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Practical Wanderlust

Off-Beat Couple's Travel Blog

Travel Tips

The 4 Best Women’s Travel Shoes: Lightweight, Field-Tested, & Cute

September 26, 2018

These 4 best women's travel shoes will take your packing game to the next level! They're field-tested, functional, and legit cute!
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 It took me years to find the perfect combination of women’s travel shoes. Every trip I would stare dubiously at my suitcase, trying to figure out how the heck I was going to cram in the number of shoes I needed to achieve the various activities I wanted to do – you know, adventurous things like walking without hobbling in pain or hiking without hobbling in pain – while also trying to maintain a basic level of not-hideous-ness. 

Squeezing shoes into my luggage was a battle every time I went on a trip. 

But today, that’s all changed. After trying on, returning, trying on again, and field-testing like crazy, I’ve found FOUR absolutely amazing pairs of travel shoes for women. And what’s more, they’re all lightweight and easy to cram into your luggage without taking up a ton of room! With these four shoes, I’m able to cover all of my bases and not think twice about what shoes to pack for trips. It’s changed my travel game, and I’m about to change yours, too!

Table of Contents

  • The Problem With Women's Travel Shoes
  • The Best Travel Flats
  • The Best Women's Travel Boots
  • The Best Women's Sandals for Travel
  • The Best Women's Lightweight Hiking Shoes

Psst: Looking for more travel tips to upgrade your next trip? Take a look at some of our other helpful posts, and don’t forget to read our men’s travel shoes guide!

  • The 3 Best Travel Pants for Women: Functional, Cute, & Field-Tested
  • The Ultimate Guide to Makeup & Beauty for Backpacking
  • Long Haul Flight Essentials & Travel Tips for Economy Fliers

The Problem With Women’s Travel Shoes

I think a lot of the problems with women’s travel shoes actually mirror the problems that women generally face every day, namely the creeping feeling that society doesn’t want us to be able to move very quickly. While some of us are surely able to do things like run from a charging Tyrannosaurus Rex while wearing heels (by the way – if you haven’t seen this Jurassic Park YouTube parody yet, please stop reading right now and go watch it – I’ll wait), the vast majority of us really just need like, comfortable walking shoes. And while your cutest pair of flats may be perfectly adequate for a long day at the office, walking 10+ miles as you explore on cobblestones or sand is a whole different ball game.

Tell me if any of this sounds vaguely familiar in your search for your favorite pair of travel shoes:

✔ There are the shoes that give your feet cramps if you walk in them for more than 20 minutes

✔ There are the shoes that you can totally walk in all day long! … But you have to pay for later with those miserable midnight Charlie Horses (UGH WHY) and a full day of post-exploring hobbling

✔ There are the shoes that are absolutely perfect in every way except for that 1 very specific spot that rubs your skin until it’s a miserable, aching blister. You regularly carry around pieces of Moleskin, bandaids, and duct tape just to stave off the inevitable for as long as possible

✔ And there are the shoes that you loved to pieces … literally, you wore them on 1 trip and they fell apart. You can’t bear to get rid of them because they were so beautiful and perfect, so now you just have a pair of shoes with a giant, gaping hole just mocking you from your closet

Yeah. Things are bleak.

So bleak, in fact, that I literally injured myself in my search for shoes I could wear to do what is currently my full-time job (that would be running around in heels being chased by t-rexes. No, just kidding, it’s travel blogging). 

READ THIS POST
The 3 Best Travel Pants for Women: Functional, Cute, & Field-Tested

Story time! Years ago, back when this blog was merely a twinkle in my eye, I got myself a cute little pair of trainers and thought I’d pick up running as a hobby. It sounded fun. It sounded athletic. It made me think back nostalgically to scenes from Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, where Blake Lively gallops like a gazelle on foreign beaches, blonde hair flying behind her as every leg muscle rippled in beauty and power. I wanted that REAL bad. So I picked up the cutest pair of sneakers I could find, laced them up, downloaded the Couch to 5K app, and hit the road.

2 weeks later, I couldn’t walk. I was in SO MUCH PAIN. Every step felt like I was jabbing a nail into my heel, and the very arches of my feet were so cramped up I started rolling them on frozen water bottles every night just so I could hobble into bed. It got so bad that I started wearing sneakers to work. And I worked in the corporate fashion world, so that was a HUGE faux-pas. 

Turns out I had a raging case of Plantar Fasciitis. I had it for nearly a YEAR. A year of ugly sneakers, hobbling around, rolling my feet on stuff every night, and waking up in horrible pain every morning. It was awful. I was desperate to find a solution, and I was willing to go extremes to relieve my pain. 

No, this isn’t the story of how I developed a raging addiction to nutella. This is the story of how I found barefoot shoes. OK WAIT – I can feel you heading up to click that X in the corner because you’re imagining me wearing those ugly, awful 5-finger shoes. But that’s not what I’m talking about at all!

When I say barefoot shoes, what I mean are shoes that allow my feet to have a full range of motion – thin, flexible soles, WIDE toe-boxes, and no heel at all (the technical term is “zero drop”). When I first started testing these kinds of shoes, I was freaked out by both the fact that I could kinda feel the ground beneath my feet, and the fact that I couldn’t walk more than 5 minutes at a time without feeling like I had just run a mile – my calf muscles were so underdeveloped from years of wearing cute, fashionable shoes that my body had essentially forgotten how to walk. It was eye-opening.

But as I worked my way up by adding a few more minutes of walking in barefoot shoes every day, my plantar fasciitis started going away too. It was like just walking around was stretching my feet out in ways that the ugly foot-cast contraption I’d started wearing every night never could. 

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The Ultimate Guide to Makeup & Beauty for Backpacking

A year later, my feet had developed muscles I never knew they had. I could stand and walk for miles and miles with no pain at all. I could do things at the gym I’d never been able to do before. And I even went full granola for a minute and started hiking and rail-running completely barefoot. Yes, that bit is definitely a bit nutty and no, you don’t have to go quite that far. Today, I even work at a standing desk: I stand all day long whether I’m at home on my computer or running around having adventures, and my feet NEVER slow me down.

So, here’s the point I want to make: every single shoe that I wear for travel allows my feet their full range of motion. So before you run away screaming from the word “barefoot,” consider trying something different – especially if you struggle with foot pain like I did before I changed my attitude towards shoes!

OK, now that I’ve given you my cavewoman spiel (I’m KIDDING they’re not that granola, I promise) let’s get to the actual shoes!

Piggyback ride in the best women's travel flats

The VivoBarefoot Jing Jing travel flats are flexible enough to allow you to do things like jump on your husband’s back without coming tumbling down!

The Best Travel Flats

Bet you didn’t think they made barefoot ballerina flats, didja? Well, they do! They being VivoBarefoot, my favorite barefoot shoe company (psst: they have a 100 day trial so you can anxiously test out that crazy barefoot science for yourself, risk-free). The VivoBarefoot JingJing flat is absolutely adorable and my go-to travel flat. They’re perfect for exploring cities, going out at night (on the rare occasion that I manage to drag myself away from Netflix & drooling on myself to actually do something after dark, that is) and doing ~professional things.

I wear them at conferences, where I walk upwards of 15,000 steps per day as I hustle from booth to booth to beg brands to throw money at me (HAHA just kidding I love my sponsors being a travel blogger is so glamorous whee). I wear them when I’m speaking onstage at those conferences, I wear them when I attend the networking parties that always last all night and cut into my Netflix & drool time, I wear them constantly. Because they are adorable, and I can walk a zillion miles in them and never feel any pain whatsoever.

The best women's travel flat, one of the best women's travel shoes.

Strollin’ around Indianapolis in my VivoBarefoot JingJing flats, the best travel flats for women.

The Jing Jing flat is deceptively simple but masterfully created. I’ve had my pairs for 3 years now and worn them all over the world on multiple trips, and you guys, they don’t even have a scratch. They’re kinda stinky, but that’s pretty much my own fault. 

They’re incredibly thin and light weight, and roll up so small they fit in the palm of my hand. I never give a second thought to packing them, because they don’t take up any room at all. But unlike most thin flats, which wear through in a few months and inevitably fall apart, the Jing Jing is made to last. They feel and look just as good as they did the day I bought them.

To summarize, here’s why I love the VivoBarefoot Jing Jing flat for travel:

✔ Super cute with everything from jeans to dresses

✔ Lightweight and easy to pack

✔ Roll up into teeny palm-sized mini shoes

✔ Comfortable enough to walk in for miles and miles

One more thing, though. And I’m gonna throw in a TMI warning. I tend to get kind of sweaty feet on hot days, so I found a really good little sock to wear with my Jing Jings that helps with the whole absorption issue. They’re made with wool, which is naturally antibacterial (aka anti-stink) and they’re the perfect size and shape for these or any other travel flats! Pick up a pair to match your flats.

Shop for the Jing Jing Travel Flats

Lia and Jeremy in VivoBarefoot travel boots in Hallstatt, Austria.

Fun fact: Jeremy and I own a LOT of the same pairs of shoes. It know, we’re gross. Here we are both modeling our VivoBarefoot winter boots in Hallstatt, Austria!

The Best Women’s Travel Boots

Here’s the thing about most boots: they’re adorable, but they’re totally impractical. There is NO GOOD REASON why I should need different boots for different conditions. Snow? Rain? Cold weather? Just cuz I want to look cute? I want the same boot for ALL of those things. Ain’t nobody got closet space for multiple boots. 

Enter the VivoBarefoot Gobi Hi,  the lace-up ankle boot that does it all. I have literally worn these babies everywhere from professional events to snow-shoeing. Yes: I actually went snow-showing in these boots. I slipped the snow-shoes right on top of them, and actually I was kind of terrified that it might ruin them. But it didn’t, and my feet stayed toasty warm and dry!

These are the kinds of boots that make you WANT to walk through puddles when it’s raining, just to show the world that you’re UNSTOPPABLE, dammit! They’re the kind of boots that make you excited for a cold day so you have an excuse to wrap your toes up in the cozy faux shearling lining. They’re the kind of boots that you wear every single day all season long, year after year after year. 

Lia in VivoBarefoot Gobi Hi's, the best women's travel boots, in Denmark.

Wearing the exact same pair of Vivobarefoot Gobi boots, 2 years and 2 continents apart. These boots have lasted me through rain, snow, and everywhere in between. I love them so much!

Oh, how I love these boots. Let me count the ways:

✔ Legit adorable, especially with lil’ socks on some leggings or tights

✔ Waterproof AF in both snow and rain

✔ Lined with faux shearling so it feels like you’re walking on a warm cloud of baby sheep

✔ Comfortable enough to walk in for miles and miles

✔ Lightweight and easy to squish up into your bag for travel

If you live somewhere cold, plan to travel somewhere cold, foresee rain at some point in your life, or just get cold feet sometimes (hopefully not on your wedding day! Ba-dum-ssh, I’ll see myself out) the VivoBarefoot Gobi Hi are the boots for you.

Shop for Gobi Hi Travel Boots

Lia wearing Teva Capri sandals at Disneyland

Modeling my latest pair of Teva Capri sandals, in Sassy Red (that’s not the actual color name) at Disneyland!

The Best Women’s Sandals for Travel

My love for the Teva Capri Sandals can only be described as “cult-like.” I’m currently on my 4th pair of these babies. They comprise the entirety of sandals in my closet, and when I bring them on a trip to somewhere hot, they’re all I wear.

I wore pair #3 for a 6 months straight during our year-long honeymoon. I hiked in them. I rappelled down a waterfall in them (and then got rescued in them). I went white water rafting in them. I stomped through cities and frolicked on beaches in them. We had some really good times together, but every couple of years, it’s time for a new pair.

I’ve been buying Teva Capri sandals regularly for the past 8 years. Here is a photo of my very first pair of Teva Capri sandals, taken 8 years ago with a cutting-edge cell phone camera on a trip to the Grand Canyon:

My very first pair of Teva Capri sandals on our very first trip together to the Grand Canyon!

My very first pair of Teva Capri sandals on our very first trip together to the Grand Canyon!

I still have those sandals in the back of my closet. I couldn’t bear to throw them away – we’ve been to so many places together! I’m slightly verging into hoarder territory with the Teva shoe cemetery in my closet…

It’s not just me who’s obsessed with these sandals, either: one time I was getting mani/pedi and noticed that someone else was wearing a pair of Teva Capri sandals. We struck up a conversation and spent a solid 20 minutes loudly fan-girling over how much we loved these sandals, much to the irritation and bewilderment of the rest of the salon. 

But you guys: they’re SO GOOD. Here’s why I think the Teva Capris are the best travel sandals:

✔ Durable leather straps and a flexible cork sole make these one tough, rugged pair of sandals

✔ Legit cute. I know “Teva” used to be synomous with those unattractive sandals at 8th grade summer camp, but they’ve grown up and matured and blossomed into some truly adorable, stylish shoes

✔ As good at being water shoes as they are at being walking shoes and city shoes

✔ The most comfortable sandals for travel that I’ve ever tried – and I’ve tried SO. MANY.

✔ Will give you the coveted “Teva Tan” which is like a wearable souvenir from all of your travels (at this point I think mine is permanent)

I’m obsessed and I want you to be obsessed too! Grab a pair and try them out. You’ll never go back to regular sandals again!

Shop for Teva Capri Travel Sandals

Balancing majestically on a log in my Altra Lone Peak trail runners after a hike in Lake Tahoe, California!

Balancing majestically on a log in my Altra Lone Peak trail runners after a hike in Lake Tahoe, California!

The Best Women’s Lightweight Hiking Shoes

I used to think you needed big, chunky boots to go hiking in – for ankle support and snake protection or whatever – and I thought that the best boots of all were waterproof and cost hundreds of dollars for good reason. For years as I explored the best hikes in Northern California, I wore whatever clunky hiking boots I found on sale at REI, nursing my feet after long hikes, aches and blisters and sore calves and all.

I assumed that my problem was that I couldn’t afford to drop bands on a pair of good waterproof hiking boots, not hiking boots themselves. And I avoided taking my hiking boots with me on trips, because they weighed a zillion pounds and took up half of the space in my suitcase. 

Then somebody told me about trail runners, and it changed everything.

Trail runners are like the shoe that sits directly in between regular sneakers and massive, clunky hiking boots. They have the grip of hiking boots with the light-weightedness of sneakers. They’re build to stabilize your foot as you run through forests and unstable terrain, leaping over logs and probably doing the occasional Tarzan swing through the trees, and they’re excellent for hiking.

Once I laced up my Altra Lone Peak Trail Runners – with some lacing tricks I’d learned in my years-long quest to make hiking boots actually work for me. – and hit the trails, I knew I’d never hike in clunky, inflexible boots again. Without the weight and bulk of those boots on my feet, I felt light and free – and yes, I even went trail running a few times out of sheer excitement. (It’s actually REALLY fun, and I usually hate running! Don’t believe me? Read Born to Run and tell me it doesn’t make you want to gallop off into the mountains somewhere for a casual 50-mile run.)

Machu Piccu, Peru, after our painful failure on the Inca Trail.

Finally at Machu Pichu after attempting to hike Inca Trail to Machu Picchu in my Altra Lone Peak trail runners, my favorite women’s lightweight hiking shoes for travel! And, yes, Jeremy and I have the same pair (we have a shocking number of the same shoes).

Here are a few of the reasons why I love my Trail Runners: 

✔ They’re zero drop, so there’s no risk of re-aggravating my plantar fasciitis

✔ Flexible sole, so my foot can move with full range of motion and flexibility to keep me stable even on tricky terrain

✔ The upper is made of lightweight mesh, which is incredibly breathable, keeping my feet sweat-free. This does, however, mean that whatever socks you wear might get a bit dusty!

✔ Who needs waterproof boots? My trail runners dry lightning-fast, so that if I have to wet-foot portage (that’s hiking nerd speak for “walk through a puddle or something”), my wool-blend hiking socks and shoes are dry not even 15 minutes later. If I end up hiking in the rain, I just pull out the  pair of waterproof socks I keep in my Camelbak and pull them on over my regular wool hiking socks to keep my feet completely dry (yes, I’ve done a full submerge test just to check).

✔ Have never given me even close to the inkling of a blister. They’re soft and comfortable and lightweight and wonderful and nothing rubs or sticks out or irritates my feet at all!

✔ The perfect hiking shoes for travel. They’re lightweight and the mesh upper collapses to nothing at all, so you can smush these in your bag (or in my case, in the mesh cup-holder on the side or the front pocket) and hike anywhere your heart desires! I’ve taken my trail runners hiking everywhere from the Andes Mountains to the Inca Trail and they’ve never once let me down.

Oh, and as for ankle support? Turns out that whole thing is a myth, much like the concept of “arch support.” When you let your feet do their thing naturally, your feet and calf muscles develop into the super-strength Wonder Woman feet you were born to have, and your muscles do the job of stabilizing your ankles just fine. And arch support? Since when have arches, the strongest shape in the world, used throughout the history of mankind’s greatest architectural achievements, needed support? What happens when you stick something under an arch? Does it help make the arch stronger? No. It does not. The term arch support is a non sequitur! 

If you’re still hiking in hiking boots and take for granted the fact that your feet will hurt after a long day of hiking, let me tell you: it doesn’t have to be that way! Trail runners changed my attitude towards hiking and helped me develop a 1-hike-per-week habit during the year leading up to our year-long honeymoon (which I haven’t exactly picked back up again now that we’ve returned, but it’s not my shoes fault – they’re miraculously as good as new).

Give them a try and let me know if your hiking game changes the way mine did! You can pick them up from REI or on Amazon.

Shop for Altra Lone Peak Travel Hiking Shoes


If you’ve struggled finding the women’s travel shoes, vent to me in the comments! What are your frustrations? What are your concerns? What questions can I answer for you about these 4 best travel shoes for women?

Psst: Looking for more travel tips to upgrade your next trip? Take a look at some of our other helpful posts – and don’t forget to read our men’s travel shoes guide!

  • The 3 Best Travel Pants for Women: Functional, Cute, & Field-Tested
  • The Ultimate Guide to Makeup & Beauty for Backpacking
  • Long Haul Flight Essentials & Travel Tips for Economy Fliers

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The best women's travel shoes to take your packing game to the next level! They're field-tested, functional, and legit cute. Bring them along on your next vacation! #TravelTrips #Travel

Disclaimer: This post was created in partnership with VivoBarefoot, a shoe brand that we’ve actually high-key fan-girled for years (dreams came true writing this post, y’all). That said, we purchased all of the shoes in this post with our own money several years ago, and have been testing them on trips ever since, slowly becoming more and more obsessed. All opinions, bad jokes, and strong feelings about shoes are 100% our own and absolutely nobody else’s fault.

READ THIS POST
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Sponsored Post Travel Gear Travel Shoes What to Pack
by Lia Garcia 
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About Lia Garcia

Hey, I'm Lia! I'm a Kentucky native living in San Francisco. I'm extremely practical and also entirely addicted to travel, which I'm forever trying to reconcile. If I had a patronus, it would a spreadsheet. Or a llama. Possibly a llama creating a spreadsheet. I'm married to Jeremy and I'm obsessed with him and it's super gross, unless you're us, in which case it's the best.

View all posts by Lia Garcia

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Comments

  1. Marie says: September 28, 2018 at 7:12 pm

    As a former runner who has also suffered Plantar Fascitis, I feel your pain! Exploring for hours when travelling always leaves me with sore feet and I too have struggled to find shoes that are both comfortable and fashionable. Will defintely look into purchasing a couple of these travel shoes! Thanks for the information.

    Reply
    • Lia Garcia says: September 29, 2018 at 9:06 am

      Yesss give them a try!!! They made such a huge difference for me.

      Reply
  2. Viola says: September 28, 2018 at 7:49 pm

    I swear by Ipanema’s travel sandals! They are very comfy and cute as well. These suggestions sound so good. I definitely need a pair of good travel boots so I will check out VivoBareFoot. You crack me up with that Jurassic Park commercial LOL so random yet hilarious.

    Reply
  3. Louise says: September 28, 2018 at 9:53 pm

    I always struggle with what shoes to wear when traveling! I always want them to look good but I need to be able to walk in them for hours and that is hard to find! Thanks so much for sharing this. Seriously considering those flats and the trail runners!

    Reply
    • Lia Garcia says: September 29, 2018 at 9:06 am

      It’s such a struggle to find good ones! I’m so glad I found these and my feet have been happy ever since, too 😉

      Reply
  4. Brianna says: September 29, 2018 at 8:28 am

    GIRL YAASS! I have a pair of barefoot shoes from Merrell that I friggin love and never ever want to stop wearing. Last year I got a pair of waterproof hiking shoes and wore them around Philadelphia in the winter. Cut to me having blisters the size of literal em-effin’ half dollars. Those puppies were promptly returned and I’ve never cheated on my Merrells again. Though those Gobi boots are little temptresses…

    Reply
    • Lia Garcia says: September 29, 2018 at 9:06 am

      The Gobis are PERFECT for winter weather! And they’re hella cute, too. Get themmmmmmmm 😉

      Reply
  5. Emily Hines says: September 29, 2018 at 1:29 pm

    I need to add a new pair of boots to my winter wardrobe for Michigan and these sound perfect. Do they run true to size?

    Reply
    • Lia Garcia says: September 30, 2018 at 6:05 pm

      Because they’re barefoot style shoes, they’re a big bigger than what you’re probably used to – there’s WAY more room for your toes than probably any other boot you’ve ever tried, but that’s totally normal and all part of the barefoot shoe thing. My boots are actually a half size up from what I usually wear (their sizing is European and I’m a weird US half size) and they fit just fine. Also that extra space means more room for nice thick socks if it’s super cold out!

      Reply
  6. Isabella says: October 6, 2018 at 8:55 pm

    This was THE BEST guide ever! Thank you so much & I will be sharing this with everyone I know!

    Reply
  7. Ellen says: October 20, 2018 at 4:06 pm

    Wow you described the exact same issues and injuries I have. Been walking heavy bc himing boots for years, created several foot problems. Discovered trail runners this year nd never going back. Topo Athletics specializes in wide forefoot shoes. Their zero drop shoes made my short calve muscles get more flexible. Too bad their not suited for normal walking as they started to rib at the bend point after only few months and strangly the soles are slippery when walking on wet streets. Saucony peregrine 8 has amagingly rugged soles and I can almost walk a rock vertically with them. Too bad no zero drop or not too wide forefoot but they still walk like you walk on clouds, can bearily feel blind guides stones and besides the sole the shoe itself is flexible, breathable but gives more ankle support than the topos. Will definately look into your suggestions as well because you litterally wrote down my years and years of struggle with feet problems and finding fitting shoes as I have a wide front foot but small size. A shoe salesmen actually told me we have more foot problems here in the west because its fashionable to have pointy shoes (yes even the average sneaker is too narrow). Keep up the great work, love your blogs

    Reply
    • Lia Garcia says: October 22, 2018 at 8:01 am

      OMG the pointy shoes! I wore pointy shoes for YEARS, they were my go-to flat style. And it was a pair of sneakers that gave me my killer plantar fasciitis injury (those stupid Nike free runs that are SUPER cute, but terrible for your feet, which I learned after going running in them for 2 weeks)! Sounds like a lot of the shoes here will be a GREAT fit for you, and I’m excited to check out the ones you mentioned too!

      Reply
  8. Maria says: January 2, 2019 at 10:27 am

    Hi Lia, thanks for your great tips!
    I am a bit skeptical about the Teva sandals.. can you really immerse them in water with no damage? I am looking for some sandals that I can also use for showering in hostel/camping sites.
    Thanks a lot!!

    Reply
    • Lia Garcia says: January 2, 2019 at 11:18 am

      Yep! I wear them as my water shoes too. I’ve worn them for snorkelling, kayaking, white water rafting, etc. You’ll just want to leave them outside to let them dry overnight before you wear them in the city or out of water again, or you’ll be slipping and sliding a bit! Teva is the original water sandal and these definitely hold up to that reputation IMO.

      Reply

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Lia and Jeremy are the married couple behind the Practical Wanderlust travel blog!

Meet Lia & Jeremy

A disaster-prone couple recently returned to Oakland, California from a year-long honeymoon. We share down-to-earth travel tips with a side of sass. Low key stalk us here and on social media!

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Meet Lia & Jeremy

Recent Posts

  • Noway, in the winter is a stunning winter wonderland. Northern Lights, reindeer, dog sledding, and fjords - our photo guide to Norway in the winter will have you booking a flight to Norway in no time!
    35 Photos of Norway in the Winter to Inspire your Wanderlust
    Europe
  • The Ultimate Banff Winter Guide and 12 epic things to do in Banff in the winter!
    12 Epic Things to do in Banff in Winter: The Ultimate Banff Winter Guide
    Canada, Hiking & Outdoor Adventure
  • 10 Things to Do in Quebec City in the Winter: The Ultimate Quebec City Winter Guide
    Canada
  • Have you ever been dog sledding? 🐶 I tried it for the first time ever in Alta, Norway, north of the Arctic Circle. I wasn't sure what to expect: would the dogs be happy and healthy? How fast would we be going? Would there be like, a seatbelt? (Answers: yes, very, no.)
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The first thing we did upon arriving at Trasti & Trine was suit up. I'd dutifully layered on my 53 wool base layers and 16 sweaters and pants, thinking that would be plenty. Lol, no. Norway Lesson #1: there's cold, and then there's ARCTIC cold - with wind chill. Yikes. So I zipped a snowsuit on over all 7276 of my layers - and added an extra pair of boots for good measure. Lia - 1, Frostbite - 0.
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Next we harnessed up our dogs.  I was given the names of my team and 4 harnesses and awkwardly crunched through the snow in my staypuft marshmallow man suit towards the holding pens, feeling nervous. Like, what if the dogs didn't WANT to wear their harnesses? Would I have to wrassle them? I am NOT the wrassling type. Luckily, the dogs were like "you put this paw in this strap, duh" and pretty much just dressed themselves.
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By the time I had my 4 dogs suited, they were DYING to get out into the snow. If you've ever uttered the words "go for a walk" to a dog, you can imagine the scene - except these were muscular AF snow dogs. I think I saw one of them jump like 5 feet into the air and do a backflip.
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My host stepped up onto the back of my sled to steer, I grabbed on to absolutely anything and everything I could, and we were off. Instantly, the barking and howling of the dogs gave way to quiet concentration. We whipped through trees and past mountains and ice rivers as the blue light of Polar Night reflected off the snow. If we had arrived later in the day, we might have been riding underneath the Northern Lights!
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You can see a video of my dog sledding adventure in my Story Highlights, AND I've just published a new post with 35 jaw-dropping photos from my trip! The link is in my bio.
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Would you like to try dog sledding? Would you be nervous like I was? Drop me a comment below!
  • Happy Valentine's Day! 🌹💗Today is my FAVORITE holiday. I love pink and hearts and a good excuse for crafts and unapologetically expressing love and affection. Jeremy and I are mush-tastic year round, but we take Valentine's Day as an opportunity to shamelessly shower everyone and everything around us in love and affection, too. Here are some of the different kinds of love that we'll be feeling sappy about today:
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💕Love for ourselves. We choose to put ourselves first and our relationship/each other second - that's the foundation of our happiness and the core foundation of our whole marriage. Today, we are feelin' all kinds of obsessed with our awesome selves! I hope you spend some time today doing sweet lil' things for yourself that bring you happiness.
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💕Love for each other. This is not new - we shower each other in disgusting mushy compliments all day, every day - but we ARE going out on a date tonight ... and then heading to a store to compete to see who can find the lamest, grossest, sappiest Valentine's Day card. We will then pay too much money for that card and then inflict the worst romantic poetry that we can come up with, exquisite corpse style. Stoked.
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💕Love for what we do. Jeremy loves his school and his co-teachers, but especially, he loves his students. Today he's celebrating his love for them with a party (they wanted wings, so we made them cookies too, because 18 year olds are the unhealthiest people on earth and can handle that sort of thing).
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And as for me ... today I'm writing about a trip that I loved, and pouring my heart into my storytelling. It's reminding me both why I love travel, and why I feel so strongly about sharing that love with all of you! (It'll be up tomorrow, and I'm so excited to share it.)
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💕Oh, and one last mushy shout-out: LOVE FOR YOU! Yes, that's right: we truly love you all. Your DM's and support and comments and the fact that there are people out there who think we're as funny as we do (lol jk nobody thinks we're as funny as we do, that's impossible) all means the world to us, and we're so appreciative for you.

So happy, happy Valentine's Day! What kinds of love are you celebrating today? 💋
  • Blogging has changed the way that I travel, for better and for worse. And one of the biggest changes is taking photos. Before blogging, I didn't really see a point in taking photos on my trips - nobody on my Facebook cared about my trip as much as I did, so why bother? Instead, Jeremy and I recorded special memories in journals and diaries, writing descriptions of the places we visited together. But we stopped writing in the journal as soon as we started the blog, mostly because I type a LOT faster than I write and get fewer hand cramps.

Writing has always been my storytelling tool of choice, but I've learned in the past 3 years of blogging that visual storytelling can be just as captivating. exciting, and challenging. And the actual act of taking photos has made a huge difference in our travel style. These days, our trips include "taking photos" as an actual activity. We research a list of photo-worthy spots and then go out of our way just to see them. We spend hours standing at just the right spot at just the right time, waiting for crowds to clear or the family in the matching neon tracksuits to f**k off (there is somehow always a family wearing neon in the back of every photo we've ever taken). This is something I would NEVER have done if I didn't have a reason to or a platform to share them on. In fact, I probably would have scoffed haughtily at the very idea, probably while nursing a hand cramp from aggressive journalling. But these days, I've learned to appreciate the way that photography changes the way we travel. We take our time to stop and really LOOK. We see more little details, peer down more streets. We stand still, watching, while crowds pass us by. We take our time. We tell stories in snapshots.

And we visit places we likely never would have before, like the top of Sulphur Mountain in Banff. We took the Banff Gondola up to the summit to catch the last rays of the sun sinking over the Canadian Rockies, watching clouds of snow roll into the valley below us, breathing in the frigid winter air and standing perfectly still. Snapping photos. And it was beautiful.

Do you prioritize photos on your trips? Drop us a comment below!
  • "There's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing," says some quote that I heard once. I have no idea who said it, but it's 100% accurate! I've been frolicking in freezing (& below freezing) cold weather all month long, and even though California has made me soft, I've nailed my strategy for cold weather dressing. Allow me to take out my cobweb-covered college degree in Fashion Design, dust it off, and share some next-level cold weather apparel tips with you. 🎓🧣
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My first tip for dressing for the cold is to carefully choose the closest layer of clothing to your skin (because that insulating layer of chub only goes so far). My favorite insulating base layer is merino wool. It's is a naturally high performance textile that keeps you warm when it's cold out and keeps you cool when it's hot out. It also stays warm when wet, so even if you get sweaty under your coat or snow falls down your collar (ugh), you'll still be toasty warm! Merino wool is super soft (NOT scratchy) and naturally anti-bacterial, so you can wear it for 2 weeks straight and nobody will ever know (we uh, tested this... for science). My base layer is a merino wool shirt, leggings, 2 pairs of socks, and 2 pairs of gloves.🧤
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If you're not into feeling like you're being hugged by a sheep for whatever reason, hemp has similar properties and is incredibly environmentally friendly. Silk is also a great insulator. Natural textiles are some of the most high tech fabrics on the planet! But make sure you DO NOT wear a fabric like cotton that won't keep you warm if it gets wet.👎
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Once you've got a nice warm base layer, you'll need 1-2 more layers on top and bottom. On top of your 2-3 layers of clothing is the next most important piece: your coat! 🧥 I love packable goose down: it's lightweight, travel friendly, and insanely warm. Add a pair of warm, weatherproof boots, a hat & scarf, and you're ready for the snow!.We've got a comprehensive guide to cold weather packing (and how to pack it all in a carry-on) on the blog, including the specific items we wear and recommend. The link is in our bio!
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Do you have any questions about dressing for the cold? How about tips? Drop 'em below!
  • Snow-topped mountains. Hot springs. Ski resorts and cozy lodges. Dog sledding and sleigh rides underneath the Northern Lights. Wait, hang on - where am I talking about now? (Pssst: it's CANADA!) 🇨🇦
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Most of the photos of Banff on Instagram are from warmer months. But Banff National Park is a winter wonderland for outdoor adventure lovers and snow sports enthusiasts (or just like, people who really like frolicking in the snow, eating poutine, and maybe befriending a caribou or moose). You can go ice-walking through river canyons with giant, frozen waterfalls looming over your year. You can play ice hockey on a lake in front of a castle. You can eat braised elk poutine and maple taffy EVERY SINGLE DAY (spoilers: this is exactly what we did).
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Visiting during Banff’s winter season will show you a sparkling, icy, snow-dusted side of the Canadian Rockies – all with fewer crowds and cheaper prices! And I've just published a MASSIVE guide with everything you need to know to plan a winter trip to Banff, including what to pack, where to stay, where to eat, and 12 of the best things to do during your visit! The link is in my profile - grab a hot chocolate and get cozy, cuz it's a juicy guide!
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I have been fortunate enough to visit a BUNCH of snowy, amazing destinations this month, and it makes my heart so happy. I'm writing this from a cozy cabin in Lake Tahoe as snow swirls outside, so I'm right where I'm meant to be.❄❤ Where are you this weekend? Drop me a comment below!
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#thecanadacollective #explorecanada
#travelcanada #canadasworld #banffnationalpark
#canadianrockies #parkscanada
#mybanff #explorebanff #roundtheworld #exploretheworld #instapassport#explorecanada #parkscanada #albertaviews
#banffcanada #canadagram #discovercanada
#canadaeh #beautifulcanada #livelovecanada #canada_true #MyTinyAtlas #TravelAwesome
#travelstagram #liveoutdoors
#MostDeserving #themountainsarecalling #adventurenthusiasts #best_streetview
  • Meet my friend, Johann. 🦌 Johann is a reindeer living in Norway's Arctic Tundra. Also, he definitely isn't named Johann, I just have a habit of naming every animal I meet and he gave off sort of a "Johann-esque" kind of vibe.
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I'd love to tell you all about the magical time that I had hanging out with Johann, feeding him pellets and brushing his soft downy reindeer fur and laughing together about how my hair was frozen because it was -30 degrees outside. But that's not what happened.
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You see, Johann is not yet domesticated, and as a result is very shy around people. A few days before I met him, was living a happy reindeer life in the wild, not realizing that his very existence was made possible by indigenous Sámi Reindeer Herders who spend countless hours moving his herd from place to place so that they stay safe from predators and well fed.
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So Johann is still adapting to life as a domestic reindeer. His herders will spend a week or so getting to know him, walking him on a leash, and feeding him pellets while he learns that they mean him no harm. And so because Johann wasn't comfortable around me, I refrained from touching him, as pettable and adorable as he looked with his little face and his little horns and those big eyes. Instead, I left him some pellets and took a zillion photos of him from a reasonable distance.
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The Sami people have been living in the arctic of modern-day Norway, Finland, Sweden and Russia for thousands of years, practicing reindeer husbandry and herding. Today, only about 2,800 Sami reindeer herders remain, working together to keep their traditions (and their herds) alive. On my trip to Norway, I was lucky enough to spend 3 days in the tundra getting to know a family of Sámi reindeer herders and learning about the choices they make every day to preserve their heritage and culture. Today (Feb 6) is Sami National Day, a holiday celebrated by all Sami people across their various country borders. Happy Sami National Day!
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Did you know that there are still indigenous people living in the arctic tundra? Have you ever met a reindeer? Drop your comments and questions below!
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#visitnatives #visitnorway #impacttravelalliance
  • Let's talk about facing your fears. And the time I jumped into the freezing cold Oslo fjord in the middle of January..I'm not typically the most courageous person. In fact, I'm terrified like 99% of the time, whether my fears are justified or - more often - completely fabricated. So when we arrived in Norway and were informed that our very first activity would be to visit a traditional Norwegian sauna and a dip in the freezing cold Oslo fjord, I was like😱😬
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But even though I was terrified of that cold, salty water, I wanted to try it. Not because I am a brave person who enjoys adventures and adrenaline rushes (I absolutely do not). But more because I like to be able to say that I tried something before I put it on my "I definitely hate this" list. I find that this is the best and most practical way to avoid FOMO. (I am a very exciting person, clearly.) And where else can you have this kind of experience? I was even MORE afraid of missing out.
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Well, to my extreme surprise, I actually LOVED it. Your body gets a hormone rush going from very hot to extremely cold, so that as soon as you're out of the water, you feel like it was the best thing ever and you totally want to do it again. You can swipe to the right to see my face as my legs hit that cold water 😂
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Many years ago, I was also afraid of wearing a swimsuit in public. I wore t-shirts over my bikini. I was terrified of my own body, of the scrutiny I felt it invited and deserved. But today, I've spent over 10 years in recovery from an eating disorder that nearly killed me, and I'm happy to say that I no longer give a second thought to stripping down to my bikini (and posting photos of it on the internet). I've also entirely stopped caring about what other people think about my body. If you watch my stories yesterday, you'll know why this is relevant..So I want to leave you with this: ladies, it doesn't matter if you're beautiful or healthy. Your worth is not tied your appearance or your size or your health.  You're amazing and wonderful regardless of your physical appearance or your abilities. So face your fears - and dive in! 🌊
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Would you be down to try the sauna + fjord plunge? Drop me a comment!
  • It's finally February, which means it's time to start celebrating my FAVORITE holiday: Valentine's Day! 💕 I know this holiday gets a bad rep for being a "Hallmark Holiday" or for being too focused on romantic love. But I don't Valentine's Day as a romantic holiday. To me, it's a holiday meant for celebrating LOVE, in all of its many forms! So I'm on a one-woman mission to bring this holiday back, because giving your mom or BFF a heart-shaped card that says "I love you" is how this holiday should REALLY be celebrated. *Steps on soapbox*
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On Valentine's Day, Jeremy and I do celebrate together in our usual disgustingly mushy way ... but I also celebrate love for myself. For my friends and family. For my community. For my career and my blog (I know that's kinda lame but... y'all, I REALLY love what I do). Valentine's Day is the day that I celebrate all of the things that I love, and I practice outpouring that love... usually in the form of kitschy handmade gifts and cutesy baked goods that I found on Pinterest and subsequently butchered (psst, anyone know if Nailed It is casting for their next season? I'm a shoe-in).
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Valentine's Day is one of my favorite crafty holidays, and this year we're even decorating our apartment in as many pink and white and red things as we could find (and sticking hearts on anything that isn't the right color). Everything about Valentine's Day makes me happy and excited!.So it's no wonder that I fell in LOVE with this adorable little alley in Oslo, Norway. Red buildings, white snow? All that's missing is a giant pink heart. If I was better at this whole Instagram thing I guess I would have magically produced a heart-shaped balloon or an inflatable inner-tube or something. But I'm not, soooo I guess we'll all just have to pretend.
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Do you celebrate Valentine's Day the way that I do? If not, who or what do you LOVE that you could practice celebrating this year?

#visitnorway #visitoslo #impacttravelalliance

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