10 Steps to Best Thrifting Road Trip Ever | Thriftanista in the City

7.01.2015

10 Steps to Best Thrifting Road Trip Ever

Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (“Toyota”) provided me with compensation and use of a RAV4 for a short period of time. The opinions I have shared about this vehicle are my own.

My birthday was made extra special this year by Toyota reaching out to me take a new RAV4 on an excursion. From the moment I received the email, I knew exactly where to go -- Unclaimed Baggage in Alabama. It's tops my mental list of cool places to thrift.

thrift shopping road trip



1. Pick a shopping destination 2-3 hours away. It's a short enough distance so that you could theoretically shop your heart out and head back home. It's long enough to warrant an overnight stay if you get caught up in a shopping frenzy. We chose to crash overnight in Alabama so we could do a bit more shopping before heading home.

unclaimed baggage road trip

2. Research. Do a little research on your location before you leave. Find out what else is in the town.  What events or festivals can you tack on to your trip? What is the city known for?

Visit websites. Visit social media pages. Get on the mailing list. Perhaps there's a coupons or deal you can take advantage of.

Unclaimed Baggage is a tourist destination so there was a wealth of information available on their website alone.


3. Buddy System. Shopping is more fun with friends! Even if you prefer to shop alone, it's nice to have a crew along for the ride. You can also split costs and have more money to spend on the shopping.

road trip with friends

I brought along my BFF who was able to dj our entire trip. The RAV4 comes with a USB port so you can connect an iPod and control it through the audio system. There's also an auxiliary audio jack to use other portable device.

4. Room to grow. You're going to leave with more than what you came with so make sure you have the room. Clean out that junk in the trunk before you go.

RAV4's trunk area was quite spacious. Our overnight bags and our thrift haul fit nicely in the the back. If I had found the perfect desk for my office, there was the option of folding down the back seats for even more cargo room.

rav4 road trip

5. Get comfortable. Road trips are fun when you're comfortable with your surrounding. The RAV4 has comfortable seating and can comfortable accommodate the drool worthy length of my BFF's legs. Duel zone climate control kept us both comfortable in the temperatures we prefer. An end to the "I'm cold / I'm hot"  battle that tends to happen on road trips.

Wear the outfit that will allow you to try on clothes in public (tank tops, maxi dresses, skirts and / or leggings) and comfortable shoes. Aching feet can ruin the party real quick.

6. Stay connected. Bluetooth connectivity was extremely helpful. We encountered some dead zones that silenced the satellite radio periodically.  The RAV4's system was very easy to pair with my mobile phone. Not only was I able to stream my beloved audiobooks but I could also listen all of my birthday text messages.

Our inner 13 year olds were in fits of giggle upon discovering "Bluetooth Voice" has perfect enunciation of bad words.

scottsboro alabama road trip

7. Good food. After you've eaten several donuts and snacky things in the car,  you'll want to stretch your legs and have a proper meal to fuel up for the shopping.

Try local favorites. You can do a Bing search using the app which is standard on the RAV4 Limited. Restaurants can be added directly to your Navigation route.

8. Exploratory behavior. Unclaimed Baggage was our destination but Scottsboro, AL has a pretty active thrift scene. On the way into town we saw signage for garage sales, antique stores, thrift stores, and estate sales. I was also able to tap in "thrift store" on the Navigation app and get listings of nearby locations. You can add several destinations to your route so they're all ready to go when you're ready for the next spot.

thrifting goodwill

9. Try everything on. We are talking about thrifting so size labels mean nothing. Take the time to try things on. Even with a return policy, who knows when you'll cross paths with these spots again.

10. Enjoy the journey. Take the back roads if you dare. I felt pretty confident with RAV4's navigation system so I was able to enjoy more scenic routes and experience my surrounding cruising along on two lane roads.

summer road trip

Follow Southeast Toyota on Twitter and Instagram to see more great perks of owning the stylish, smart and adventurous Toyota RAV4. I'll be sharing my entire thrift haul with you later but for now you can check out some of the finds under #ToyotaRAV4 or #ThriftacularAdventure on Instagram.

Have you been on a thrifting road trip?

2 comments

visit - oldworldnew.us said...

This looks like the best trip ever!! I love it lol. And I would have loved to gone in that RAV 4 with y'all! Looks like there's plenty of room :)

Unknown said...

Purrrrrrfection! I need this plan!

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