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Somewhat Frank


Nov 8, 2018

When you travel, especially by air, you have to make some tough packing choices. Usually, my hardest decisions come down to which shoes I’ll bring – because you can’t bring them all, and they take up a ton of space in my carry on bag. When picking the perfect shoe (or shoes) for travel you have to weigh such factors as weather, length of trip, the purpose of the trip, and travel destination. Not to mention if you are doing anything that might require a special type of shoe, like golfing, hiking, or biking. If you are a frequent air traveler and don’t like to check a bag then you probably know this problem well. Many times the purpose of the trip helps to guide my choices but with such an overlap between work and life, the more versatile shoes end up more appealing, but not always the most stylish.

Somewhat Frank Podcast recording with Steve Haase and I (Frank Gruber) exchanging perspectives and facial expressions. Photo credit Amy Scerra.

On this episode of Somewhat Frank Podcast, I sit down with my Established partner Jen Consalvo, along with the Think Global team of Steve Haase and Amy Scerra, to talk about this shoe dilemma and the search for the perfect travel shoe. We discuss the shoe startup Allbirds and how they have sprung onto the scene, which almost solves my shoe problem – until summer comes. While they have launched a summer shoe or two, they haven’t been easy to secure as demand was higher than production. We also talk about New Balance and Nike as well as another newcomer to the shoe scene, Ross & Snow, who have a number of styles for men and women. But that being said, there’s still not a single shoe that can do it all. Or is there?

Have you had this same shoe dilemma? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.