

World traveler Kārlis Bardelis once launched the AIRĒ MĀJU initiative to support the establishment of Latvia’s first hospice care facility.
What Kārlis started continues today—and you can be a part of it.
On the Way Home
Every donation brings the boat closer to shore. Follow along to see how far we've come together toward the creation of the first hospice care facility.
Why is hospice care necessary?
Every person deserves to live their life with dignity until the very end—receiving the care they need, feeling safe, and being surrounded by the people who matter to them.
Hospice care is the final stage of palliative care for people with progressive, incurable illnesses. It focuses on the individual, their needs, and their quality of life.
Currently, hospice care is also available at home in Latvia, but not everyone is able to spend the final days of their life in their own home. Sometimes a person needs round-the-clock professional care, but a hospital setting is no longer the most suitable place. That is why Latvia needs a hospice care facility.
We want to create a place that is not a hospital, but a home. A place where people can receive professional care while being with their loved ones.
Where there is room for conversation and silence, for acceptance and presence.
Homes Where You Can Live Freely!

What is a "kārlis"?
World traveler, Guinness World Record holder, and bon vivant, a member and global ambassador of the HOSPISS LV Friends Club, and rowing boat captain Kārlis Bardelis was the first person in the world to row across the Pacific Ocean from South America to Asia.
Kārlis had set himself the goal of traveling around the world under his own power—on foot, by bicycle, and by rowing.
AIRĒ MĀJU became part of his journey—an opportunity to give his adventure yet another purpose by helping those whose life's journey is drawing to a close.
Later, life took an unexpected turn for Kārlis himself—he was struck by an incurable illness. Kārlis spent the final days of his life under the care of the Hospiss LV team, receiving the support and care that he himself had advocated for making accessible to others.
Today, the AIRĒ MĀJU initiative continues. Kārlis’s family, friends, and supporters are ready to carry on the work he began so that his wish—to establish Latvia’s first hospice care facility—may come true.
Who is Karlis?

Kārlis Bardelis – a traveler, a Guinness World Record holder, a bon vivant, and a friend of HOSPISS LV.
He was the first person to cross the Pacific Ocean from South America to Asia, and through his journeys he demonstrated just how far one can go under one’s own power. The end of Karl’s life, however, was a poignant reminder of how important the care of others is, right up to the very last moment.
AIRĒ MĀJU became part of Kārlis’s story. Now we invite you to join us in turning this story into a home.
Learn more about Kārlis – Bored of Borders https://boredofborders.com/

