Viktorija‘s story:  „Manage your expectations and open your eyes to what the World has to offer you. You don’t need to plan or know everything ahead. All you need is to trust the Universe and everything will be fine.”

Meet Viktorija: she likes to travel independently, meet and communicate with like – minded people and believe that it’s always more fun in a group of people!

Tell us your story.

In 2016 I quit my job after working in a big company for 10 years. I collected all my savings, sold my car and bought a one way flight ticket to Indonesia, Bali island. I spend two years traveling in South East Asia and then living in Bali. After that I decided I wanted to go back home to Lithuania, because I never planned to stay there. I felt recharged and ready for the new chapter of my life. Also, there was my future husband waiting for me back home. I started working at one travel company as a travel product executive until 2020 when the pandemic hit. It was a perfect moment to take a break again and that‘s what me and my husband did. We left our jobs (me, again) and spend the year 2020 mostly in Lithuania, traveling locally. This lead us to new discoveries and we decided to start a project and make it our business. The project was about unique places to stay in Lithuania. At the moment we run a booking platform where we share various unique places to stay in Lithuania, it‘s called www.wowstays.lt

What was your life looked like before? Why did you decide to change it?

I was single, my carrer whent well, I was working in one ot the bigest banks in Lithuania, meeting my friends on wekends, traveling a few times a year, spending my time in an active way. But despite everything looked OK from the outside I didn‘t feel OK inside. I felt that I needed some changes in my life. I didn‘t feel I was actually living my life rather drifting it. The main idea was to recharge myself. Back then Bali wasn‘t that popular destination in Lithuania, but I deliberately wanted to go somewhere far, less known and with less western culture. I wanted some challenge, unknow situations, that‘s when you don‘t have time to overthink and your true creativity comes up.

What were the biggest lessons you learned on the trip? What did you understand about yourself?

Manage your expectations and open your eyes to what the World has to offer you. You don’t need to plan or know everything ahead. All you need is to trust the Universe and everything will be fine. Traveling solo I understood how much I could discover, how much I could learn and experience even without somebody else besides me. Also I realized that you don’t need to plan all the details, on the contrary traveling with no big plan makes it even more adventurous. I started enjoying traveling and being on my own, not planning my trip very much ahead and it wasn’t uncomfortable for me anymore.

Do you feel your life has turned out different than you previously thought? Maybe you found yourself different from when you always thought?

I always disliked being alone not even talking about traveling solo. But I understood that everything was in my head. Moreover it wasn’t a problem for me anymore to travel solo, I felt some kind of freedom when I realized this. Also I still practice “no plan” way of lifestyle in many areas of my life and very often it’s very beneficial for me.

If you could go back to the beginning, what would you do differently?

Not much, just hesitate less and take action without overthinking too much. Trust my intuition and believe that in the end things will happen as it’s meant to be best. Be open to new adventures, and simply enjoy things and life.

Is it scary to go on the adventure of a lifetime?

It was scary until I made an actual action. In my case it was booking a one-way flight ticket to Singapore. Of course I made some research before making the final decision but it wasn’t a very detailed research. I believe that if you really feel this inner call it helps a lot to go through all the fears, you just have to listen to yourself and allow yourserlf..

What was happening in your head?

My first step was to book a one-way flight ticket to Singapore, so before booking it I cried because I was scared. I was angry because I realized that I would be traveling solo. Back then it wasn’t an idea I was dreaming of. Then I told myself that I didn’t have to force myself. I can always stay in the same place where I was at that moment. This brought me relief because I stopped pushing myself and then booking the flight ticket was easy.

What are the most amazing things about living here?

At the moment I live in Lithuania but in 2016-2017 when I was traveling and living in Indonesia it was amazing to discover so many new cultures, beautiful corners of the world, try new things and meet many interesting poeple. One of the things that surprised me most that I discovered that a lot of poeple where like me. They left their jobs and they where traveling. Many people I met where perfectly combining their traveling with their jobs and this inspired me to find my own perfect life and work balance. It also opened my eyes to new ways of living your life, to expand the perception of how it can be built. But even living in Lithuania I enjoy it, it was my conscious decision. I like my country and all the opportunities it has to offer me.

Living the way you live. What was the hardest thing in this whole experience?

At the moment I live in Lithuania and together with my husband we run our business. We combine it with traveling and other activities. At first I had to get used to the fact that everything depends on you and it is your own responsibility how you live and what you experience in this life. Sometimes I was resisting it then I got used to it. Now I feel that when I trust my intuition it’s actually great to be responsible for your life fully because you are the one who makes all the decisions. So for me it means freedom in life.

What would you suggest for people dreaming about this lifestyle?

If you want something to happen you actually have to take the first step, make an action. When you start acting, not only dreaming, thinking and manifesting, your brain starts to work in some different way. After that you will realize that half of the fears where only in your head and the other half is not that scary.

What are the first steps in preparation?

Listen to your inner voice and if you feel the calling take the first step. Do some research on the internet if needed, but not too much so you wouldn’t overthink. Also surrounding yourself with right people is very important. You can also listen to the inspiring podcasts, watch vlogs, listen to Tedex talks, etc. This way you will find inspiration and support rather than unnecessary questions for others “are you not scared” “are you sure” and so on.

What are your next steps? Is there any adventure you are planning?

At the moment no big plans, just the idea somewhere in my head someday in the near future to live in some country for some time again. This time together with my family.

You can follow Viktorija’s adventure on:

Viktorija Lipštinienė
www.wowstays.lt