We Messed Up
What’s the number one rule when you are preparing for a hike? BREAK IN YOUR SHOES. What did we do? We wore ours for exactly one week before walking 260km in them.
Now, I am going to start with one excuse before we go ahead and list all the reasons why this was stupid. Excuse inbound, to save ourselves some money (thanks to the exchange rate between New Zealand and the UK), we decided to order our shoes in NZ and have Toby’s mum bring them over ahead of our Camino trip.
The maths was simple, really.
Buying in the UK: Salomon XT-6 - £165 = $373.95 NZD
Buying in NZ: Salomon XT-6 - $340.00 NZD
Total savings of: $33.95
Buying in the UK: Vans Crosspath XC - £140 = $317.29 NZD
Buying in NZ: Vans Crosspath XC - $259.99 NZD
Total savings of: $57.30
Thanks to Toby’s mum bringing the shoes over, we saved $91.25 NZD. The only catch was that she was arriving one week before we left. I thought this wouldn’t be a major issue as this was my second pair of Salomon XT-6, and I had worn my last pair to the point of no return (a.k.a. no tread left). Therefore, I expected to slip my new pair on as if I were Cinderella with her glass slipper, and I would hike into the sunset without a blister in sight. Boy, how wrong was I!
Toby, on the other hand, had been struggling to find a shoe that could double as a casual street shoe and something he could easily hike a mountain or two in. He was like Goldilocks trying to find the perfect porridge. It felt as if he had tried on every pair of Salomon, North Face, and Asics in sight, with no standout winner. I was almost at my breaking point, thinking how hard it is for a guy to find a pair of shoes, when we came across the Vans shop in Edinburgh. Finally, my Goldilocks had found his porridge in the form of the Vans Crosspath XC.
Now, this was all well and good, but the reality was that after not wearing the shoes for a few decent hikes, with the socks we had planned to wear, we were doomed! By the end of day one, we peeled off our socks to find blisters in areas we didn’t even know they could form. While we weren’t alone in this experience, as we later met lots of hikers with similar stories, we did pick up a few tips along the way.
Always break in your shoes beforehand. By this, we mean not just wearing them for a few evening strolls or around the mall, but actually putting on your intended walking outfits and hiking similar distances to your upcoming adventures.
Wear merino wool socks - we wore Darn Tough as their product and ethos resonated with us the best. The benefits of merino wool are unmatched for outdoor activities; it is moisture-wicking, thermoregulating, odour-resistant, and, best of all, grown in New Zealand on our wonderful sheep.
Potentially size up or wear wider shoes. We found that after walking 30km+, our feet would swell slightly, but that was enough to cause rubbing in places we had never experienced before. Because a priority of ours was to have shoes that could also be worn casually, they were slimmer than the shoes other people had. Therefore, if we were to walk such a long hike again, we would either size up or wear wider shoes or even running shoes. A lot of the trail we were on was concrete or cobblestones, which would have been best with a performance running shoe or with more cushion.
All of this is not to say that our shoes weren’t great! We had no major issues, and apart from the blisters, which were a common occurrence amongst most pilgrims, we loved our shoes. Wearing the Darn Tough merino wool socks was a game-changer, and they may become a staple in our wardrobe!
