XPLORE – Out & About

I have purchased a beautiful pair of hand-crafted Italian made shoes, built for comfort, and warmth, maybe not so much for aesthetics, and they are yellow in colour.

Yes, I hear you, he’s colour-blind, or out of his mind, after all, who would buy Italian hand-crafted shoes in the colour of yellow and hand over $1,000…

Oops, no offence intended to those who have, each to their own!

And for the record, I have never bought a pair of shoes that cost over $1,000, or anything near that price, well up until today that is.

In fact, neither has Janet, my partner, at least not that I’m aware of, but then, what would a mere male like me know about the cost of women’s shoes.

And it wasn’t by mistake, or due to my colour deficiency.

I purchased a pair of La Sportiva Spantik Mountaineering Boots that will be put to good use in New Zealand in about three weeks time, and again this coming January, and the Himalayas next year…

I spent a fair amount of time researching boots, and decided on these, even if they might be a little on the warm side for New Zealand, lest I’ll have a cupboard full of mountaineering shoes for each occasion. They will be perfect for the 6,000 metre peaks I will be climbing in Nepal.

Seemingly there is nothing cheap about mountaineering boots, well at least if you want to keep five toes on each foot and not succumb to frost-bite…

And that will be the line I’ll run when I discuss the purchase with the person in charge of finances, Janet – honey , I’ve something to discuss…

And they say mountaineering is full of unexpected challenges!!