Advice

This was posted on the old blog, 26 March 2010

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Basically five weeks. About thirty-six days from now. And finally I’m sitting down to some written correspondence.

If I haven’t spoken to you in a while – I finished my BSc in Environmental Science last year and have decided to spend a year in South America, beginning this May, before I consider whether to study further or not, and if so what I will study and where.

I really loved my degree and my time at Wits. I definitely don’t regret staying in Johannesburg. I still live with my mom and dad in the same house in Linden and have been fortunate to keep some phenomenal friends that I knew from my De La Salle days. Some of my other closest friends are from varsity and from St Charles, the parish down the road which I am still attending. We still talk too much, eat too much and do plenty of laughing and partying together. Besides the fact that I still don’t have my drivers license (16^th April will be my second try!), life in my same old shoes has been ever so comfortable over the years! But there comes a compulsion at some point, if you haven’t already been coerced as I have been with other less hypothetical pairs of matured shoes, to put them aside despite their happy familiarity and to try a new fit.

 So whilst I seldom wear shoes when I can avoid it, I will soon be setting life-as-I-know-it down, next to my pungent black leather pumps and my trusty turquoise PepStars with their threadbare patches which my toes knew so well, and plunking my feet into something far more foreign and unpredictable.

 This blog is one way in which I’m hoping to keep in touch with everyone, which is for a number of reasons. Whilst not the most important, one of the intentions is to draw on the substantial and superior wisdom of those of you who have worn in your travelling shoes. I’m going to need you to consult your experience, your acquaintances and your general opinion about a number of things and will appreciate any advice that you think may help. But the first topic, in this my first post, is FOOTWEAR:

Speaking completely literally now, I need to buy some good shoes and I was wondering what you think.

 I will definitely be doing lots of walking. Lots and lots. I will also undoubtedly be doing quite a few hikes over my twelve months, some which will likely be moderately difficult (don’t want to be too ambitious just yet).

The assistant at Cape Union Mart suggested these amphibious guys, which looked pretty cool. He liked that they were breathable, easy to clean, could get wet without a problem and were durable and comfortable.

I have always hiked in takkies, but there has also been the suggestion that I get a pair of hiking boots. They also seem pretty easy to clean, they’re waterproof and very durable. The big thing is the ankle support (which I believe is a big incentive if you know what you’re talking about – I don’t), but the deterrent is that I will have to wear hiking boots all the time, because I certainly don’t have space for walking shoes as well.

I am keen to invest in a good pair of somethings and will spend whatever’s reasonable. I’ve been won over by Saloman and the shoes I liked were the Saloman amphibian-type walking shoes ( R900) and the Saloman ladies hiking boots ( R1400).

 So what are your thoughts??
Please let me know ASAP because I’m keen to buy them this weekend to start walking them in in Kenton next week. Your advice is much appreciated!