As can clearly be seen, these shoes are made for walking. I found the above old scuffed Clark’s a few weeks ago and remembered how wonderful it was to walk in them. I don’t have a difficult time finding comfortable shoes. My feet are still relatively easy to please, despite recent bouts with arthritic pain.

Many years ago, I had a pair of Sebago Docksides that I’d worn throughout travels across South East Asia. At some point, I decided to leave them in a place I often stayed at when in Bangkok, the C & C Guest House in the Banglampoo district near Chao Phraya River, not too far from Khao San Road.

One of the owners, a sweet lady named Nit, promised to store my old shoes until the next time I returned. I never made it back to the new C & C before they closed (the old one burned down after a fire that killed several staff and guests), but a Swedish friend of mine did and brought my tired old Docksides back to me in Sweden. Eventually, I integrated them into a sculpture at art school in Visby, Gotland sometime in 1992.

I tend to stick to a few choice shoe brands; Red Wing, Clark’s, Salomon, and Nike. I wonder how many pairs of shoes I’ve gone through in the course of my lifetime? Two pairs a year would mean I’ve walked in a bit over 100 pairs of shoes so far. That’s a lot of shoes and a lot of mileage.