Shoes: Full Circle

My first shoe picture was August 2012—I didn’t post those pictures, so the first shoe post was a month later, in September.  Now that it's August 2013, I thought I’d post those first pictures alongside the final ones.  If you hover your mouse over each image, it will change to display the shoes as they were a year ago.  If you’re using a touch screen, I’m not aware of a way to display mouse-over/hover effects, but the original images are at the very end of the post.
The Ecco’s are showing quite a bit of wear in that year, but are still holding up well.  They were a great investment for a year of constant travel!  I knew I didn’t want to try to buy replacement shoes outside the US, where finding a size 12 would be a challenge.  They were very flexible; they look decent enough for a nice dinner, with a little brushing up, but they also were very serviceable hiking shoes, even for three days on the Inca Trail, including pouring rain (my feet were drier than the rest of me).  GoreTex is pretty awesome in shoes.

My Tom’s are faring much better than I expected, for a lightweight, cloth shoe.  Definite wear in the heel tread, but the uppers aren’t much different, aside from a bit of fine sand blasting from Egypt and Jordan. 

My trail shoes don’t look too different after a year—more’s the shame.  It’s a bit hard to see through the mud and grass from our last run, but there is some tread wear.  Lana’s running shoes generally look pretty good in the upper when the tread is already shot, so these may be following that model.
If the mouse-over effect doesn’t work for you, here are the shoes in August 2012:
New Ecco:

New Toms:

New Trail shoes:

Shoes: July

The Ecco Trail IV’s were in heavy use in June.  We did a lot of walking on cobblestone streets in Central Europe, and they insulated my feet from the uneven cobbles telegraphing through the soles. They were also extremely useful during torrential rain in Prague, which eventually saturated and penetrated my umbrella, while my toes remained dry and comfortably warm.  However, all that walking, on top of heavy daily use for the past 10 months is finally taking a toll.  The latex outer tread is starting to wear through in one spot, in my right heel, as seen below.  One short seam on the instep of my right shoe has also come loose, but isn’t getting any worse in the past month, so I’m not too concerned.  On a side note, I had no idea Ecco was a Danish company until I saw multiple Ecco stores in each large Danish town we visited.

Shoes: June

Another month, another set of shoe pictures.  The Ecco Trail IV’s have been through a lot of rocky, sandy hiking in Egypt and Jordan, and are holding up pretty well, but the right shoe has one minor seam that’s letting loose.  I’ve got an eye on it, and may need to visit a cobbler somewhere in Europe.  I haven’t brushed them for a while, as I’ve been hiking in rough terrain with them at least once a week, and what’s the point?  It’d be like brushing your teeth before eating a poppy seed and spinach salad.  Unfortunately, that makes them a magnet for wandering shoe shine men, and at least once, I’ve had to physically stop someone from trying to apply some unknown cleaning solution to them.
My SuperFeet insoles are showing some pretty heavy wear, though it’s not visible here.

Shoes - May

It’s time for the monthly shoe time-lapse.  It also looks like it’s time for a shoe shine!  

Shoes: April

Over halfway there, and the Eccos are still holding up nicely.  They could use a little brushing though.

The Toms are reflecting the dusty, messy streets we’ve been walking, but the shoes are still doing great.

It’s been way too hot to run, so very little change on these guys.  Our last run was in Luang Prabang, Laos, so that gunk in the tread is probably some alms rejected by the monks there.

I think my flip flops are showing the most wear.  I’d worry about them lasting, but I suspect they’ll be of limited use in Europe, so they might get shipped home along with backup drive #3.

Shoes: March

It’s time for the monthly shoe shot.  The Eccos are still my workhorse shoe, and are holding up quite well, from rainy countryside roads to sidewalks and subways.

No big change for the running shoes or the Toms, though more wear on the latter.  They were really great city shoes in Hong Kong and Singapore.

The new shoe on the block has gotten a lot of wear too, especially in Bali.  They are surprisingly comfortable.  Even Lana was impressed when she borrowed them to run outside quickly.  They have a bit of arch, and a soft foot bed, but great grip.

Shoes: February

The Ecco’s are still holding up nicely, and we’ve had some extreme temperatures to test them in.  My feet were still reasonably comfy in them in the high 90s, with 80% humidity.  Goretex is amazing.

Shoes - January

My shoes have made it 4 months, and many miles.  The Ecco’s brushed up nicely after their abuse on the glaciers, but they do have a few deep scratches that are there for good, now.  There doesn’t appear to be a lot more wear on the tread than last month.

I’ve put some more miles on my running shoes finally, but they’re still nearly new.   We’re finding it a lot easier to pick safe and pleasant places to run in New Zealand, weather willing.

And the Tom’s are holding up better than I expected, given how much I’ve been wearing them.  We’ve seen very few people in NZ with them (or similar), and have never seen anything like them in the many, many shoe stores we’ve walked past.

I'm still quite pleased with all three shoes--no regrets about any of them, or with lugging them halfway around the world.

Shoes: December

 My Ecco’s have been through a lot since the November picture; 26 miles on the Inca Trail, the rubble-strewn sidewalks of Bolivia, and most recently glacier trekking.  The scuffs from the crampon straps are still visible from the latter.  However, they’re holding up well.  After the Inca Trail, I brushed them up, and they looked better than when we started the trip.  They were as comfortable in the steamy rain forest as they were on the ice.
My Toms have seen a lot more wearing, if not obvious wear, since the last photo.  I walked all over Buenos Aires in them—they’re a great, light walking shoe, and appear to be holding up well still, though they’ve had much easier treatment than my Ecco’s.
My running shoes have only seen one more run since the last photo, so I’m not even going to bother with a picture this month.  It’s been a hard month for running, with head colds and not a lot of great places to run safely and enjoyably.  I hope we’ll get more running in Chile.

Shoes: November

It’s hard to believe it’s been two months since we started!  My Ecco’s have seen a lot more wear, but are holding up well.  As before, not as much wear on either the Tom’s or my running shoes as I’d like, but I’ve been wearing the Tom’s in the evening after a long day, and it’s nice to have a lighter shoe, as well as a different fit.  We’ve been challenged to find practical and safe spots to run, but Lima has been a great spot for running.

Shoes: October

My shoes are holding up well to one month of travel.  I’m quite pleased with the Eccos; I’m wearing them pretty much every day, and they show no serious wear.  They’re comfortable in hot and cold weather, and they shed water like a duck.  They worked very well for a 7 mile hike, with great traction on polished rocks and slippery leaves.  The Toms pack so small that I keep forgetting I have them, but they’re very handy when I do remember.  I don’t have as many miles on the running shoes as I’d like, but they are a bit dirtier, at least.

Shoes: September

One of our friends suggested I take pictures of my shoes once a month for the blog.  It’ll be interesting to see how they wear.
My main shoes don’t look quite this bad under non-clinical light.  I got a smear of oil on the left side of the left shoe the morning we packed the car up.  Eh.   The tread is holding up great, even after hiking several miles on lava rock.  While it looks like the tread is already scuffed at the heel, it’s actually just dust that doesn’t get scrubbed off, because the tread in the last inch tapers upwards, away from contact with the ground.  So far, they’re pretty comfortable even in hot conditions.

My flat-packing alternate shoes were showing weird tread wear the first day I owned them.  We’ll see how they hold up.  They are very light, and quite comfy, but my heels definitely hurt if I stand in them a lot.  Absolutely not the shoes I’ll pick for a day of museum standing (that’ll be the Ecco’s above).  Lana loves hers, but she also stands barefoot on hard floors, which makes my feet hurt just watching her.

My trail shoes weren’t brand new to start, but only had about 20 miles on them.  I’ve put another 15ish on them since we hit the road.  They’re in great condition, and work really well for street/path running as well as off-road.  I suspect they’ll need replacement before either of the above pairs, probably between 300 and 500 miles (4-6 months at our current mileage rate).