Besides the obvious “what if I run out of money?!” and the inevitably huge amount I’m going to miss my friends and family, there’s one other concern playing on my mind about when I eventually get out on the road…

Plantar fasciitis.

Heard of it? Nah, I hadn’t either.

It sounds like something you’d expect to see on the menu in a Greek restaurant doesn’t it? Well it’s not; bloody painful is what it is.

I won’t go into the details of what it is, you can bore yourself with that here if you wish. What I will say is that at its worst, it felt like someone was stabbing a knife into my heel every time my foot touched the ground.

If anyone has a foot phobia, sorry.

Now, six months, numerous physio sessions and two sets of new insoles later, I finally feel like I’m making some progress. The physio taped my foot up yesterday morning and gave me the go-ahead to start running last night. A swift jog to the gym and back and so far I don’t feel any pain. Happy days.

I put my plantar fasciitis down to two things. Firstly, I rather stupidly played football for the best part of eight months with trainers that had a hole in the bottom. I’m not sure why I thought that was a good idea, but there was no way I was shelling out any more cash on something I did once a week. I’m sure if I hadn’t got a foot problem, people would be praising my bravery and good economic sense in these difficult financial times. Swings and roundabouts indeed.

You wouldn’t catch Messi in these…

Secondly, and you may notice a recurring pattern here, I decided to spend all of £6 on two pairs of footwear for my trip last summer. Yes, that’s six British pounds on two pairs of Primark specials. These were supposed to last me through Bacelona, Benicassim, Valencia and Ibiza. You know how they say if something seems too good to be true, then it probably is? Yeah, that.

This brings me nicely back to the point I was making on Sunday, about not knowing what the bloody hell to pack.

I’m clearly going to have to buck the northern stereotype of being a tightarse and actually invest in some decent footwear, but what passes as decent? A pair of Converse? Hiking boots? Running trainers?! I’m pretty sure I’ve never looked at any footwear described as “good” or “practical” and thought “Hey, they look nice!”, have you? Didn’t think so. Good job I’ve got a few weeks off work before I fly.

Not “decent footwear”, apparently.

Anyway, if all else fails, I guess I’ll just keep on with taping up my foot. Who knows? Maybe white tape and flip flops could be 2013’s white socks and sandals. Don’t forget; you heard it here first.

What unusual fears do you face on the road? What footwear do you take when you’re out backpacking? I would love to hear from you!

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