Small van – so many shoes

 

We were taking a late October campervan trip to Scotland and I wanted to make sure I packed the right shoes for our outdoor adventures and camping comfort. So did Mr D.

‘No problems there.’ I thought. ‘We both have plenty of options to choose from.’

But I had forgotten how the small the van was, and how much other outdoor gear I wanted to pack. Here’s the original list of shoes I wanted to take on our campervan expedition. Mr D’s list was similar but (obviously) a tad shorter than mine.

1. Leather walking boots – essential for both campsites and Scottish hill walks
2. Trainers – not as heavy to wear as boots and useful for jogging to the loo
3. Down slippers – I get cold feet and in October in Scotland, there’s a lot of in-the-van time
4. Beach shoes – for loch swimming and hopefully kayaking
5. Walking sandals – quick to put on for night-time loo calls and comfortable for travelling

There was no way packing so many shoes was going to result in a tidy, easy-to-manage campervan. Something we both like.

But I couldn’t decide which ones to leave at home so I did eventually fit them all in. Mr D. whittled his selection down to a much more sensible three pairs, walking boots, outdoor trainers and barefoot sandals. It was nice having plenty of choice but my multi-shoe decision didn’t come without a cost, everytime we needed anything from anywhere, we had to move at least one shoe first.

Did we wear all the shoes we took?

 

It would be great to say that all the shoes we packed turned out to be necessary but sadly that wouldn’t be true. I didn’t spot Mr D. wearing his sandals once (to be fair they’re so small they stayed packed in his holdall and didn’t add to the van mayhem) but he did wear his trainers for some of the driving.

Mostly we both wore our walking boots.

This of course, was because of the level of mud that the combination of woodland camping spots and Scottish autumn can produce. I had forgotten too, how much warmer boots are than trainers. 

After we passed the Lake District on the way up from Devon, it was definitely too cold to even consider sandals but wearing my (newish) leather walking boots so much has done a great job of breaking them in and they should now be super comfy on any longer walks this winter.

I also wore my slippers often.

One night it was so chilly, I was tempted to keep them on in my sleeping bag but the dog must have noticed my cold toes and decided to snuggle inside the bag, right next to them. 

We’re discovering that dogs in campervans are a winning idea in colder weather.