shopping

Anyway, yesterday I went shopping. Clothes shopping. For the record I detest clothes shopping as I prefer 2nd hand clothed to new ones. But I needed hiking pants that would suit several climates.

I also needed walking shoes. Shoe shopping. For the record - see above.
The shoe part was easier as I has been Googling like mad for several weeks when I actually should have been having a life.

As I am trying to seriously reduce the amount of gear that I will be travelling with, I came across this 'HYBRID' sandal-shoe which seemed like the perfect solution. Not quite a shoe, not quite a sandal.




A store called Mountain Designs in the city had them, so after trying them on I was a little dismayed to see that although looking slick and stylish and very 'adventure-backpackerish', from above they were very wide at the toe.

Which made them look ...well..a little clownish.

Well I bought them anyway - when have I ever cared what people think about how I dress?? (Do you EVER see me in anything but blue jeans and white Bonds T-Shirts??)

What was good about Mountain Designs was that when I bought the sandalshoes the salesman asked me if Id like to join their club. Its free he said - AND it will save you 10% on the purchase price of anything in the store.

What - even on these??

Not only that but I also earn 5% accrued 'bonus' on all bought items which can be deducted from future purchases. So I saved 10% on the footwear, and earned 5% of their value to come off any future items. BARGAIN!

So I bought my trekking pants there too, 10% off the normal price - the saleman then deducted the 5% I has earned on the sandalshoes.
They were practically GIVING their stuff to me.

AND I got a free water bottle as a joining gift.

So of course, with all that money I saved I went and bought the Lonely Planet guide to Guatemala, Belize and Yucatan.