walk. A long walk and difficult, ”says L. Jaškūnas.
According to him, we live surrounded by people. But people, like any currency, if there are many, are devalued, you do not value them. But when they are in a small business or with their family, and when they help each other, they share work, they begin to treat the people around them differently. And when the sun goes down, you light a fire and sit next to it, you can speak and delve into that person’s soul.
Some of the best conversations are in nature, by the fire. It is very different from meeting somewhere in Vilnius Old Town and spending an hour with each other.
L. Jaškūnas tips for those who are ready for the hike.
– First of all, buy the right shoes. I recommend that people buy good hiking boots that support the ankle, help prevent the foot from twisting. And in Lithuanian conditions it is more beneficial that they are waterproof. If the legs are protected, half the job is done.
– Food must be high in calories. It is not worth counting the calories with the walk, it will burn them all. Furthermore, a high-moving body does not store fat: the human metabolism responds to its activities and does not load it unnecessarily.
Benefits: The combined discomfort and overcoming the rains unite people.
– I do not think it is necessary to explain the importance of water. The important thing about the walk is that refilling the water is not as easy as in the city. You should have at least 1 liter more water on the walk than you normally consume, as anything can happen. The military say: water and ammunition do not weigh. You cannot carry ammunition, but do not cheat with water.
When you say that comfort will have to be forgotten for a while, you ask yourself: how? Where is the pleasure without comfort here?
– It is worth putting on warm clothes for the night, clothes to protect from the rain, insect sprays. Carrying is really something, so if you put something in your backpack that you think you might need, don’t give up. Just put some that you can not do without.
– It is good to have a light tent. In summer, the store protects against mosquitoes. It is not necessary to carry a tent in a cooler time of the year; in good weather, you can sleep outside by simply laying a mat and stuffing yourself into a sleeping bag.
– If you want the store to last a long time, you will need to invest a little. When choosing a tent, it is important to consider its water resistance, but it should be understood that the higher the water resistance, the thicker the material and the more it will weigh.
– One very important thing on the walk: a sleeping bag. Sleeping bags generally indicate what conditions it is suitable for: comfort, extreme and extreme comfort. Comfort is shown at what temperature it is sweet and pleasant to sleep, extremely compliant when it is cold, but still comfortable, extreme, at what temperature it will not freeze to death. My practice shows what else 5 degrees can be added to each indicator. The fact that the more lint there is in the filling of the sleeping bag, the greater the air gap that that sleeping bag can make, and the air basically heats up. So a goose down padded sleeping bag really heats up better than polyester. It is also very important that the sleeping bag has a sleeve and laces, because that sleeping bag will have to be carried in a backpack; if it takes up a lot of space, it will not be left for other things. The heavier you are, the more your legs and back will suffer. That should always be kept in mind.
– The thin self-inflating mats for one person will be very useful for the walk. They are comfortable to sleep even in the cold season, in the mountains, swamps.
– You can bring a small gas stove specially designed for tourists, which costs several tens of euros. Boiling water will work perfectly. Yes, it weighs a little, but that weight is friendly, and hot food in the morning or at night is comforting.
– Another option, especially suitable when you have decided to camp somewhere in one place for longer: a junk and a kettle. This is a simpler and much cheaper option. All you need to know is how to create a junk or have the tools to help you set it up: a few spirits or dry fuel. And keep in mind that fire can only be created in places where there are fireplaces.
– And it’s worth it to pick up a cell phone. It is a very good and useful tool, only we no longer know how to use it: it controls us too much or we use it out of time, out of place and out of purpose. It is a tool to ask for help if we need it, to orient ourselves in the area and, ultimately, to capture wonderful moments. It is true that uploading photos to social networks can wait.
What to do if you get lost?
The first tip is not to panic. We live outside of Siberia and not Alaska. People in Lithuania surround him on all sides. If your legs are healthy and you can go, sooner or later you will go out with people. If you go where you want is another question. But you won’t lose, so you can calm down right away and try to get your bearings.
Having a cell phone with GPS makes it quite difficult to get lost unless you lose the connection. Then you must remember where you went from and in which direction. When hiking, you should always be vigilant and observe which direction you are in the world: north, south, east, or west. Even if the magician leads, you shouldn’t follow him and chat or “catch the crows”. You don’t have to hold a compass or a phone under your nose to know which way you are going. You just need to pay attention to which side the sun is shining and what time of day it is now. If it is night, then the side where the sun is is west. If the sun shines from the left when walking, I know that I am going north and we have come from the south.
– So if you get lost, orient yourself and look at the map. If the navigation has lost where it is, but you know where the hike started, in what direction, and for how long, you can guess where it is. A person travels at an average speed of five kilometers per hour, so if he walks for an hour, he can easily track where he should be.
– Linear landmarks (roads, rivers, etc.) help to orient oneself better. Suppose you see on a map that there should be a railway line a kilometer away. After walking that kilometer and arriving at the railway, you will already know which line you are on. From there, it can be easily caught, or maybe your mobile phone recovers again.
– Orientation at night, when visibility depends on the phase of the moon, is much more difficult. Therefore, it is best not to wander at dusk, and while someone else watches, set up camp, set up a tent, or build a campfire. In the morning it will be easier to find the way back.
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