I try to keep the amount of stuff that I own to a minimum. After living in one city in Thailand for nearly 15 years I had acquired a bunch of stuff, and most of it was something that I just ended up selling, giving away, or throwing out. Since then I have lived a transient lifestyle and I have discovered that I prefer this way of life even though I do miss certain aspects of acquiring "stuff."
I live my life thinking that all of my life needs to fit into two suitcases and a dog carrier so if I buy anything, I need to get rid of something that I already have. Don't worry, I'm not just tossing shoes in the bin: There are a number of charities around here where you can donate old clothes for the poor and that is what I do.
I do exercise every now and then though and the time had well and truly come for me to upgrade my footwear.
I'm a big fan of New Balance shoes because they are one of the few brands that offer "wide" versions of their shoes. I have been a fan for a while now and if I have a choice, I will always choose New Balance because they also seem to last longer than other brands.
It can prove quite difficult to get New Balance in Vietnam. There is only 1 store that I am aware of that sells them and it is all the way down in Saigon. Even if you get there, you are very unlikely to find any size 12 shoes - which is what I need - since the average Vietnamese person has significantly smaller feet than I do.
Thankfully, friend of mine is an importer of large size shoes and clothing and focuses on the expat population who all have trouble finding clothes that are in Western sizes. These shoes were not cheap, even though I got a "mates rates" discount. I still had to pay around $100 for these shoes which is a lot more than I like to spend on anything that I wear. Good thing I only do it every couple of years. There is always the chance that they are knock-offs as well since that is the way of the land over here in South East Asia but hopefully since I know the guy and he is in my bowling league, he wouldn't do that to me.
My old ones which I have had for around a decade are kind of falling apart and I'm not disappointed about that. I think that a decade for a pair of shoes is a pretty good lifespan and I was able to extend the life of these bad boys by creative use of super glue and other adhesives. The tread is nearly completely worn out and there are also holes in the top that I can't imagine how that happened.
I am not a fancy or stylish person at all and if I have a choice, I will almost always opt to wear flip-flops anyway. This is one of the things I quite like about living in a tropical country: It is almost always acceptable to wear flip-flops in any environment. This was true even moreso in Thailand where it was expected of you to remove your shoes upon entering almost any establishment. It's a lot easier to just kick off your shoes than to unlace them, as I am sure you can imagine.
So while I am not pleased about how much I had to pay for my new kicks, I am hopeful that they will be a bit of a game-changer as far as exercise is concerned. I didn't do any research about these shoes, I just know that they are a brand that I have liked for many years and my options were extremely limited. Beggars can't be choosers and even though I am barely 6 feet tall, going into a shoe store here in Vietnam quickly makes you feel like Shaquille O'Neil because they almost certainly aren't going to have anything that is going to fit you.
They already passed the Nadi sniff test so later on today I think I'll break them in on the road. Hopefully they work out because I am not going to buy more!