Except, blisters aren't funny. At all. Ever. What is funny is when you realize you handled a whole situation incorrectly from the start and it cost you several weeks. Yea, no, that's not funny either.
The REI in Tysons has been there for a long time and I first set foot in it on July 18, 2017 and it quite literally changed my life. I put my boots and all of my socks and sock liners in a bag and trudged into the boot fitting class, bound and determined to fix my boot issues. It was a small class - only 6 of us were there - but the 90 minutes went by way too fast.
Did you know that there are people in the world who hold certifications on boot fitting? I kid you not. These people are able to assist you with the right size and style of boot and they possess a piece of paper that shouts it out to the world. I also believe that they may be wizards, but I digress.
Wes taught us how to measure our feet, a pretty important step in selecting footwear, and gave us the best advice on how a shoe should fit - the widest part of your foot should be in the widest part of the shoe. So, the salesmen pushing on your toes to find them - not a good way to determine fit. My mind was blown.
Wes also showed us different ways to tie our boots, different benefits in boots and we chatted about sock wear. He explained why our packing list for an 8 day hike said to bring only 4 pairs of socks. I promptly returned half of the socks I bought. The man is a genius. For his final act, he took me out to the shoe area after class and in less than 5 minutes had me in a pair of boots that fit perfectly.
THEY WERE ALSO THE BOOTS THAT I HAD NOT BOUGHT ORIGINALLY BECAUSE I AM CHEAP.
Shame is a real thing. But so is the internet where I found the same boots for less than the cheaper boots I had purchased in a cute, discontinued color. (Thank you Campsaver.com). So, I wound up with the boots I originally researched at a discounted price. Shame got back on the bus out of town.
So far, I have logged about 13 miles in them and no blisters. I even walked through a puddle very slowly to confirm they were waterproof. Insert a happy face. But also insert a lesson. If you are going to buy boots for the first time, go to REI and see a certified boot fitter.
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