Shoes Made for Walkin'

"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings" ~ Isa. lii 7

“You really need to have good shoes that give support and cushion your feet to be able to ‘go the distance’ and to avoid blisters.” So said a man who has “walked Ireland” and Great Britain, north to south and east to west, as well as coast to coast across the USA.

With that exhortation we have been looking for the right footwear for the walks planned in the nations.

And with a particular memory in my head I knew that we must be wise and prepared.

In 2004 I had been told by two missionaries in Nepal that I would need some good hiking boots to trek the Himalayas with them.

I bought the boots carefully and lugged them to Nepal with great enthusiasm. Within one day of walking I was horrified by the blistering of my feet AND that those same missionaries had nothing but a pair of comfortable sneakers on their feet. And the local Nepalis were walking the same trails in flip-flops!

Reaching the top of the trail after several days of painful walking (well, limping), I was unable to walk down again and had to ride a mule on a rather hair-raising descent of the mountains to the small town where we got a plane out, and then a bus for the last stretch back to Kathmandu.

Lesson learned: hiking boots are the enemy! If I did not need them in the Himalayas I would not need those blister-makers anywhere else on the planet!

Meanwhile, Amarilis and I have found an amazing set of comfortable sneakers each, with super support and I am looking at a few practice walks over the next couple of months, before I head out to take on the big one: the Cook Islands!