Eglė

Hey there, my name is Egle and I am the owner and the main creator of this campsite. This special location is very close to my heart because my grandfather grew up here, so I have spent a lot of time getting to know the surroundings as well as the local people and their traditions which they still embrace/continue nowadays. My studies in geography, tourism management, and heritage protection brought me to writing an interesting master thesis and planning an expedition around ANP, which I went on together with my dad. During it, we went around every lake in ANP so I have created the toponymic map of ANP.
This „work“ became my main connection to nature and the location I am at until now. It is said, you become successful when you love what you do. Today I am not only taking care of the campsite by leading my tiny yet very strong team, but I am also a tour guide. I organize events, group hikes together with our colleagues. In 2022 I graduated from Perkunija steam bath school. I am now a member of The society of Lithuanian steam bath fellows. I offer rituals to groups as well as to private people at Asalnai bath, on the lake shore.

I strongly believe that those connections made while being in nature are very special, so I’d like to invite you to our campsite to get connected and grounded. See you outdoors!

Vaiva

Hello there, I am Vaiva and I’m the person who transfers Egle’s thoughts into digital projects/ Facebook posts and stories and (when needed) supports her on any idea she comes up with about the campsite. During the summer season I will do my best by answering your inquiries and messages. I became a part of the campsite very unexpectedly when after a few attempts of coming back home from Austria (during the quarantine), I finally made it and came straight to the campsite. I’m very thankful to the Universe for bringing me on this journey together with Eglė as it encourages my creativity and helps me do the things I love – spending time outdoors and writing/editing texts as well as brings my academic knowledge back in use.
I have spent some time in the surrounding area previously, so these villages and their inhabitants are known to me already. The dialect they speak here always makes me smile. My heart gets warm every time I drive through the sunny forest on the way to the campsite. The feeling my sole and soul gets while digging my feet into the moss is just indescribable.
I feel very happy we have this place where I can spend some time with myself and which we can call home. I hope everyone can spot the place of calmness here and most important – get involved in all the activities which Eglė is organizing here.

Tadas

Hau! My name is Tadas. I call myself a traveller, because life for me is one big journey and every journey becomes a part of my home somehow.

I found out about Asalnai campsite about 20 years ago when I stopped here during my boat tour at Aukstatija national park. I remember how amazed I felt about this place and that feeling stayed with me for a long time. After a while, my friends told me about a new owner of this magic place and that her name was Egle. I participated in one of her hikes during an event held at Asalnai campsite and that’s when we got to know each other. Later on, she invited me to build a sweat-lodge on the shore of Asalnai lake and this is when we started organising events together.

And here I am now - joining the team! You might wonder how can I be an asset to the team? I organise summer camps, hikes, educational workshops, cook yummy food, take care of the fire and invite you to sauna 🔥

Let’s meet at the campsite and celebrate being surrounded by the green and alive nature!

Julius

Hey there, my name is Julius. I grew up in the surroundings of Ignalina and this is how THE NATURE became my second home. Various forest paths and sneakiest spots are known to me because I have explored everything by myself. Even though locals tend to say that everything around is as usual and nothing else can be found around, I can assure you - they are wrong! I think there is always a new way of finding a new perspective in every place, you just have to look differently at it. Together with my wife Iveta we have set a goal to show people how cool little towns can be and how many different things we have to offer.

We met Egle when delivering one of our hot tubs to the campsite. And exactly at this point everything exploded: we started sharing our thoughts and beliefs and realized how easy it is to turn your favorite activities into your job in order to enjoy every tour we create. It feels like our ideas sometimes exceed the limits - and that's the outcome I love the most!

Inesa

Hey there, my name is Inesa and I am a founder of creative space called Raganes sokis. I organize different workshops where we deep dive into the world of creative botanics. In everything I do, I try to find a deeper connection between people and nature, hence we go through a meditation inspired by nature and create natural cosmetics. The purpose of this is to better understand the connection of human and nature and prolong it.

I met Egle years ago, but our friendship started blooming once we realized how attached to the nature we both are. We also “clicked” on a different level when we understood how much attention we both pay to the quality and ingenuity of experiences we create. We started organizing events together and seeing people happy after attending such events made me believe - we are on the right path. I cannot wait to meet all wonderful people in the upcoming practices/workshops we create together!

Mila Monk

Hey, I’m Mila - the pioneer of forest bathing in Lithuania. I have graduated from forest bathing guide training at the international Forest Therapy Institute (Sweden) as well as ecotherapy training at the Pacifica Graduate Institute (USA). I am the co-founder and director of Center for Forest Therapy and Education, and coordinator of the Forest Therapy Day of the Anykščiai Forest Festival. I am also a professional literary translator and have translated two main books about forest therapy and forest bathing into Lithuanian: "The Art and Science of Forest Bathing" by the Japanese scientist Qing Li, and “Your Guide to Forest Bathing” by Amos Clifford.

Forest to me is not only a place to recharge my batteries in, it is my working space too. I have been organizing forest bathing events since 2019. Many different companies took part in it. I have learned that this kind of experience fits any occasion whether it’s a birthday, team building or hen-party – every curious person will find a unique way of spending time in the forest.
I met Egle at one of the forest bathing events in Utena. We both shared the same love to forest and the need to encourage people to get to know the nature better, at a deeper level. It created a unique bond between us and ever since we have organized a few events together at Asalnai campsite. I’m always happy to go back to this campsite, where forest joins the lake shore, where fresh air and silence touch your mind and where you can easily watch the stars at night, because there is no artificial light around.

I invite you to get to know the forest differently – slowly, by paying more attention to detail and to allow yourself to forget all the goals and expectations by simply being here and now. In other words – enjoy the fact that we are alive NOW.