Tips for happy feet in the parks? (posted my results on pg. 6)

[Mome Rath]

I'm female, and the Merrill Q-Form sandals did really really well for me on my trip earlier this month. Extremely pleased with them.

 

[amg35]

I wear my crocband flats II.5 navy/raspberry (cute!), and I will have some Vans (wear with ankle socks that don't show) that are broken in.

Honestly, I think the key is to get used to walking a lot before the trip. I walk to and from work (even in very hot summer), so roughly 8 miles a day, 5 days a week. I wear my crocs/sneakers and my feet are good to go. I may get another pair of crocs (same ones) before I go and break them in, the ones I have now may look beat up by the time we go in October.

Walk, walk, walk before your trip!

 

[JennyMP03]

I returned from our trip on Sunday. I must say, after using advice from this thread, my feet were MUCH better! I had moments where they were tired and achy at the end of a day, sure. But I never had the level pf pain I had on our previous trip, which had me limping around and stopping every few feet by the last days of our trip.

I used advice from this thread and I'm so grateful for it. Here was my foot care routine:

1) I only wore two pairs of shoes: the new Teva Tirra sports sandals I bought for this trip, and the Nike Airmax sneakers I already had. I added $10 gel insoles to the sneakers. On my last trip, I had the Nikes, some Converse, and combat boots when it rained a few nights. The Teva/Nike combo worked much better. I actually wore the Tevas most of the time and LOVED them. They supported my feet perfectly, absorbed shock, and never blistered or rubbed the skin uncomfortably. I'm moving to South Korea in August for a job and will be purchasing more Teva Tirras for touring the country there.

Finding good shoes is definitely the first and most important step.

2) If my feet felt tired at all, I took an Aleve in the morning.

3) I brought a disposable foil pan and a bag of Epsom salt in my suitcase. Every night, I poured some salt into the pan, filled it with cool (not warm) water, and sat it on a towel in front of the TV to soak my feet for ten minutes.

4) I rubbed foot cream on my feet after drying them.

5) Then I elevated them on pillows while watching TV until going to sleep.

Not part of my normal routine, but I think it helped too: we went to the pool many days of our trip, and I sat on the edge and allowed my legs and feet to float in the water. The cool water helped to relax them.


So thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread. I can't tell you how happy I was to be able to walk around for the entire week without feeling miserable pain. I hope it's helped others too-- happy feet go a long way in making a happy trip!

 

[suffieldhockeymom]

I have 3 pairs of sandals and wear them mostly all year (even in the snow) because they are so comfortable. I bring my running shoes with gel insoles to WDW as well as the sandals. Teva Tiarra, LL Bean explorer sanadals, and Teva Boothbay (from LL Bean). I just bought a pair of Keens and they seem very cushiony. I also found that staying really hydrated helps a lot as well.

 

[AngiTN]

I returned from our trip on Sunday. I must say, after using advice from this thread, my feet were MUCH better! I had moments where they were tired and achy at the end of a day, sure. But I never had the level pf pain I had on our previous trip, which had me limping around and stopping every few feet by the last days of our trip.

I used advice from this thread and I'm so grateful for it. Here was my foot care routine:

1) I only wore two pairs of shoes: the new Teva Tirra sports sandals I bought for this trip, and the Nike Airmax sneakers I already had. I added $10 gel insoles to the sneakers. On my last trip, I had the Nikes, some Converse, and combat boots when it rained a few nights. The Teva/Nike combo worked much better. I actually wore the Tevas most of the time and LOVED them. They supported my feet perfectly, absorbed shock, and never blistered or rubbed the skin uncomfortably. I'm moving to South Korea in August for a job and will be purchasing more Teva Tirras for touring the country there.

Finding good shoes is definitely the first and most important step.

2) If my feet felt tired at all, I took an Aleve in the morning.

3) I brought a disposable foil pan and a bag of Epsom salt in my suitcase. Every night, I poured some salt into the pan, filled it with cool (not warm) water, and sat it on a towel in front of the TV to soak my feet for ten minutes.

4) I rubbed foot cream on my feet after drying them.

5) Then I elevated them on pillows while watching TV until going to sleep.

Not part of my normal routine, but I think it helped too: we went to the pool many days of our trip, and I sat on the edge and allowed my legs and feet to float in the water. The cool water helped to relax them.


So thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread. I can't tell you how happy I was to be able to walk around for the entire week without feeling miserable pain. I hope it's helped others too-- happy feet go a long way in making a happy trip!

I love this advice. I think DH and I will both benefit from this. And it seems like it would be super easy to pack in the suitcase.

 

[jeffbear]

If I start getting hot spots on the balls of my feet, which is my normal problem spot, then I generally just use athletic tape and pre-wrap to make sure I've got kind of a wear area that covers the soles of my feet. Looks dumb, but I always wear socks and some sort of running shoe with pretty good cushion (currently on some Adidas Boosts) so nobody knows.

It stinks to high heaven when I cut off the tape at the end of the day, but it works a charm. I picked this up when I was in high school and had an ankle I had to tape up everyday during basketball season. I noticed that I never got blisters on that foot while I sometimes would on the other.