RTW Tips: shoes
People say the best time to pack is after you get home from a trip. That's when you know what was most useful, what you didn't use much, and what you wish you had. This is the third in a series of RTW Tips about what to pack.
Shoes
To boot or not to boot? Many a Round-the-World trip planning guidebook and website have weighed in. And invariably, they all say, Don't Bring the Boots! So I left the boots off my packing list...until I found out from Transfrontiers Safaris that I would be hiking around in knee-high brush and would need the extra protection and ankle support. So I reluctantly fit in my trusty Ecco Track boots (I've had at least one pair of these continuously for more than a decade), along with a pair of Teva sandals, Ecco leather shoes, and slippers to wear indoors (complimentary amenity from a Conrad hotel).
Did I pack too much? In retrospect, no.
- Boots came in handy not just on the safari, but also trekking around Northern Laos through rolling mountains and farm paths, walking the cobblestone streets of Istanbul in cold weather, and walking around wintry Australia and New Zealand in even colder weather (including snow).
- Tevas are un-substitutable, and are a must in steamy Southeast Asia.
- The regular leather shoes were also a must to wear on the street in most places since boots and Tevas give you away as a tourist.
- And I am just most comfortable wearing slippers around hotel rooms, so I always have to carry these around where ever I go.
The one pair of footwear I left out at the beginning of the trip, flip flops, I ended up buying later in Rio. These were handy to wear on the street in Rio only (since I got blisters from them), but they came in useful for use in sketchy showers later on. Tevas might have worked for the latter situation, but they dry very slowly whereas Havaianas flip flops are quick drying.
So, five pairs of shoes. 180 degrees opposite from what everyone had told me, which was to carry around one at most two pairs of shoes. But given the diversity of climates (hot and humid in South America, hot and rainy in Southeast Asia, cold and rainy in Turkey, cold and snowy in New Zealand), and the diversity of landscapes (fashionable Sao Paulo, African bush), carrying every pair around was worth it. When you pack, think for yourself; I've learned that there can't be one-size-fits-all advice for packing.
