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Most annoying yet catchy song ever. Maybe I have walked 5,000 miles by now. How many miles does the average person walk in a year? Google says something along the lines of 1,375 so yeah I think it’s safe to say I’ve walked well over 5,000.

Anyways, the topic for this is walking. More specifically having on the proper foot attire while walking. In the US we are inundated with all these celebrities (models, actors, various forms of Kardashians) walking around the world in fancy ass shoes. How is this real life?! How do they do this and not look like they are in perpetual pain? Did they have all the nerves removed from their feet? Seriously I want to know!

I will admit to wearing inappropriate foot attire from time to time, and ironically its usually when I’m hiking or adventuring. I traversed the stone streets of Pompeii in flip flops, I’ve hiked up and down trails to river and springs in flip flops. I’ve climbed up damn mountains (ok , I am using the word “mountain” loosely here) in flip flops and to be completely honest, it’s probably the most idiotic thing I continue to do.

I have PLENTY of tennis/athletics shoes (no hiking boots yet…). The simple and logical thing would be to wear those but this is how my mind works. I’m going somewhere new and exciting (maybe not even new but exciting), I want to look good. If I’m flying for any extended period of time, they are constricting so I don’t wear them (I don’t fancy ending up on Instagram’s Passenger Shaming account) and then they take up too much space in my bag. Therefore I just don’t pack them.

This is a totally bone head move. When I say I traversed Pompeii, it’s not without falling off the 3 ft high side walk when the sole lost grip. When I say I’ve climbed up and down trails, it’s not without my flip flip falling off or going sideways making me trip and fall. When I say I’ve climbed “mountains” that wasn’t without slipping on a few rocks and yes, more falling.

I’ve done more damage to myself wearing the wrong kind of shoes than anything else (I’m talking, cuts, bruises and blisters that cover the entire bottom of my feet). But here is another caveat that should be mentioned, I have NEVER owned a pair of shoes that didn’t give me blisters or cuts. Cleats, regular athletic shoes, heels, flats, sandals, you name it, I have a scar on my feet from it. My feet are small and narrow and nothing ever seems to fit so typically you will find me wearing the shoe, no matter the circumstance, that causes me the least amount of pain.

I’m trying to break myself of this habit. I walk around in my apartment in shoes that hurt me regularly to break them in. I’m beginning to think that this whole “breaking them in thing” is a myth and yes I’ve tried every tip in the book. I’ve come to terms with my oddly shaped feet covered in thin skin and way too many nerves, but that doesn’t mean I should go around wearing flip flops everywhere, all the time, not matter what.

When I went back to France the second time in 2009, I didn’t bring athletic shoes with me. I KNEW I would be walking a ton but I wanted to be pretty and look all posh so no tennis shoes. That lasted maybe all of two or three days. On the way to Mt. St. Michael, I stopped at a shoe store in Rennes and bought a pair of pumas. I couldn’t take anymore blisters, or bloody feet. I stopped at the pharmacy before hand, bought bandaids, bought socks and then bought shoes. And to be honest, despite the fact that I paid like 3x more for those shoes than what I would have paid in the US, the $120 was totally worth it.

When I was in San Francisco two years ago, I just had my awesome knee high boots. Hills and those kinds of boots, don’t mix.

This year, no matter where I go.. NFTG. Tennis shoes everywhere.

 

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