Choices, Choices

All right, here is one of the biggest decisions to make about this trip:

Socks.

Socks suck. socks get stinky. You have to wash and dry socks all the time. On the go. When its raining. In or on your stinky pack. I have better things to do than wash socks half the trip.

In Tropical climates like southeast Asia, I only wore sandals and it was perfect. The second time I traveled to Thailand for 60 days I actually brought sandals and boots, and ended up wearing the boots 4 days and carrying them the other 56.

Here is a great quote National Geographic Conservation Fellow Mike Fay gives after 456 days and over 2,000 miles on foot across the central African rainforest:

"Don't bother with shoes or boots. Water and sand mix in shoes to turn feet into hamburger. I wore sport sandals every day -- and when needed some duct tape."

The reason to doubt this scenario this time is we will be in some serious mud and cold weather, as well as probably soaked to the bone on hikes. It may be nice to have the protection afforded by boots.

My current Sandals of choice are called Keen, which I like to call Tevas on crack:

Keen Sandals have extra heavy-duty foot protection for wet and disagreeable environments. The only drawback I have seen so far is its a little harder to remove debris that finds it way into them. I think I will also bring my old tevas as a backup, just in case.

I'm hoping the benefits will outweigh the pain of wet boots and socks.