A new pair of Timberland TravelGear shoes I recently purchased have given me horrendously painful blisters, almost rendering me unable to walk. These shoes are a replacement for a pair of slip-on GEOX work shoes that have stretched too much (perhaps from unsuccessfully navigating flooded Bangkok streets). Those shoes replaced another pair of shoes lost to the gods of Bangkok klongs (canals) as detailed previously. Although the convenience of slip-on shoes are obvious, the changing weather (combinations of sometimes wet, usually humid, and almost always hot) slip-ons get significantly stretched.

So I know shoes need to be broken into, but this was by far one of my more painful experiences. I also realize that the TravelGear line of shoes are nowhere to be found on Timberland's website, or in North American stores, apparently. Even though it won raves, design awards and good reviews from an acquaintance of mine, I really wonder not only why it was taken off their website, but I can barely find any more information about the line. They're still being sold in South-east Asia, however.

So tomorrow, we're heading up to Pai and Chiang Mai for an extra long weekend (Monday is a public holiday) for a much-needed R&R break from (killah!) work. And we'll be doing photography, hopefully some good stuff for our wedding website. My blisters gotten better (after spending much of last night doing heel triage) and I hope they'll be gone by the end of the weekend.

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