Every time I travel, I make the same mistake
But not anymore. 180k of you chimed in to help
Remember a few months ago when I told you that I was planning to spend the summer at home, enjoying my mortgage and exploring my city? I’m happy to say that I stuck to my word and at the end of August we will take our only trip of the summer to Europe for a wedding. This summer has been everything that I wanted it to be. It was calm, relaxing, and allowed my husband and I to enjoy the everyday instead of looking forward to the next trip away.
Speaking of trips away, I now need to start thinking of the mental load that comes with an international trip. That means what shoes I need to buy and start breaking in, what activities I need to plan for my toddler on the flight, and of course planning what to do in each city. If you have an recommendations, I’m all ears.
I got ahead of the first one and crowdsourced over a thousand recommendations from the squad about the best travel shoes & sandals as reported by you. I’ve read so many reviews, I’m embarrassed to say. But hopefully you find this as helpful as I did.
In this column you’ll find:
🏖️ the second city you decided on outside of Lisbon
👟 cobblestone friendly shoe recommendations from almost 200k of you
🛍️ the cost-per-wear for pajamas that’s excellent
🎧 a Mark Cuban podcast I’m halfway in (& enjoying)
🧴 my holy grail for my hair
⬆️ This week’s highs:
We’re starting to plan for our Europe trip. We’re headed to Portugal for a wedding and decided to tack on Barcelona to the itinerary (thank you for all of your suggestions!) I’m hoping its very kid friendly and will be the relaxing end that we need to a very nice summer at home.
⬇️ This week’s lows:
If someone says “no child should starve” and your response starts with “but” — you need to take a hard look at yourself.
I finally caved and bought the Lake Kimono pajamas and oh my goodness, it really is that good. You guys were totally right! I do still love my Eberjays, but these are a close second and a bit more elevated. I love to work from home in my pajamas so this is my go to uniform since I got them in last week.
I got a message from a reader asking for “affordable pajama recommendations” and usually I can knock it out of the park. I realized that all of my favorite pajamas in rotation are over a $100 and I felt like an out of touch snob. Then I realized that I bought most of these before my daughter was born, thats 2021! It’s 2025! That’s well over 4 years and they are still going strong. The cost per wear on my pajamas are excellent.
I tried this new recipe from Half Baked Harvest and it is SO good. I will say that I took some shortcuts and used frozen mango (just left it out to thaw naturally before tossing it into the cucumber and cilantro salad) and skipped the chili butter. It was so good!
I’m nearing the end of Season 5 of Desperate Housewives and it’s definitely hit a lull, but it’s basically background noise while I work. The 5 year jump really threw the series off.
I’m listening to an interesting podcast with Emma Grede and Mark Cuban and it’s a pretty long one, I think its about 90 minutes and I’m halfway through. She’s an excellent interviewer and you can tell Mark is really comfortable with her. As two entrepreneurs, it’s interesting when they share how they are spending their time and what they are investing in learning.
K18 hair peptide prep is my holy grail. I use it once a week after I oil my hair weekly and gets the oil out!
When traveling or going outside, I want to make sure Mimi is safe. This mosquito repellent sticker actually works.
I keep 2-3 of these at home at all times. I’m usually taking them off at random places so I need a few of them in rotation. They usually last a long time unless I’m going on vacation and sweat a lot, but you can wash them!
Can you do me a favor? If you like this, will you hit the heart ❤️ at the bottom of your email? I pinky promise it helps me and will only take you a second!
The It Girl’s Guide to Travel Shoes (According to 180,000 Opinions and My Feet)
Every time I plan a trip to Europe, I pretend like I’ve never walked on cobblestone before. Like I haven’t been betrayed by an ankle strap in Paris. Like I didn’t dramatically limp through Barcelona because I just knew those sandals “needed to be broken in.”
You would think, by now, I would have a travel shoe formula. I do not.
Because somehow, there is always a new It Girl shoe. A new sandal that’s allegedly cute and podiatrist-approved. A new white sneaker that claims to look good with everything from flowy linen to airport athleisure.
And this year? I cracked. I gave in. I surveyed the squad. I dug through TikTok. I asked all 180k of you on Instagram and was immediately buried under a pile of DMs, screenshots, and hyperlinks.
So I did what any emotionally mature woman with a deadline would do: I made a list. I broke it into sneakers and sandals. I filtered for wide-foot friendly, blister-averse, cobblestone-compatible picks. I eliminated the lies.
Here are the top 10 recs: with my personal wish list, your most popular suggestions, and the final winner I’m packing in my carry-on.
✈️ The Sandal Shortlist
My sandal wish list is simple:
Must be comfy
Must be wide-foot friendly
Must come in black and tan
Must go with everything from maxi dresses to airport joggers
👟 The Sneaker Situation
My white sneaker criteria are as follows:
Leather or leather-like (for easy wipe-downs)
Wide-foot approved
All white + no weird details (I don’t want black strips or bright laces)
Must work with dresses
Should whisper “fashion girl,” not shout “gym girl”
🏆 My Final Picks
Sandal I’m Buying: Crocs Splash Strappy
Because I finally accepted I am a woman who values function disguised as fashion. And I like being able to get caught in a fountain moment without worrying about leather. Crocs making a stylish sandal means I need to at least give them a chance.
Sneaker I’m Buying: Veja Sneakers
They tick every box. White. Sleek. Wide-foot friendly. Sustainable. I can personally vouch for these, I wore them on my last trip to Portugal and Istanbul and they were a win.
🔒 Subscribe to keep reading and unlock:
The top 5 It Girl sandals (including another Crocs pick I can’t stop thinking about)
The top 5 white sneakers that passed the dress test and the cobblestone test
My exact final picks and whether I’ve finally forgiven Dr. Scholl’s
👇 Click here to get the full list of travel shoes everyone’s packing—and the ones actually worth your suitcase space.
You’ll also unlock access to all past recs, personal posts, and comments.
Tell me your go-to travel shoes in the comments. I’m nosy and my suitcase isn’t full yet. Let me know if you’d like it included.