Shoes are not trivial!
First on in the morning are my pink plastic sandals because our concrete floor is cold. Then I go outside wearing my walking shoes or hiking boots. I come back and work in the garden in my gardening shoes. I play volleyball or take the grandkids to the park wearing my athletic shoes. I go shopping and wear my nicer casual shoes. I go out to dinner or to church wearing my heels, or if it’s cold, my long boots.
In one day it’s easy to wear six or seven different pairs of shoes. How can I choose only two pairs, one to wear and one in the backpack? I can’t wear hiking boots to the opera! I can’t wear my walking shoes in the shower if it’s grungy. I need … I need … I need to leave some of them behind. But which ones?
Will my lifestyle be stunted, my backpack overflowing --
Because I also need a change of clothes, an extra sweater, toiletries, a bed sack (for hostels), notepaper, drawing pencils, etc. It’s going to be cold sometimes. It’s going to rain. It’s going to occasionally be sunny. Layers, on and off, colorful and bland. But still light enough to keep the backpack under 11 pounds.
After five weeks of wearing pretty much the same clothes, I expect to feel like I did after each pregnancy – hating all my pregnant clothes. Ready to make a bonfire of my T shirts and watch them turn to cinders. What if I buy some new ones in Aix en Provence? This trip is all about going cheap, so that might be cheating.
Solution: I could buy new T-shirts on the pretense that they were presents for friends who just happen to be my size. Then I could wear them to test how they’d work for those friends!
That's fine for clothes. For shoes, there is no hope. Clumpy shoes at the opera? Swallow my pride -- I have no choice.
You might want to try geting Dr. Marten's they are expensive, but they last forever. I started wearing them on my mission I have always owned a pair since. In fact my current Dr. Martens are guarenteed for life, so I guess I will always own a pair.
ReplyDeleteYep, I've heard how great Dr. Marten's are from my d-in-l Mandy who wore them during her year in France and said the missionaries all had them. I looked at the styles and just couldn't like them. If I was 20, sure, or looked like Abby on NCIS, but not me. Mandy also said there was a wearing-in time, and they are heavy. I'll stick with my old hiking boots. Put some waterproofing on them. Thanks for thinking of it, though.
ReplyDeleteWhat about a cute pair of Crocs--they do make cute ones. :) That's what I took to Australia (it's also what I wear to church now). They easily went from shower to beach to church. They are comfortable and lightweight. Oh, and cheap. I got a pair on Ebay for about $15. I was able to get by with 2 pairs of shoes for the two weeks in Australia--I took my black athletic shoes for hiking and other such activities.
ReplyDeleteI have a wonderful pair of ECCO shoes that I have walked all over Europe in, and have also worn to work at least once a week. They're very plain looking matte black shoes, but they are magic on my feet. I got them at "The Walking Store", and I cringed when I saw what they cost. But we only get one pair of feet. It pays to treat them well. The "expensive" shoes have paid for themselves many times over, and they still have many, many miles left in them. I always take them on trips, along with a small selection of other black clothes that go perfectly with them. Imgine that! I'm always in style because, you know, black is the "new" black.
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