The only pair of shoes I own.

Okay. I have a confession to make. I used to have a shoe problem. Before I went nomad, I owned nearly 200 pairs of shoes. (I wish I was kidding. I probably could have bought groceries for the rest of my life with the money I've spent on shoes). A former partner once helped me cull that number down to half, but I still owned an obscene number of pairs of shoes. 

When I went nomad, so did over 75% of my belongings. I donated or sold over 350 pounds worth of "stuff" and downsized. A ton. Today, between my carry-on suitcase (that has now traveled over 150,000 miles since I bought it) and my backpack, I carry less than 50 pounds of belongings with me (and a lot of that can be attributed to work gear - laptop, camera, etc.).

A couple months ago, I did a post on my nomad essentials and now I'm taking it a step further, by confessing another secret. This self-professed shoe addict owns only two pairs of shoes. And both are Tieks.

Photo Credit: Charuk Studios

I had never heard of Tieks until I was packing up to go to Inspired Retreat last fall. As we approached our time in Nashville, we got an email letting us know that Tieks was sponsoring the Retreat, and so I picked up my first pair. Mustard Yellow, my only brand color (you know, since my brand is B&W). From September of last year to mid-March of this year, that pair of Tieks was literally the only pair of shoes I carried with me (with the exception of a week in Chicago where I also carried my snow boots). This nomad life I lead means that in that time, those Tieks have walked approximately 1.68 MILLION steps (and somehow they're still going strong). They've ran through airports, climbed countless flights of stairs, surveyed many city (and country) sights, stood on subway platforms, and served as slippers in many of the Airbnbs I've stayed in over the past 6 months. 

In mid-March I broke down and had to get another pair of Tieks. (Mustard Yellow, again. I'm really bad at branching out.) Now, I carry two pairs of Tieks with me, just in case one pair happens to get wet from rain or the elements (you know, because they're the only shoes I carry with me). As of today, between the two pairs of shoes, they've walked approximately 2.1 MILLION steps (and counting). They've survived temps as cold as -15F and as warm as 102F. They've carried me over 20,000 miles in the air and over 1,050 miles on foot. They've boarded nearly 40 planes this year (and traveled through airport security the same number of times - yuck). 

What I'm trying to say is, these are the only pair of shoes that I own. These little yellow buddies help me cross land, sea, and air, and literally make this nomad year possible. If you haven't worn a pair of Tieks before, you need to. If they can stand the test of time in my lifestyle (and still be going strong after all that), they'll survive whatever you throw at them too. 

Tieks - my secret love affair.