Packing List for Alaska
Saturday
Bottom: AE jeggings
Top: 77 kids black three-quarter sleeve shirt
Shoes: Pink leather boots
Accessories.: Pink chevron infinity scarf, curly hair, and fake diamond stud earrings
Sunday
Bottoms: LB jeggings
Top: Orange stripped F21 shirt
Shoes: Orange canvas shoes
Accessories: Fake diamond stud earrings, mint scarf, and straight hair
Monday
Bottom: Pocket studded jeans with big stitches
Top: Bow tank w/ sweater
Shoes: Teal canvas shoes
Accessories: Straight hair, and fake diamond stud earrings earrings
Tuesday
Bottom: Blue leggings
Top: Blue cami with zip-up Gilly Hicks hoodie
Shoes: Silver fashion boots
Accessories: Curly hair, and fake diamond stud earrings
The soon to be teenager was proud of the plans she had made for the family’s trip to Alaska. Conveniently scheduled over her June 3 birthday, she was excited about the fact that in the summer the days were long and the nights were short. She had heard, in fact, that the nights were so short that by June 3, just a few weeks away from the Summer Solstice, it would likely not even get completely dark. The birthday girl planned not only her entire wardrobe, but also to make her entire family stay awake to see all of the daylight on her special day.
Oh, the plans of the young. Fancy boots and no sleep. It was looking like an interesting family vacation to say the least.
How Well Do Your Vacation Plans Usually Turn Out?
Can you say, “Waterproof, lightweight hiking boots?”
For all of her fashion planning, the young traveler left an important detail off her packing list. Luckily, her mother had purchased and packed the needed waterproof, lightweight hiking boots as a birthday gift. After the first day of slipping and sliding on the partial mud, partial snow trail, the soon to be teenager realized that hiking in Alaska needed to be more about practicality, and less about fashion. In fact, that one pair of sturdy lightweight hiking boots were the most worn pair off shoes by the second day of the trip!
In theory, adults should know the necessity of packing a good sturdy pair of trail walking shoes on any vacation that includes a walk to a glacier and a hike around a mountain lake. Interestingly enough, however, many adults, especially women, place fashion above function when it comes to footwear.
Call them adventure shoes, call them trekking sandals, call them whatever you want, but one key to a successful vacation is to make sure that you have the right shoes along. And while some shopping vacations may require several colors of fashion boots or several different sets of high heels, most vacations involve a good deal of walking. And for that you need a pair of light hiking shoes or lightweight hiking boots.
Did you know, for instance, that the weight of your shoes can exert a noticeable drain on your both your energy and stamina? The truth is your shoes might be a bigger drag than you can imagine. Experienced hikers,for instance, even have a handy saying for this: a pound on your feet equals five pounds on your back. Yikes. That is a lot of extra weight, even if all you are going to do is carry shopping bags around all day.
Experts indicate that carrying an amount of weight on the feet can require as much as 4.7 to 6.4 times as much energy as carrying that same weight on your back. In other words, footwear that is heavy can literally ruin a vacation, whether it is a short week in Alaska or an even shorter weekend at an amusement park.
Even the Best Shoes Do Not Last Forever
Finding a great pair of shoes can be a relief. It is important to remember, however, that no shoe, no matter how good it is, lasts forever. Just as runners know that they will likely need to replace their running shoes every 500 miles or so, vacationers should be aware that after a time even the best shoes begin to break down. Replacing a good pair of shoes before they begin to hurt your feet can be the difference between another great vacation and a vacation that is miserable.
No one says that you cannot care about fashion when you travel. You just have to make sure that your fashionable footwear is comfortable!