May the Road Rise Up to Meet Me in Comfortable Shoes

When I start planning a vacation, I immediately start to fret about my feet. The first time we ever took a big trip I brought a pair of shoes that seemed comfortable but gave me blisters. When I think of my time in York I don't remember the cathedral and the brilliant stained glass, I remember my massacred feet wincing along the cobbles in deceptively cute walking shoes. I've had a grudge against Skechers ever since.

Face it, when you're visiting a new country you are going to practically kill yourself to see everything and get your money's worth so you can tell everyone back home "Of course, I saw that! What do you think I am, a lazy tourist?" If you have any hope in succeeding, you have to have the cooperation of each of your ten toes and the various other bits at the end of your legs.

Jill's sad feet mummified in moleskin

When my friend Jill and I walked the Camino de Santiago we were obsessed with our feet since we relied on them to take us about 200 miles from Leon to Santiago de Compostela. Jill's boots gave her all sorts of pain. My Salomon Trail Runners worked well for me, even though my feet got really really really really (plus twelve more really's) tired.

Which brings me back to these babies

Have you ever worn Doc Martens? The only ones I remember from my youth weighed as much as a small pig, something I didn't want to lug around. But lately I've been searching for a travel boot that I could water proof for our next adventure in the Emerald Isle. No you silly, that's not the produce section at Safeway. It's Ireland! Which I hear is just a short grudge/accent away from England.

I found these boots at a bargain price and after waltzing around a few trails and the neighborhood wearing these and shorts (hey it's still hotter than h-e-double toothpick here in Arizona) they feel quite good. Not as good as flip flops but then, nothing is. 

Am I making a big mistake? 

Am I going to be suing 

Doctor Marten for malpractice?