Now that summer is officially over and flip flop weather seems to be pretty much over for the season, I have decided it is sadly time to retire my favorite pair of flip flops. I don’t remember exactly how old they are, but I know I’ve worn them to every Newport Folk Festival I’ve been to which makes them over five years old. They are the best pair of flip flops I’ve owned my life, but unfortunately this summer is their last. They are so worn out there is barely any shoe left under my big toes. I’m going to miss them.

They were the most comfortable flip flops I have ever known. I’ve never owned another pair of flip flops that I could walk around in as much as I did those. The straps never cut into my feet and they never gave me blisters. I’ve worn them everywhere. They’ve pretty much been on my feet at every outdoor concert I’ve been to in the past 5+ years. I like being able to kick off my shoes and be barefoot on my blanket, plus if it’s too dusty or muddy it’s easy to wash the flip flops off and not ruin a regular pair of shoes. I never had to think twice about putting them on for anything because I knew my feet would be fine wearing them. I rarely have shoes I can 100% say that about.

These were cheap flip flops I picked up at Target on a whim, and now I wish I had bought 20 pairs of them. This many years later they of course aren’t carrying anything like that now. Knowing it was time to give these up I started looking for new ones. I perused all the flip flops in places like Target, Zappos, and various shoe stores, but didn’t really see anything akin to the ones I’m trying to replace. I asked for recommendations on Twitter and ordered about a dozen different pairs from Zappos based on people’s feedback. They were all fancy name brand flip flops way more expensive than what I spent on the pair I’m getting rid of and none of them were as comfortable. I settled on a pair of Sanuk’s, but I’m still not super happy with them. They do actually have more support, but if it’s hot they make my feet super sweaty and I can tell that if I tried to walk any length in them the straps would totally cut into my feet and leave me miserable. I was hoping that they would break in a little bit and get more comfortable in that area, but it hasn’t really happened. They’ll have to suffice for now, but hopefully next flip flop season will present me with new options and I can find something that will truly replace my beloved flip flops.