TOMS Shoes » Vagabond Tour Fall 2008

adventures in portland

justinNW — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 20:01:24 +0000

Epic. That is the only word that could describe the experience of Team Ndubs in Oregon. We had some great events at University of Portland and Portland Community College. We stayed with Zach, Vagabond extraordinaire from Season 1 of the Vagabond tour. He took us all over town, showed us all the cool places, which in Portland is everywhere that you go. Honestly words cannot do justice to the experience we had in the wonderful city, and there isn’t enough room for all the pictures we took. But, here are some pictures from our last day in town. Our day of adventure.

We started the day with Sean at Lizard Lounge to pick up some stuff from an amazing event we had on Sunday.

We’re at the bottom of a giant waterfall. Multnomah Falls.

Now we’re at the top

We wanted a better view. And the chance to fall off of a steep drop-off.

Not only did we get our steep drop-off, but in true Lewis and Clark fashion, we discovered a new state. We chose to name it Washington, in honor of the capital of the US.

Zach and our new friend Claire climbed a rock wall. They made it look so easy that I tried, too.

Almost there!

FAIL. (it was harder than it looked)

We ate a hot dog that looked like Ana.

WHAT?!?!?!?! Is that a donut with BACON on top?!?! I thought you said you were in Portland, not heaven! I can see where you’d be confused, dear reader. What place on earth could be so marvelous as to have a donut with bacon on top? I don’t know. The same place that also serves a donut the size of your face!

After such a busy day, we were exhausted. However, after our many adventures we were worried that we might have made some enemies. In order to protect ourselves, we did this:

Oh yes, we did build a fort in the living room. It was comfortable, and roomy and slept 6. And kept us well protected through the night.

It is with heavy heart that we leave this beautiful city, but the remainder of our tour is calling us, so off we go. See ya soon!

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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!!

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v-log MidW/TX week four

admin — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 01:34:04 +0000

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v-log SW week four

admin — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:24:14 +0000

See all the Vagabond videos here!

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v-log SE week four

admin — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:13:45 +0000

See all the Vagabond videos here!

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Southern Hospitality

Becky Hartness — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:58:44 +0000

Twelve days on the road, five events down and Team Southeast is on a roll! Our first event of the tour was in Baton Rouge, LA in the most unlikely of places: a bar! We had a great time with Ashton, a former TOMS intern and sold 24 pairs of shoes. We had a day off the next day so Michelle and I decided to head to New Orleans since we had never been. There are many areas that have been rebuilt and restored, but 10 yards away, there are devastated, boarded up houses with the body counts still spray painted on the doors and heaps of trash and rubbish. It was a unique experience being able to drive through a city that TOMS will soon be impacting on U.S. Shoe Drops in the coming months. At 6:00 a.m. the next morning we drove north to Ruston, LA, where we had a great event at Louisiana Tech. Our amazing high school campus rep managed to pull off getting the space at the college and get free pizza for the event, where we sold 26 pairs of shoes! We left Louisiana immediately following the event though, because we had a 13-hour drive ahead of us to Florence, AL. The University of North Alabama was great and we sold another 26 pairs of shoes. Like the entire Southeast, UNA was a beautiful campus! The coolest thing about UNA is that their mascot is a lion, so they have live lions living on campus! A little trippy, but awesome. Our next destination was Oxford, MS which was nothing short of amazing! We sold a record-breaking 126 pairs of shoes at Ole’ Miss and even managed to snag a spot on Fox News! Our campus rep did an awesome job promoting the event and getting Greek Life involved. Overall, it was a huge success!

We were sad to leave Oxford but the next day we found ourselves in the beautiful Birmingham, AL at Samford University. We were surprised at how many people were already wearing TOMS Shoes or previously knew about TOMS. We sold 10 pairs of shoes, which was quite a step down from the day before, but all the same, 10 more children will have shoes because of it. I have grown to love life on the road and the “southern hospitality” we’ve experienced in this region. I’m excited for what is to come, but I’m savoring the moments of today, knowing that our work is impacting the children of tomorrow.

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v-log: SE Vagabonds!

admin — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 23:32:07 +0000

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The TOMS Vagabonds

admin — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 23:30:24 +0000

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it’s ALL love!

rachontheroad — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 04:58:56 +0000

Tonight, we’re blogging from the Tinsley living room in Ladera Ranch, California. We’re staying with our AMAZING campus rep Parker and we’re having a blast! We went to a fantastic dinner at Infusion and reviewed the logistics of tomorrows event; we couldn’t be more excited. Parker is perhaps the greatest high school sophomore to ever live.

I can’t express this enough, but I am SO incredibly proud of all of my campus reps who have been working day and night to help us make this the best tour possible. We couldn’t do it without you guys and we appreciate your hard work more than you will ever know.

While we’re at it, I’d like to take a minute to thank EVERYONE who made this tour possible. Blake, thank you for taking a risk on us– we’re going to change the world. Everyone at TOMS hq, you are our family and we miss you infinitely. Mikey and Hammer in particular– you have… my whole heart. You are, without question, the greatest men I have ever met. You’ve seen me and at my best– and at my worst. You inspire me daily and when I fall, you are always there to pick me up and put me back on track. You believed in us when we didn’t believe in ourselves and you never, ever let us lose sight of what we’re doing here. You’ve changed our lives forever. Thank you for making this happen; this is undoubtedly the greatest experience of my life.

BACK TO THE TOUR!

We have officially had our first emergency room visit of the tour! It was only Day 3, but Vagabond Hannah managed to fall off a curb, land in glass, and sprain both ankles. Pretty impressive, huh? Of course being on Team TOMS– we had to document the entire evening. For your viewing pleasure, here’s a shot of the little trooper counting the hours in the ER– check out those cankles!

Since Hannah’s left hand and both feet are out of commission for the next few days– we decided to adopt an honorary Vagabond to help us out for a couple of events! Rhonda, one of our wonderful campus rep interns, offered her services and just hours later– we were cruising down the freeway, gossiping, giggling, and getting pumped for our first high school tour stop!

I cannot WAIT for our event tomorrow!!! It is absolutely incredible to wake up everyday and feel the buzzing excitement of what’s to come. Several days ago, as I was running the mile between our event location and the van to pull more shoes, in the hundred degree heat– I couldn’t stop smiling. I literally couldn’t contain myself! I can’t even process how thrilled I am to do what I’m doing, everyday, for the next 10 weeks. I’m sorry if I’m blubbering– you’ll learn that I’m hyper-emotional, in the best way possible!

By the way, World, I cannot wait for all of you to get to know us over the course of the next few months. We are about to become BFF– get excited.

Sole Sisters, signing off!

-Rach

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