My Unstable Relationship With Shoes

For someone who cringes at the thought of going barefoot, I am really starting to hate shoes. Why is it so darn impossible to find shoes that fit and don’t hurt? I struggled with the decision as to what shoes to bring with me on my trip. I ended up with my brand new slip-on Keds (can’t go wrong there, but you look foolish walking around a city in them), my super comfy “I Love Comfort” black flats that I tested out in Europe and are flawlessly comfortable, and a pair of super cool Sketcher sandals that I bought last year.

So here’s how it shook down. The Keds were great, but I found out something interesting about slip-ons. They are extremely difficult to wear when you’re climbing very steep hills. It’s almost impossible to not walk out of them. It’s hard to explain. You would have to find yourself the steepest hill and try for yourself. Definitely not the best San Francisco shoes.

Next day I tried the black flats. As always, they were comfy, but somehow they either stretched or my feet shrunk. Could be because I was cold. Who knows. But now I had the same problem as the Keds, only in the reverse order. Try walking down a steep hill with shoes that are too big. I was constantly walking out of them and tripping. So incredibly annoying - and dangerous - and embarrassing. uuugh

Next day I broke out the trusty Sketchers. I bought these last summer and I remember having to go through the Hell of breaking them in. They gave me terrible blisters on the tops of my toes and just when I was ready to give up on them I realized that they were getting more and more tolerable to wear. By the end of the season I could walk miles in them. Well, it wasn’t the shoes getting broken in. It was my FEET. They apparently built up enough calluses to withstand the poorly designed shoes. So every season my feet have to endure the ‘breaking in’ process all over again. This year I’m starting with fresh soft feet that were not at all happy to be rubbed raw.

That’s it, I decided to head to the store in search of new shoes. I was thrilled to have found two pairs that fit and were comfy. Yeah. I wore one pair yesterday. Can you guess what happened? The super comfy shoes ended up killing me by the end of the day. I barely hobbled back to my hotel. I supposed if you sat, or perhaps stood in one place all day they would be great. But who does that? I give up. I’m buying another pair of funny looking Keens. To hell with fashion. I tried and it just doesn’t work. I’m a high tech girl in need of high tech shoes!