Shoe Recommendations

This isn't a big tip, but often it is the little things that can make a big difference in unpleasant weather.

When the weather is warm and sunny, we don't give much thought to the sorts of shoes that we wear (though we wish it was Teva weather all the time!). But in cold and/or wet weather, we have a couple of specific recommendations for footwear.

In very cold weather, or cold and wet weather, we have slip-ons similar to Merrell Mocs. They are waterproof and adequate for most of the hiking that we want to do. We can get them on and off faster than other styles of shoes, which can cut down on the amount of wetness that we allow inside our camper (imagine driving, pouring rain). It also allows us to close the doors faster, and thus preserve more cabin heat. And when someone needs to get up and pee in the middle of the night, there is less commotion made getting ready for the trip, and less annoying light is allowed in to disturb the other partner's sleep as you enter and exit.

In warmer weather, we simply wear flip flops - same easy on and off concept - and we keep a towel in the cabin to dry off our feet.

We keep a small supply of used grocery bags in the cabin, which we stuff into discarded Kleenex cannister tubes. One use for them is for storing our wet shoes, in order to keep our bedding dry. Other times they are simply used as trash bags, or we will start a bag of old books, DVDs and/or clothes to drop off at the next thrift store that we happen by. We find it handier to have them in the cabin, than having to dig around in the galley or elsewhere for them (we also keep a supply in the galley, mainly for use as trash bags).

 

I'm not sure how good an idea it is to wear flipflops at campgrounds (or bring shoes into the TD, which some do). The dirt at campgrounds is filthy (though at least it's likely to have less garden chemicals in it than a suburban yard).
Food waste, animal waste, and perhaps human waste. Campsites are not the "natural world" - they are a combo kitchen/bathroom that never gets cleaned. That towel you bring into your cabin would likely make most of us ill if we touched it and didn't wash our hands, I am guessing. (so consider how dirty your hands are after you wipe your feet down)

I have encountered ONE campsite that uses steaming hot water and pressurized water to clean the campsite. That might be the only clean campsite I've encountered. Slick rock campsites might also be fairly clean, as there isn't much soil and vegetation for the bacteria and viruses to hang out in.

(and don't even get me started on the picnic table in the campground.)

But I suppose all of this exposure does make our immune systems stronger....

-Al (the party-pooper)

 

Whatever doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. Flip flops our bid for immortality. ;-)

Besides, what Lana tracks into the cabin is way worse than what ends up on the soles of our shoes.

There are plenty of trade offs and shortcomings to storing shoes outside of the cabin. The particular solution that anyone chooses will be based upon which factors that they feel have more importance for them. Early on we tried some suggestions for outside storage, and for us there were enough drawbacks to outweigh the benefits.

[We do normally store our Tevas outside, unless heavy rain is expected.]

 

from a favorite artist (though the more recent videos are higher quality)

 

yeah, I can be pretty ridiculous, some times

I hope you enjoyed the video. He and his band are excellent, if you like that genre.

I've actually eaten a BBQd salmon that I had dropped into the gravel at a state park campground. Brushed off the dirty gravel and ate my dinner. Likely I ingested a little racoon or skunk urine that evening. So I'm not as germphobic as my earlier comment would indicate, really.

But for some reason I do hate the idea of shoes in the cabin.

-Al

 

I'm a fan of dirt, but campsites are pretty dirty dirt as dirt goes, I think.

and there is no benefit to kids playing in dirt that dogs, for example, have shat in - and many campgrounds still allow pets and many owners allow their pets to foul campsites. If you took a look at the dirt at your next campsite, you will likely see plenty of microtrash. And that's just the stuff you can see.

 

Believe me, by the time we leave a campsite, our dog has assured that it is spotless within the radius of her lead. She will have devoured anything remotely edible that was left behind by others (we don't like it, but it is hard to stop her). After two years on the road, she has never had any negative effects. So if she can eat it, we certainly can walk in it (I guess she is our version of the canary in the coal mine).

Despite what we have all been told, germs doe not cause disease. Lack of exposure to pathogens and a weakened immune system lead to disease (though certain aspects of modern life as also contributing factors). If penicillin hadn't been discovered 70 years ago it is likely we would all understand that. Instead, we've developed a culture of treating symptoms with drugs, rather than furthering research and education to understand causes...

Sorry about the soapbox - sometimes it's a bit too hard to hold back. ;-)