The Agony of De-Feet

I couldn’t wear shoes for the first five days I was home from my recent European adventure. (BTW I will move on to other topics next week! This post is really more about feet and shoes than anything else.)

When BA and I were preparing for our trip, we texted each other all sorts of questions. “Should we pack a dress?” “What do you think about cash versus a credit card?” And the most important one, as it turns out, “What kind of shoes are you bringing?”

We both spent time researching the best shoes for lots and lots of walking. This is not paid promotion, I promise you, but the Canadian brand Vessi kept coming up. Based in Vancouver, their shoes are actually manufactured in Taiwan, China, Cambodia, and Vietnam. They’re waterproof and have wonderful ratings from wearers. My cousin bought a pair. She also packed her Birkenstocks which came in handy for a change of pace.

I have a couple of pairs of Skechers I find very comfortable. Another brand that came up in my search for comfort was Hey Dude. They’re an Italian shoe manufactured in China. The cost is a little less than Vessi and I liked the look of them. They’re more of a deck shoe and less of a sneaker. So that’s what I bought. I wore them a few times before the trip and they felt great. I decided I’d alternate between Skechers and Hey Dude and I packed them both.

My Personal Blister Pack

BA didn’t get a single blister as we averaged around 10 km of walking per day. I quickly got a big, painful, stupid one on my left heel. We stopped at a pharmacy and picked up some Compeed blister pads. I’d never seen them before but it turns out they are available here. They instantly stop the pain. They promote fast healing and might even make you more attractive. That’s how powerful they are!

By day twelve or so, my feet were crying for a break. One night in Zagreb, thoroughly exhausted, I simply couldn’t make myself put shoes back on and go out again. My wonderful cousin went to a Thai restaurant and brought back food while I lay in bed, hoping the throbbing from my calves to my toes would stop. It eased and the next morning I was ready to go again.

People at Mountain Equipment Company (MEC) back home in Canada had advised BA to wear two pairs of socks. It really helped BUT only in my Skechers. I realized too late that the Hey Dude shoes were too snug for extra socks. It gave me more huge, painful blisters from my toes being squished together. There isn’t much you can do except deal with them as best you can and carry on. A day not walking is a wasted day on a trip to see the sights. One evening, without a bathtub in the apartment, I used a giant steel pot for a warm saltwater foot bath and that felt incredible. (I washed the pot well afterwards. I’m not an animal!)

Comparison is the Thief of Joy

A time came when I looked at BA’s Vessi shoes with mild envy. Then, when our last full day featured cold, driving rain, envy turned into full-blown regret over my footwear choices. I sloshed through the streets of Zagreb with two sets of wet socks in soaked Skechers.

It’s not like I didn’t have rain boots. A pair I hauled around Europe got worn only once, for a brief walk to a restaurant on that final night. I never could have made it through a full day with them on. I chose them for weight (super light!) without enough emphasis on comfort.

So let’s recap. I didn’t really save money by not buying the all-in-one Vessi shoes. Had I purchased them, I also could have left my lame rainboots at home. So what was I thinking?

I believe I had a distorted view of fashion in mind. The non-sneaker look of the Hey Dude shoes was, to my mind, a better all around option. I couldn’t have been more wrong. On our last night in Poland, we went out for a swanky dinner and BA looked elegant and on point in her fancy pants and Vessi shoes. I had a peasant-meets-polkadots vibe going on with black ankle socks and my deck shoes. I decided to consider the look “fashion forward.” (It was actually fashion backward, at least seven decades!)

I don’t really know what the lesson is. Follow the example of your smart cousin, maybe? I thought my reasoning was solid but I was obviously wrong. And when I got home, I had the swollen, sore feet to prove it. I hobbled for a few days until everything healed. If you’re heading out on a similar trip, don’t do as I did. Do as BA did and you’ll be thankful for it.

If you have another footwear recommendation, please share it in the comments. I have no in-Vessi-ment in promoting their shoes but they sure performed well for BA.