a shoe-journey.

After one month of hard searching, G and I have painfully parted with $500 in exchange for a treat for our feet! Since we love traveling so much, we reckoned that we should equip ourselves with great gear. A good pair of shoes is one of the most important travel articles a traveller could take along - it could make or break a trip.

And so our quest for the perfect traveling all-weather shoe began...

We knew we wanted a good-looking, tough walking/hiking shoe that was lined with a gore-tex membrane. My old pair of puma sports shoes had done well where small-scale hiking and walking were concern but failed miserably in winter and wet-weather. Waterproofing therefore topped my list of must-haves followed by durability, and looks.

Although there are many different types of waterproofing, gore-tex was the first to pioneer such technology. Furthermore, gore-tex is a waterproof and breathable fabric that makes it very versatile - one shoe for all seasons!

G's pair.

Men's City Adventure Front Country Leather Oxford

These are not so much hiking shoes as they are city shoes. They have anti-fatigue technology which is especially great for G because he has funny feet that tends to tire out after long walks. It is made of leather and partially lined with pigskin leather for softness. The mesh inserts provide ventilation, and most importantly, they are lined with a gore-tex membrane!  G purchased the low-cut shoes as he travels to temperate and tropical climates more so than he does to winter climates. Besides, he can wear this here in sunny island Singapore as well! G's next trip is at the end of this month - his timberland shoes are awaiting their maiden voyage to Cambodia!

my pair

Female Gore Tex Franconia Ridge Trail Footwearf

It is so difficult for a woman to buy a nice pair of boots in Singapore. This was one of the first pair of boots I set my eyes on and after more that a hundred pairs later, its funny to think I came full circle. It's very comfortable and my feet feel safe and snug inside. It's covered in leather and fastened to eva soles (purports to cushion feet for when walking). I tried to search for this pair online ... I think its a rather old pair because it seems to have been discontinued - why  are they still selling these at stratospheric prices?!

Oh well. I hope this pair will take me from the depths of the sahara desert in Morocco to the Canada's coldest climates!

Why we did not pick the others

NorthFace - This was Timberland's closest competitor. It is value for money, priced at more than 100 dollars lower than an average Timberland shoe. Moreover, it is lined with a gore-tex membrane. What I didn't like though was that they did not make classier-looking shoes - their range of leather shoes paled in comparison. Perfect for hiking and hiking only - does not double up as a dress shoe.

Columbia- Does not use gore-tex, but omni-tex.

Saloman- Uses gore-tex, but does not have nice-looking ones. Very small presence here in Singapore.

Merrell- These were going very cheaply throughout Singapore. The cheaper ones though were not lined with gore-tex while the rest of them were not as well made as Timberland's.

Geds - The salesmen for Geds made a passionate elevator pitch for his brand. Unfortunately, we later found out that it was made in taiwan, and we didn't really like that.

Ecco - This would probably be the runner-up to Timberland's boots where women are concern. They sell pretty decent, sturdy boots! My only gripe was that they had nothing in brown, and I really wanted mine to be brown.