I’ve shared a couple of posts with my thoughts and advice on packing so far: the tech gear I take with me while traveling and my top five favorite travel accessories. Now that I’m wrapping up over a year of travel across 5 continents and 19 countries I’d like to start posting more travel tips and advice – sharing what I’ve learned about packing, the best travel apps, and how to plan adventures. (And oh yeah: the little topic of How and Why to quit your job and travel the world!)
So, let’s start with shoes! Here are the three pairs of shoes I took with me while traveling around the world last year.* Everyone has to adapt their packing lists to what suits their own needs and tastes, but hopefully this can help you think about how to minimize the number of shoes you need with you and how to find ones that meet a wide variety of uses.
1. Reef sandals.
These are the shoes I wore most often, especially in Australia and Southeastern Asia. It was hot, and I was doing a lot of walking, and for me Reef sandals / flip flops are the most comfortable footwear in hot weather. You can sub out any pair of sandals that you love, but make sure you can walk all day in them. A lot of girls I met while traveling wore Havaianas and they had a lot of blisters by the end of long days on foot. Waterproof is best too so that they can double as shower shoes, which are critical. (Here’s a link to my favorite style of Reef sandals – the “Slap” flip flop.)
2. A pair of TOMS.
I brought a pair of olive green TOMS around the world with me (which have since been tossed due to filth) and this red pair while traveling around the USA. I wore them during “in-between” temperatures – too cool for sandals but too warm to wear socks & shoes. They got a lot of heavy use during my 6 weeks in Europe in the Spring. It would be crisp in the mornings and evenings but warm and sunny during the afternoons, and these transitioned perfectly from cool to warm to cool again. I also made sure they matched the one skirt I brought, and they doubled as “dress shoes” when I went out to eat places where I didn’t want to wear flip flops. Are they dress shoes? No. Did anyone notice or care? Not that I’m aware of. And I certainly didn’t care. (Here’s a link to classic red TOMS.)
3. Hiking shoes.
When I hike, I usually prefer to wear my favorite pair of well worn Keen hiking boots. But I needed something more versatile when packing for extended travel. I decided to get a pair of hiking shoes – footwear that had enough traction for the light hiking I’d be doing, but “shoe” like enough so that I could wear them instead of sneakers while out exploring cities on foot, or on cold/rainy days instead of the TOMS or Reef sandals. (This pair from Merrell is the pair I bought last year.)
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These 3 pairs of shoes got me through 4 months of travel in spring, summer, and fall climates. If I was planning a trip in colder seasons or locations, I’d probably swap the TOMS for a pair of comfortable, low-heeled black ankle boots. When I went on trips that had more intense hiking – like the U.S. National Parks road trip and the trip to South America for the Galapagos Islands & the Lares Trek, I swapped the hiking shoes for my hiking boots.
Things to keep in mind when packing shoes for travel:
1. Comfort is the most important thing. Don’t bring shoes that you’ve never worn or tested.
2. When you’re a foreigner in an exotic place, everything about you already looks strange and unusual to locals. You’re never going to fully “blend in.” Dress respectfully for the culture you’re visiting, but don’t stress too much about how your footwear looks – it really doesn’t matter. How you behave is way more important.
3. If you really can’t leave home without more than 3 pairs of shoes (maybe you feel like you’ll want running shoes to exercise in while traveling, or dressier shoes for fancy places), look through your shoes and see if you can find a pair that could be tossed before coming home if you need more luggage space.
*Graham would like it to be known that he traveled around the world with ONE pair of shoes – Merrell hiking shoes. I pooh-pooh this technique, three is a much more comfortable number. I don’t enjoy having my feet bound up in socks and heavy shoes when it’s hot out. But I will admit that he’s a guru at packing light.
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What are your favorite shoes to wear while traveling? How many pairs do you usually bring?
I brought my Tom’s on my recent trip to Europe thinking that I would wear them everyday, but only wore them once or twice! My feet stayed swollen from the flight for a really long time, and by then my cute but “capable for walking hours in” sandals were my go-tos!
I hear ya – I think my sandals would have been my go-tos as well if I had been there in summer, but it was still a bit cold in spring! I found myself needing my fleece a lot more than I thought I would.
Also – “cute but “capable for walking hours in”” sandals are the best things of all time!
Fun post! I’ve dealt with plantar fasciitis in the past. Sometimes if I’m traveling somewhere and doing a ton of walking, it will flair up again. As a result, I’ve had an ongoing shoe love affair with my Birkenstock sandals. Once broken in, they are molded to the shape of my foot and I can walk for miles and miles in them. Granted, these are more for city walking in fair/warm weather…so there’s that! For hiking in warm weather, I love chaco sandals (I’ve had my pair since 2008 and am just now considering buying a new pair). Clearly, I’ve never done much traveling in cold weather…..
I feel the exact same way about my Reefs – mine are completely molded to my feet, I love them! The pair I took with me around the world I’ve had for years, and they are getting VERY shabby looking. I need to replace them but it kind of breaks my heart, I’m sentimental about them now. I need to look into chaco sandals! I’ve used Keen sandals for my warmer weather hikes, but they are still a bit hot/heavy for me. The chaco ones look great.
These are great tips! I like that you acknowledge there’s no one-size-fits all approach; it’s so important to consider the weather and the activities you’ll be doing! This is a really good starting point.
I haven’t done much traveling lately, but my Toms were perfect for my last two trips to NYC — so comfortable and light-weight, and they go with pretty much everything. (Mine are grey because I’m allergic to color.)
Thank you! :) Toms are so great for travel – and they take up so little room or weight in luggage. By the end of my time in Europe last year I had tan lines from both my flip flops and my Toms – it looked ridiculous! :D
Oh hells yeah. Many high fives from Germany. I’ve long been a bit of an escape artist (quit your job! live the good life! etc!) myself, AND I love books AND I am pretty sure that we are using the same theme for our book blogs ha! Anyway, good shoe choice for the travels. I like the Toms, may have to check those out. I basically refuse to buy any shoes that wouldn’t help me survive the end of the world/are not awesome for walking a LOT in. Those look pretty good.
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Cheers!
That’s awesome Nikki! So great to meet you! Love to find other travel enthusiasts / book addicts / escape artists.
I 100% agree about not buying any shoes that are not awesome for walking a lot in – I refuse to buy anything that I can’t walk miles in. I don’t even like to be in the same room as a pair of heels.
Cheers!