Another vote for crocs. I've been wearing them for nearly 4 years and they've been to Egypt, Croatia, Ukraine, Washington,DC, New York, Mexico and more. Goofy looking, but oh, so comfy. Feet never hurt, even after a long day on cobblestones.

I love my crocs! My husband came home with the first pair, bought at West Marine. They make fabulous boat shoes...they don't mark the deck, they can get wet and drain the water out, they don't slip. I looked at them and said, "Are you kidding...you are going to wear those things?" "Aren't they hot?" (We were in FL at the time). He is Mr Conservative. I tried them on later while he wasn't looking and those little bumps inside massaged my foot...yum. I said nothing.

Next day he had to go back to West Marine...it was varnish time for the boat....and he asked if I needed anything. "Uh...if they have some neat colors in my size, would you pick me up a pair?" LOL He did, very green, and now I have a second pair and wear them All The Time.

We have one grocery store in a very upscale area of San Antonio that's nicknamed GucciB--expensive but better than Whole Foods for what they carry. It seems that every 3rd or 4th person in Gucci-B is also wearing crocs. They are so uncool they're cool. PS...they aren't hot either.

OO, I just now went and tried on my daughters. You are right (and all the tons of other people I see wearing them)! Surprisely comfy. Hers are black - she worked in them over the summer. I'll have to go get me some snazzy ones this weekend. We saw LOTS of people wearing them in Yellowstone with thick socks - for the cold weather. 'Course, as you know, we seldom get cold weather around here, so they might be pretty much year round shoes for me. I don't know if I'll wear them with socks, though.

See? LOL They are contagious BayouGal! I've got a pair of sage green and another in Army green. Army green goes with everything. Now I need some coral or orange ones too. Go to their website and take a look at all the different colors you can get. Silly fun, but seriously comfortable shoes. I've also noticed my dental hygienist wears them and the vet tech as well.

I've got an extra long 2nd toe and wearing the heel strap back pushed one foot forward so that toe touched just a bit. Other foot was fine and they were sized properly. You can stretch the heel strap if this happens. They stretch very easily, so do it just a bit at a time and check between stretches.

Now I just prefer to wear them with the strap forward not back anyway, so that would be a non-issue. It seems people are 50/50 strap forward or back. I like the clog look so prefer forward.

I love, love, love my Born shoes. Whenever I need comfort, I reach for those. They run in the $80 range - I sometimes get lucky and find them cheaper at Marshall's.

I love Born's too, CheBird, but find them at the discount dept stores.

OO, you have me hooked, girl. Love the bright colors! Just read a post where crocs were recommended over on the athletic shoes for wide feet thread, too. Not for athletic shoes, but for comfort.

If anyone's interested in the Arcopedicos, there are some available on eBay right now - one is the blue classic closed back style, the other is the beige knit clogs, my favorites. Both size 9 (40) and both under $20. Just search Arcopedico and your size on eBay search engine - size 8 is 39, etc. I'd grab them if I didn't already have them!

You're gonna laugh. Just before this, I was stressing over "foot wear for travel" (leave for Mexico tomorrow) And, as usual, since I can't decide, I got mostly shoes in my bag. I like Merrills as they are comfy and can get/in out easily at airport checkpoints, but I love my cowboy boots, sooooo comfortable, and need some beach wear, plus the obligatory white sneaker that all American tourist women of a certain age wear....HELP...I am going crazy!!!!!

Don't take cowboy boots to Mexico! Trust me on that one, Samting. I go every year once or twice, have for a decade. I take:
flip flops
sturdy sandals (1 or 2 pair)
sneakers

If you really want me to help, I'm glad to. Just post all the shoes you are considering and I'll give you my two pesos
;-)

I guess that should be... centavos, but what with the exchange rate and all -LOL!!

I have a great flat, black leather "ankle boot" that I love. It's Ecco.

I have Geoc and Naturalizer loafers. Also Vans sneakers and clogs. That covers my travel shoe wardrobe.

Suze: why not cowboy boots to Mexico. ?? I took my red ones last year and was quite the sensation. Folks kept trying to buy them off me, but you must tell me why not fast....I leave tomorrow at "O-dark hundred"

WAY toooo hot! But hey if you've taken boots before and were comfortable in them... don't let me stop you

I have always taken just flipflops and a dressy pair of sandals to Mexico as cowboy boots would be uncomfortable for me. But Samting since you have worn cowboy boots in Mexico before - enjoy!! And have a wonderful and fun trip.

Another vote for Born being the comfiest... sandals, shoes, whatever. Makes my feet happy just thinking about them. (This after a day in 3" spike heels.)

I love my Crocs, but they're just not enough support for real walking for me -- my feet are incredibly needy. This last trip I took a pair of Keen Sydneys (MaryJane-type shoes, can be worn w/ or w/o socks), which I wore constantly (except hiking in Cinqueterre, when I wore my trusty New Balance 816s).
http://www.keenfootwear.com/pdp_page.cfm?productID=67

Thank god for the funky, urban sneaker look. A la Sketcher, Diesel, etc.

I just thought I'd provide an update. My cobbie cuddler walking shoes still have not reappeared so I've gotten quite desperate to find something new. The sandals are back in stock so no problems there - I picked up a nice new pair.

For walking shoes, I looked at several brands, but I really like the suede - suedelook versus the leather - leatherlook so that knocked many out. I also need a slight heel, so that knocked out more. The comments on this thread guided me very much.

I first looked back at Cobbie Cuddler - they have a leather slip on that's a bit dressier. They are comfy for work, but a bit tight in the toes for heavy walking. I also tried a pair of Thom McCann leather slip ons which are EXTREMELY comfortable, but I scratched up the toes within the first 2 weeks(I'm extremely rough on my shoes). I still love them, but they look like I've worn them for 20 years (I've actually removed all the dye off the toes).

I looked very seriously at the arcopedicos but just couldn't break down and order them without trying them on first (they're comfort shoes so I really want to know they're comfortable before putting out the money).

Today, I went to REI as they have Keen, Merrell and Crocs and I could try them all on.

I didn't like the Keen slip on styles - a bit too mary jane looking for me and I don't want lace up or tennies styles.

They only had the Crocs cayman style (and I was very interested in the closed heel styles) but I tried them on for fitting purposes. I liked them, but found that there isn't enough of an arch support for me (I have a high arch) and they were awfully loose on my foot.

I also tried on the Merrell Jungle Mocs. I felt like my heel was a bit low in comparison to the rest of my foot, but they were comfortable and cushy. I also tried the Polar Mocs and found the heel slightly higher. I was really cringing at the $65+ price tag and spent a lot of time trying to convince myself to go for it. They did have the gunsmoke color in stock (a dark taupe shade) so I was OK with the colors. The kids section had a taupe color (more of a khaki/beige) in the jungle mocs that I loved (they didn't have it in womens).

I usually go with a size 7.5, but found that even with socks on they were a bit loose. The size 7 fit wonderfully. Which made my decision SOOO much easier! I was able to buy the youth's size 6 (same size as a woman's size 7) in the polar moc in gunsmoke for over $25 less than the women's. They didn't have my size in the taupe jungle moc (so I came home and bought them online for the same price as the polar mocs).

So, thank you all for your input in this. I feel pretty good about my choices and will spend the next few months testing and breaking them in.

I have a pair of Reefs that I love! They're the kind that have a built in bottle opener, so I'm a hit at parties. They look good for sporty flip-flops, but I wouldn't wear them to dinner (they make nicer looking styles). They do feel as good as sneakers to me. I think they were around $50 at PacSun, but they're less than that at Zappos.com