Living a Great Story
This is the story all about how Live a Great Story has impacted my life. Now, if you’ve never heard of it, Live a Great Story connects and inspires people through stories. With stickers, apparel, flags, and more, the word is spread and conversations are sparked. I found this brand a few years back right before I went to study abroad in Italy. I bought a big pack of stickers and wanted to leave them in each place I traveled to over the next few months. I really appreciated a brand with a mission and loved the idea of this one. This idea of “living a great story” encouraged me to keep pushing the boundaries of my comfort zone, explore new places, and think about what kind of story I wanted to be writing with my life.
Here’s a few pics from back then in 2020.
Once I got to Italy, it was my first time really out of the US for travel and I was having a hard time. I wanted all the adventure, excitement, and growth that came with travel, but I was scared. I had ripping anxiety, fell timid, and wanted nothing more than to curl up in my apartment there and let four months go by. But I knew of course I couldn’t do that. What a colossal waste! I’d be kicking myself if I did that for even a single day! When you’re studying abroad, it’s super common to travel every weekend to nearby countries. I thought it would be super cool to be able to travel somewhere for a weekend alone. So first, I set out on a day trip to Bologna, about an hour train from my Florence. I felt so happy, so proud, so accomplished to have survived that one day trip alone. Of course, I never got to go on a weekend trip because I got sent home early due to COVID.
Cut to three years later, I’m sitting in a café in rural Thailand on my third major solo travel. It’s the beginning of a four month journey in Southeast Asia for me, and as every time before that, I’ve got a few LAGS stickers in my pack. I’m typing away on my laptop when I feel eyes on me. I look up and see a guy pointing in my direction with an open smile, the woman behind him recording. I’m thinking it’s because of this pesky bird that’s been climbing around and sippin’ on people’s straws. He points at my water bottle and says,
“Excuse me, where’d you get this?”
I look up.
He’s wearing a Live a Great Story t-shirt and I make the connection.
I think, hey! This guys knows them!
…Then I see he’s got a Live A Great Story tattoo, I think, wait, no this guy is them!!
So this is the story of the time I met the founder of a brand I look up to and resonate with.
He sat down and we had lunch together. Talked about his brand and mine. I told him about leaving the stickers in Europe and bringing them with me on travels thereafter. We became friends and I even interviewed him on my podcast.
To this day it is one of the coolest things to ever happen on my travels. It’s the kind of thing I dream could happen someday with Lila. I hope one day I’m going about my travels and see someone who felt connection to the mission of Lila; resonated with the movement to recognize the moments that make life feel like it’s worth living.
Live a Great Story celebrates their 10th anniversary this year! Check out their socials, website, podcast, and get yourself some apparel. Oh and of course listen to the episode of Lila: The Podcast with Zach Horvath, founder of Live a Great Story.
