The Carey Adventures

I never realized just how important a pair of tennis shoes (or running shoes as I use the terms interchangeably) are to good travel!   Back story: I’m a fan of boots and have worn them almost exclusively for the last 15 years or so.  Sometimes I’d wear flip flops or sandals but not that often.  I just never had a need for a pair of running shoes.

But then they were suggested by the leader of our trek last Fall in Nepal.  His point was to wear the lighter shoes down low if we didn’t meet any snow.  Let the yaks carry the heavy boots until needed.  Not only would the tennis shoes be lighter, but they’d also provide ample support as we’d only have a day pack.  Ok, I thought, it sounds good to me, but I don’t want to spend $100 on new shoes!

Enter Value Village.  While on a shopping trip there I wandered over to the shoes to see if anything might be useful.  There was only one pair in my size so I decided to take them.  Price on the bottom, $9.99.  Now that’s a price I can handle.  If I was craft and had a coupon, I could have got them for half that price!  They came without insoles which was ok.  I figured I’d just use the insoles from my boots (as seen in picture) and save even more weight by not packing two sets of insoles!  Genius or folly?  It’s such a gray area.

I’m happy to report not only did I wear the tennis shoes the entire 75+ mile trek high up in the Himalayas and not only did they perform with aplomb in the mean streets of Kathmandu, I also brought them to Peru three weeks later.  This time jungle walks, canopy tours and over 25 miles of the Inca Trail were covered and STILL no sore spots, no aches and no blisters!  I was amazed and beguiled.  Can I use the word aplomb here again?

Anyway, my shoes are a one of a kind so I can’t suggest some nice affiliated link for you to buy them.  I doubt Asics still makes this model anyway.  I strongly suggest considering a pair of tennis/running shoes for your next traveling adventure.  They are light, dry fairly quickly and if you buy them used and put in new inserts, pretty dang cheap.  Meaning you have more money to spend on actual adventures.  I still love my boots (wearing them now and suddenly realized they don’t have insoles in them!) but when I go atraveling, these shoes will be on my feet.