Cruisin’ for a cause
It was an amazing trip – quite an adventure.
“I have spent time all over the world,” said Blake Mycoskie, a former “Amazing Race 2” reality show cast member, “but I had never crisscrossed the United States and seen my own country.”
Mycoskie was speaking by cell phone from New York City in mid-June, just two days after completing an 11,000-mile circle trip of the U.S. in an Airstream International travel trailer.
The young entrepreneur and his intern/driver, Zak Ferris, traveled to more than 90 locations visiting Nordstrom stores, elementary classrooms and blues bars spreading the gospel of TOMS.
TOMS is a line of casually chic, canvas slip-on shoes made by a company with a philanthropic mission.
It all started a little more than 18 months ago when Mycoskie, 30, was on vacation in Argentina. He was splitting his time between hanging out with polo players, dancing the tango and volunteering in an impoverished village.
He noticed a couple of things.
First, just about everyone, whether a farmer or polo player, was wearing the traditional rope-soled canvas shoes called alpargatas.
Second, most of the poor children had no shoes to wear.
Inspired by the comfort of the Argentine utility shoe and challenged by the poverty and heath issues of the area, Mycoskie had an epiphany.
“I decided to start a shoe company,” he said, “and for every pair I sell, I’m going to give one pair to a kid in need.”
The brand name, TOMS, comes from Mycoskie’s desire to provide the kids with “shoes for tomorrow” – or TOMS for short.
He adapted the shoe, which is made in Argentina under fair labor practices, to include a soft leather insole and flip-flop-like bottom. He decided to sell each pair for $38 and market them in fashion colors to trendy boutiques.
By last September, 10,000 pairs had sold. As promised, Mycoskie and a group of friends returned to Argentina and delivered 10,000 pairs of shoes to impoverished youngsters.
Soon his shoe line was picked up by Nordstrom and the idea of a cross-country trip evolved.
With the support of Airstream and Ford Motor Company, Mycoskie and his sidekick started out on their 14-week adventure on March 1.
They left Los Angles in a 2007 Eddie Bauer Expedition pulling a 28-foot International travel trailer.
“It was a unique learning experience for both of us,” said Mycoskie. “Neither one of us had ever pulled a trailer before and had never worked a propane tank.”
For the first four or five days of the trip the intrepid duo didn’t have heat because “there was this little switch and we didn’t know it had to be turned,” he said.
It seems in March, even in California, “it gets freaking cold at night,” said Mycoskie. “We would be sleeping with socks on our hands and beanie hats on. Finally we figured how to do the heat thing.”
Because of the intensive schedule of early-morning appearances, the TOMS trailer would frequently “blacktop” camp in shopping mall parking lots.
Shady Grove RV Park
“Austin is where we really hit our stride,” said the native Texan. They arrived in mid-March, the same time as the South by Southwest Music Festival.
“We stayed in the amazing Shady Grove RV Park, which is a historic park in Austin,” he said. “But it’s going to be torn down soon and will be condos there before you know it.”
After several official calls and a visit to Tequila Tuesday’s at Donn’s Depot, they left Austin heading toward New Orleans.
“It was very sad on one level because the recovery process is so slow and there is still so much destruction left with Katrina,” Mycoskie said.
“It is very exciting at the same time,” he added, “because we went to the Maple Leaf Bar and stayed out all night listening to blues and experiencing the culture and the food of New Orleans.”
The Airstream cruised through Florida, making a surprise visit to a class at Gene Witt Elementary School in Bradenton. The kids had adopted TOMS Shoes as a class project, designing posters that they put up around the school.
“It was a really neat experience for us to see how something we were doing was touching these kids and impacting their lives, plus all the kids we give shoes to,” said Mycoskie.
Another memorable stop was the Liberty Harbor RV Park across the Hudson River from New York City.
“It is a really special place,” said Mycoskie. “You literally can see the Statue of Liberty from your window.”
They were only supposed to stay for three days, but ended up staying 12.
“Manhattan was only a 15-minute ferry ride away,” he said.
After speeding through the Midwest and stopping in Seattle, the TOMS Crusade ended back in L.A. on June 9.
The trip “was much more of an adventure than what I had anticipated when we started out,” said the Venice, Calif., resident.
“I didn’t have any idea of all the interesting people we’d meet and places we’d see along the way. I encourage people to get out there and see the country. If you have an opportunity to do it, take it.”