It was five years ago. We had just arrived in Australia for the first time and had three weeks ahead of us on the trip of a lifetime. Then my feet and shins started to hurt. Walking just a few blocks was painful. What could this mean for our trip with two people who planned to walk and hike LOTS in the coming weeks?

What was going on?

For some reason I thought that it might be my shoes – a pair of sandals I was wearing. We went to a mall and I found a pair of Vionic flip flops – advertised as having great arch support.

I put them on immediately. As we walked out of the mall, I nearly burst out crying. Joy tears. The pain was entirely gone. It never came back our entire trip, and those old sandals went instantly into the trash can.

In the years since that first pair of Vionic shoes, I have regretted nearly every pair of other-brand shoes that I have bought. Learning slowly, I now just go straight to their website when I want a pair of non-triathlon shoes (ie, anything other than running and cycling shoes).

If you do well with high arch support, check them out. They have a really large variety of shoes stylish (though what would I know about style?) and otherwise.

If you have other foot issues, then I hope that you too will find the shoes that work well for your body!!

(Note: this site is not monetized and I was not paid or offered anything to say this, indeed Vionic has no idea and will probably never know).