during travels abroad, about 50% is spent walking, 10% standing, 20% sitting down and 20% sleeping so naturally it's important to find the best and most comfortable shoes available.
i remember my first out of the country trip, i relied on a Gola sneakers in white with flowery details. it was comfortable to wear and i never found another rubber shoes from Gola like that. ironically, it was my first and last Gola shoes.
when i went to the US several years later during winter, i bought a Dr. Marten's high cut boots and i ended up using it about once for the whole trip. it was so uncomfortable! maybe because i didn't bring long socks to match it so it scraped my leg in the process.
it's easy when travelling in late spring or summer because i can bring my sneakers, flats or open sandals but it's expected that my feet will hurt at the end of the day.
but during this recent trip, i discovered the best shoes ever! thanks to Google and to the various travelers who posted about their experiences because i found the most comfortable shoes: Cole Haan!
this is the one i wore most of the time. it's best worn without socks (with your ankles showing) BUT since it was soooo cold (lowest at 7 degree Celsius!), i wore it with stockings or long socks. never in this trip did i ever complain of painful heels even if i walked all day! and aside from that, it's stylish and fits right in Paris. yes it's true. Parisians are stylish and even the guys only wear black or dark-colored sneakers/shoes. if you want to stand out as a tourist, wear a colorful Nike.
i also bought my gray Converse sneakers which i always wear when traveling despite arch pains but this time, i found the secret to protect my feet: Dr. Scholl's gel insoles!
quite expensive at P1395 but worth it! speaking of insoles, i didn't need one for my Cole Haan. it has a Nike Air technology which basically means it's like wearing rubber shoes!
i'm quite disappointed though with my Cole Haan flats.
when i tried it on in the mall, it was comfortable but when i wore it to a meeting, it felt cramped in the toes in my left feet so i didn't bring it in my trip. i instead brought my comfortable Payless silver flats but since it was raining all the time, i only got to wear it once on a sunny day.
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just back from Bacolod. will write more about our trip as soon as possible.
