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[whereshegoes]

What shoes should one take on a long (say one year) backpacking trip?

[ScottWoz]

Not a priority as such but flip flops are a must for me. They're resilient, take up negligible space in your pack and have heaps of of uses..

[uncle_davros]

It all depends on what one is doing. The majority of the people here are light weights. They follow the sun. On our last trip, the majority of the time we wore sandals, but there were occasions, where we went off for a couple of days and needed to have our trekking shoes, so we were both glad we carried them. I have heard the old you can buy them as you travel a million times, but trust me, you can't in Turkey or Pakistan or in India in certain places, so I carried mine and I am glad that I did

[wakingdream]

I think it's better to take good shoes with you rather then buying them along the way. As my mum alwasy says; two of the most important things are good shoes and a good bed! As Uncle D says, buying them on the road ain't where it's at. Harder to find what you might need, depending where you are. It does depend on where you're going and what you're doing, but a safe bet, if you are not going get beached, is to take a good pair of trekking shoes.
You usually can always find flip flops or other sandals such as these along the way. I take good pair of waterproof sport sandals. Actually, the sandals I have, the back strap comes off and gets put on in the front and the sandal converts into a comfy slip-on shoe. Then goes on the back if you need more support. MAX pairs shoes = two. One if you can get away with it. I often find it really amusing when I see women travelling around with those boots, you know? Knee high black b&tch boots? That's what I call them anyway! Funny.

[whereshegoes]

I often find it really amusing when I see women travelling around with those boots, you know? Knee high black b&tch boots? That's what I call them anyway! Funny.

I have seen girls (barbie types) travelling with stillettos. Ouch.

[siscri]

Yeh, it's generally young English girls. Alot of times I've been going out with a bunch of people in my dorm...all the girls break out these boots and GHDs and weird beauty contraptions which mean nothing to me. They take hours to get ready. I sometimes put deoderant on to make it look like I'm making an effort. How do these girls carry all this stuff?

[ScottWoz]

It just makes me take a deep and long drawn breath..

[Jessica_CDN]

Haha high heels on the road??? You've GOT to be kidding me.

I took three pairs of shoes: flip flops (for the beach, and those dodgy showers.....which was pretty much all the showers I was in!!), a nicer pair of sandals and a good pair of hiking shoes....which I pretty much lived in. They were fantastic. http://www.merrellboot.com/Shop/Detail.asp...LT&PID=9785

[whereshegoes]

Someone stole my smelly tevas once....I was kind of glad of it. Boy did they pick up bad smells!

[ScottWoz]

You're not wrong. I got a foot infection from surfing in Raglan which lasted almost a couple of months. My Tevas were the only thing I could wear. The smell was..

[tobinhagler]

What shoes should one take on a long (say one year) backpacking trip?

My vote is for Clark Wallabees. But in the waxed leather, not the seude. They aree probably the most comfy shoes I've ever owned.

I have some Vasque Sundowner boots and they aree great, but I am about to go to Nicaragua for 6 months and they just seek too heavy!


Tobin

[jasminevs]

I think it really depends on the destinations' climate. I always opt for comfort before appearance. There's nothing worse than having achy feet at the end of a sightseeing day!