Calling the Hiking Boot Illuminati — Educate Me

Do You Really Need Expensive Hiking Boots to Start Hiking?

So... YES. Hiking boots.

When I first started hiking, I wore takkies. You know, regular sneakers. Nothing fancy.

Then my hikes started to resemble Navy SEAL training missions, and I realised my aging ankles were potentially one awkward rock-hop away from shattering. So naturally, I upgraded.

My R 250 Shein Hiking Boots: The Underdog Story No One Talks About

To what, you ask? Designer hiking boots from Shein. Yes. You heard that right. R 250. I hit “add to cart” with the blind confidence of someone who had absolutely no clue what they were doing.

And let me tell you something...Those bad boys lasted hundreds of kilometers.

Were they a size bigger? Oh no, sweet summer child—I didn’t have the intel yet.

Were they waterproof? Please. They cost R 250. Let’s not be ridiculous.

But were they comfortable? DAMN RIGHT THEY WERE. Like tiny foot-hugs from the gods of hiking.

Eventually, though, they started to look... let’s just say “well-travelled.” Like, borderline archaeological find levels of worn.

The Hiking Boot Pressure: When Everyone Suddenly Has Opinions

Enter: The Noise. Suddenly everyone had opinions. “You need proper boots,” they said. “Ankle support,” they said. “You’ll regret it if you don’t,” they said.

And then came the price tags. R 3,000. R 4,000. Just casually thrown around like we’re all sponsored athletes.

I’m sorry—are we buying boots or putting down a deposit on a small apartment?!

Meanwhile, I’m thinking: “I already HAVE a good pair! They’re just... cosmetically challenged!”

But the pressure got to me. I caved. Wildly out of character, honestly—me? Ignoring my gut? The same gut that’s still more accurate than Google Maps and 90% of the humans I deal with?

Unthinkable. And yet… here we are.

Hiking Boot Mistake: Not All Feet Are Created Equal

Friends kept pinging me with sale alerts like overzealous hiking boot guardian angels. “Go now!” “Massive discount!” “ Limited sizes!” Okay Brenda, thanks—but did I ever make it there in time? Absolutely not. Because when I work, I work. And when I don’t? I hike.

Simple. Priorities, people.

Then Salt swoops in like a bargain-hunting hero: “Mom, I saw boots. Proper ones. Mega-sale.”

I make a plan. They’re so attractive. Rugged. Tough. One size up.I am READY. I finally look the part. The hiking gods are smiling. My destiny? Fulfilled.

Except what?? They HURT.

Not just a little “they’ll soften eventually” kind of hurt. No. two months in and they are still like medieval torture for the toes.

Turns out, I bought a brand made for narrow feet. Which I most certainly do not have.

My feet are many things—flat, wide, opinionated—but narrow? No. Ma’am. Absolutely not.

Advice I’ve now received? “You should get another size up.” A size up... from my size up?

What am I now? A flipping clown on a mountain trail??

And then—glove socks, special lacing techniques, tape...At this point, I’m not hiking—I’m prepping for a NASA mission.

Bring Back My R 250 Shein Boots — They Never Betrayed Me

So here I am: hobbling down trails in my Too-Narrow Boots of Doom, longing for my

R 250 Shein soulmates—boots that never judged, never betrayed.

So all you hiking professors, boot gurus, trail sages out there...Please. Before I click “Buy Now” on another pair of Shein boots, what is a hag to do??

Because I swear, if one more toe goes numb,I’m going barefoot in the mountains—And you’ll all just have to deal with the whinging echoing through the valleys.

You were warned.