VILNIUS, April 28 (Xinhua) -- Aurimas Valujavicius became the first Lithuanian and the third person in the world to cross the Atlantic in a single rowing boat from Spain to Miami, local media reported earlier this week.
Valujavicius set off from Spain on December 26 last year and rowed alone across the Atlantic for 121 days and reached the shores of Florida in the United States.
During the journey, he rowed for 14 hours per day from 6:00 and until 23:00 with breaks. "I've seen dolphins a few times, and every day, I meet a passing container ship. Sometimes, there are birds flying around to keep company," Valujavicius explains.
Valujavicius' stories have inspired many kids and led to heated discussions in Lithuania. His trip even became a subject of some lessons in school. It became a topic for both civics and geography or physics lessons.
The children calculated how much food would be needed for such a trip, asked about sharks, compared them with Kolumbus, and in the evening the little kids scolded their parents for not naming them Aurimas.
Consuming the right amount of calories is essential to give the man energy for rowing in the open ocean every day. Around 150 kilograms of food was packed in the traveller's boat during the journey.
Since childhood, Valujavicius loved nature more than other kids. He spent his childhood in nature by the Kaunas reservoir where he grew up. He used to switch off his computer every summer when he was a teenager.
In 2014, Valujavicius became the first Lithuanian to win the title of the European Shotokan Karate Champion. However, by that time he had already made up his mind to retire from professional sport.
The young man started a new chapter in 2015 when he decided to cycle from Lithuania to Norway to visit a friend. The journey took him 19 days.
Valujavicius has completed many challenging journeys - he cycled around Scandinavia, Namibia, and Indonesia, crossed the Nemunas and Danube rivers in a kayak, and climbed 16 of the world's most active volcanoes.
The Lithuanian man filmed his journey and plans to make a documentary film, which is scheduled to premiere in Lithuanian cinemas in January 2024. ■