TOMS Shoes » road trip

vagabond return spring 2009

admin — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:03:02 +0000

A couple weeks ago, we welcomed home the Spring 2009 Vagabonds from their 12-week tour across the United States. They had spent the past few months visiting high school and college campuses hosting Style Your Sole events and sharing the One for One mission. Now, see them reunite at HQ and hear them reflect on their journey.

Catch up on the entire season on the TOMS YouTube Channel.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

you’ve had the adventure of a lifetime, now we say goodbye

admin — Fri, 22 May 2009 18:30:56 +0000

If you have been reading the Vagabond blog posts this week, you might have noticed they are all saying their goodbyes. Each of us here at HQ could easily write about how much they have inspired us and how proud we are, but on our behalf, here is Mike Hammer- Director of Campus Programs and Vagabond Tour.

Dear Vagabonds,

It has been a sincere pleasure working with you guys this semester!!! THANK YOU so much for all of your hard work and commitment!

Thousands of lives have been changed as a result of your efforts in the past 19 weeks spreading the TOMS One for One Movement.

It is not an easy job to travel the country meeting new people and finding new places to stay all the time, but every one of you rose to the challenge and inspired our staff, our fans, and new TOMS enthusiasts.

Few are given the opportunity to make spreading the idea of Compassion in Action their every day. You took this mission on and as a group affected our culture for the better.

We will miss you all dearly. You reports from the road have humbled us, inspired us, and cracked us up. We will continue to watch your hilarious YouTube videos this summer.

You have left a great mark on TOMS and the world and the next Vagabond crew has some big shoes to fill.

On behalf of the company, and with all the repect due to some true Vagabonds, THANK YOU and good luck with your next adventures!

Truly,

Mike
Director, Campus Programs

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

now it’s time to say goodbye

carminSE — Fri, 22 May 2009 16:27:42 +0000

The end is absolutely upon us Folks!

That’s right, Team South East has globe-trotted, or country-trotted rather, for the past three months and is now facing their final days on tour. Carmin, Sloan and Liz have successfully driven to the four corners of the country- New York, Miami, L.A., and San Fran- And in an effort to shamelessly celebrate the culmination of all things South East I’d like to give you some tips- some awesome-road-tripping advice straight from our van to yours.

Mind you- this information, these tips, are not for the faint of heart.

Alright so here are some things you must keep in mind!-

1. When sleeping under the stars at the Grand Canyon (on top of your Van of course) you REALLY need a mat to sleep upon. The three of us suggest multiple layers of clothes, hefty blankets, and of course parking directly beside a bathroom. You will never, ever, ever regret locking arms, and looking up at the stars whilst on top of an automobile. We would however recommend getting to your final destination (ie- the Grand Canyon camp site) prior to 4:00 a.m. because as we learned, the sun rises around 5.

2. Do not ever, under any sort of circumstances spend all of your food dollars on fast-food restaurants. We had some of the most amazing foods, some of the most awesome dining experiences by hitting up all the mom and pop shops. Dining locally means getting fresh ingredients, and of course supporting the local economy- very TOMS.

3. Some may argue with me, but air beds are a big-fluffy waste of time. I mean it- team southeast has gone through two, alright well we were only responsible for mysteriously popping one- but the second one deflated in the middle of the night at Josh Owen’s house (famously known for his fabulous season one shenanigans) leaving poor Sloan and Liz to their own back-aching devices. I’m telling you- a bed mat, or roughing it on the floor is the way to go- now that I think about it, I never actually slept on the floor- beds, couches, and other sleeping contraptions were always available.

4. Whenever spending your “down-time” (whatever that means) in small shanty-shack southern towns, do not sit around sulking wishing you were hanging out with all of your amazing friends in Los Angeles- go searching, go exploring! Not only did many of our adventure excursions turn up some of the best antique shop treasures, but we also happened upon the 8th wonder of the world! Located in the heart of Walterboro, S.C. is baby Niagra Falls! That’s right people, I’m talking get too close and you’re bound to get soaked! My point? Get out- regardless of how quiet the town you’re in may be- there’s always something yet to be discovered!

5. Cherish this time.

Alright folks, so… this is our last entry. I can honestly say in addition to the memories I’ve made while on the road, while working at TOMS, and while living in a house jam-packed house with dozens of other Vagabonds, I’ve also made some of the best, most interesting, most unique friends of my life.

Hit the road, invest in people’s lives- invest in the people who you meet every day and find a way to invest in the lives of the people (like many of the children who we give TOMS Shoes to) who you may never see face to face.

My first inclination is to say goodbye- but you’ll be hearing a lot more from many of us- this season’s Vagabonds were comprised of some of the most remarkable people I’ve ever met- so look out because there’s much more to come.

See you soon-

Carmin, Sloan and Liz.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

lean on me, when you’re not strong

kelliSW — Fri, 22 May 2009 12:07:52 +0000

I’ll be your friend, I’ll help you carry on. For it won’t be long til I’m gonna need somebody to lean on.

This verse could very well be our motto for being a Vagabond. We are all the most eclectic and different group of people. Many of us would not be friends had we met on the street. However, this experience with the good and the bad, has bonded us for life. We can all identify with almost every emotion the other felt for the past 5 months. We really did lean on one another and each and every one of these people have become my family.

It is with a heavy heart that I say “goodbye” to you TOMS fanatics out there that enjoy reading about our adventures. And with an even heavier heart and hung head that I say goodbye to all of the other Vagabonds and the TOMS family in general. All of you passionate about TOMS out there, you inspire US! Meeting you, feeling your love, being welcomed into your schools and homes was an honor. The acceptance we got just by being TOMS vagabonds was beyond amazing.

We have shared the hardest and greatest of times together and you guys have been there to have a birds eye view of all of our adventures. We cried, we laughed, we fell and we got back up. Many times, you guys helped us back up. Your passion invigorated us when our drives were too long or our heads were cloudy. From the bottom of everything in my heart, I thank each and every one of you that we encountered on this tour.

TOMS is forever the collective love of my life and being a part of this process was the greatest adventure I ever got myself into! Getting thousands of shoes on the feet of children in need is the coolest and most fabulous accomplishment I think I have made in life. I couldn’t have done any of it without the help of the entire Vagabond group.

Team Southwest rocked the west coast back and forth and even took our moves into Oklahoma and Texas. We had more fun with everyone out there than we can put into words! We spread love and compassion to everyone in our path, and they gave it back to us ten fold. Bernadette treated us well, we drove her hard! This “season” in our lives might be over, but we will forever be your TOMS girls. Keep us in your hearts, as we will continue to keep you in ours forever!

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

viva las vegas, and back in cali

tiaMW — Fri, 15 May 2009 15:56:44 +0000

You guys, Vegas was INSANE!

We were reunited with our other Vaga-loves in Vegas over the weekend! How I missed them so! On Friday night a few of us went to see the Beatles Love Circue Du Soleil show! AMAZING!

It comes highly recommended from this girl. We also went as a whole group to see the Jazon Mraz and Dave Matthews Band concert at the MGM Grand! It was a ton of fun! Those boys put on a great show!

And now our tour has come full circle, because we are back in LA! We had a few final events this week, and now it is over! It’s still incredibly surreal that it’s been three months.

For the next few days, I’m going to savor being with all of these crazy fools. They’ve changed my life forever, and I know that they will be my friends for LYFE. Yep, I went there.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

all good things must come to an end

justinNW — Thu, 14 May 2009 19:54:06 +0000

I can’t talk about what happened here.

*sigh* it’s our last week. We cannot believe it. We have been on the road for 11 weeks. It is craziness. Right now, I’m listening to Ana belt out that terrible Taylor Swift song about Romeo or whatever for the 743rd time, and honestly I’m gonna miss the mad rush to get my headphones in every time that song comes on the radio. As ridiculous as it is, I think I speak for all of Team Ndubs when I say that as much as we’re ready to be home with family and friends we’re still gonna miss life on the road. The endless drives, the overwhelming smell of manure when passing farms, the constant search for Chick fil A’s….

…and the soul-crushing disappointment when we find one only to realize they’re closed because it’s Sunday which we didn’t realize because days don’t mean anything anymore. We’ll miss being able to feel OK about not showering for days at a time… actually that was more the girls… and I won’t miss that part… We’ll miss seeing snow one day and 70 degrees the next. We’ll miss never knowing if we’re gonna be sleeping in a bed, on a couch, or on a floor. We’ll miss trips to Denny’s where they get every single one of our orders wrong. We’ll miss singing along to Celine, Disney, and the Beatles. We’ll miss Jill, our GPS, and her attempts to take us down dirt roads and taking us to banks and Walmarts that don’t actually exist. But most of all we’ll miss all of the amazing people we’ve met along the way. You guys are the ones that made this trip one of the coolest experiences of our lives.

Now we’ll soon be parting ways. Ana is planning to audition for the next season of American Idol; Carolyn has already nailed down a job selling knives on QVC from 2am-6am on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays; and Justin is going to a position at the American Society of Sarcasm. It’s been real. It’s been good. Some would even say, it’s been real good.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

the rescue with invisible children: oprah rescued us

hajarMW — Mon, 11 May 2009 20:41:38 +0000

Just pinch me because this past week was an amazing dream! While in Chicago for a few events we got to be part of history and join the Invisible Children Rescue Riders and Roadies to the final rescue that happened on the morning of May 1st.

It was a hopeful goal to see if Oprah Winfrey would come to our rescue. What an adrenaline rush jumping from place to place and getting the word out to onlookers while standing outside of Harpo Studios! We made new friends who were truly living the Vagabond lifestyle: many groups traveled from city to city for this global occasion… and there were so many pairs of TOMS in the crowd. Everywhere you turn you would catch people walking, cheering, dancing and even singing “In the name of love Oprah come and rescue us” in TOMS!

I think the most unique trait is that after six days we were rescued by Oprah. Cheers to all of you who got involved with this amazing cause in hopes to finally putting an end to the abduction of child soldiers.

Until next time, here is a view of the open road from our vaga-van. This is pretty much what we will be seeing until we get back to Santa Monica! Can’t believe our road trip adventure is so close to an end…

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

the adventure has lead us back west

justinNW — Wed, 06 May 2009 20:28:27 +0000

This last week has been lots and lots of travel. Team USA has finally made it’s way back out west… and we’ve been welcomed with the requisite rain. I bailed on the girls for a few days and went back to Nashville to be in the wedding of one of my best friends. I got to wear a shimmering gold tuxedo. It was awesome.

The girls on the other hand, got to finish out the drive to California without me. From what they tell me it was fabulous. Stopping every hour for the bathroom. Manicures, pedicures, and divine secrets of traveling pants. But we’re reunited now so all that’s over. I’m crackin the whip. Which means… absolutely nothing. I’m outnumbered. We’re probably gonna watch The Devil Wears Prada and eat some Haagen Dazs. We’re in San Fran for a couple days and then we’re headed to Vegas!!! Peace out!

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

obama mobile + TOMS at the inauguration

admin — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 17:16:35 +0000

It was a fierce race to Election Day 2008, and two exceptionally committed girls were there experiencing every leg of that race. They plastered their station wagon with Obama stickers and drove around the country encouraging Americans to exercise their right to vote, and brought awareness to an election that is for sure goin’ down in the books as one of the most engaging, incredible elections in US History. Even when one of the sisters had to return to San Francisco (with the station wagon), the other sister, Annie Woods, and her team pooled together their life savings, bought a bus, and continued on their journey. Leading up to Inauguration Day, the girls and the Obama Mobile crew will be back in Obama earshot in Washington DC to raise funds for their documentary that will be cut from 70+ hours of footage of their road trip of a lifetime.

Catch up with Obama Mobile this weekend! They will be selling t-shirts to raise funds for their documentary, and the first 100 customers will receive a FREE pair of Democrat VOTE Shoes from TOMS!!

Where: Manifest Hope DC Gallery at 3333 M Street NW in Washington, DC

When: Friday January 16th – Monday January 19th

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

tour x 4

admin — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 22:49:53 +0000

The road trip is an American tradition: a way to experience the diversity of culture and landscape that our incredible country has to offer. TOMS has indulged in the rustic tradition since 2007 with a variety of cross-country tours, all on a mission to share the concept of One for One.

In 2007, Blake traveled with intern Zak via Airstream, making pit stops at boutiques, Nordstrom, RV parks, water fountains, and more. The original tour boasts some hilarious videos thanks to the unpredictability of a classic road trip.

You can watch all the videos here.

In the Spring of 2008, former interns Justin and Brett decided to pack a very small car with A LOT of shoes as they traveled to college campuses and small towns hosting events and telling everyone about TOMS.

This past October, TOMS launched the first ever (very official) Vagabond Tour. We rallied 5 teams of two to four people, loaded them up in some sick vans, and sent them all across the country to host Style Your Sole parties and For Tomorrow documentary screenings on high school and college campuses. They blew us away, and took the traditional idea of a road trip off the map: gathering over 2,000 contacts, pulling in 14,590 video views on YouTube, be-friended 560 fans on Facebook, and sold 4,940 shoes. They trucked through all sorts of terrain, they slept in their vans, and they inspired us all every week with their optimism and determination.

Watch the entire semester of Vagabonding here.

This Monday, January 12th, marks the arrival of our latest road-trippers: The Spring 2009 Vagabonds. They’re unofficially the 4th TOMS tour to dominate the US, and we’re anxious as ever to meet them all. We also get to meet all of our new HQ interns this Monday- the ones who will be our saving grace, day to day, here at the TOMS HQ. Today and tomorrow we’ll be sweeping our floors and preparing our packets to ensure all of our new family members get the welcome they deserve.

Travel safe, and we will see ya’ll soon!!

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.