Last year Jessica Maiuzzo of The Miss-Happenstances made a life-changing decision to quit her desk job and travel. We invited her to share how Skechers became a faithful companion on a few of her adventures.
TRIP 1: ITALY, ISRAEL and JORDAN
In Italy, my versatile dark gray Skechers Sport sneakers were my shoe of choice to dress up for wine bars, midnight strolls through the city, and happy hours along the water. They impressed me even more as I walked five to eight hours a day through the major cities of Italy, starting in the north and making my way south for the next three months. Happily, I didn’t get any blisters the entire time, and I LOVED the way the gel-infused memory foam insole made it feel like I was walking on pillows.
In Venice, I took a ride through the canals, and in Turin, one of my new local friends took me on a 7-hour bike ride through the entire city. Again the shoes stood up to the test. The very next day, we hiked the Alps that bordered Italy and France. Skechers helped me conquer the mountain and led me to some spectacular views! I learned to cook with locals in Sicily but spilled some sauce on the shoes! A quick wipe and the shoes were almost as good as new.
From Italy, I traveled to Israel where we swam in hot springs near the Sea of Galilee and marveled at the ancient city of Caesarea, where the Romans still left their influence centuries later. A new friend I met in Jerusalem encouraged me to cross into Jordan with him. After traveling by foot, car and camel, we ended up at a remote bedouin village. I spent the night gazing up at a sky of stars that seemed to go on for eternity.
My final destination was Petra—a lost city carved into the desert mountains, creating breathtaking temples, a treasury, and hundreds of dwellings. While tourists hired donkeys to ride through the four-mile city of sand, I felt fabulously tireless in my Skechers and decided to trek and climb the 850 steps! With my faithful foot companion, I was unstoppable!
TRIP 2: GUATEMALA and SOUTH AMERICA
Just two short months later I packed my Skechers for another adventure with some friends to Guatemala where we hiked a couple of volcanoes, pushing one another to the top. These shoes were my saving grace through all kinds of terrain as I glided my way over lava rock that was steaming from the heat still rumbling under the surface.
Traveling through airports with these shoes is easy. No shoelaces and slip-on shoes that hug my feet in just the right way made jumping from country to country a breeze. In Argentina, I walked comfortably for days in Buenos Aires and ate the best steak ever. And then in Chile, I layed by the turquoise waters reflected on the beauty before me. As I explored, I was greeted by purple mountains, weirdly gorgeous desert plants, and salt flats that made me think I must have somehow walked mistakenly to Mars. I hitchhiked north to the border and caught a bus into Peru.
Peru is a land of food you will never forget and landscape that changes you. Cusco was my home base for much of my stay and Lomo Saltado became a new favorite dish as I coveted the cooking skills of these wonderful people. From there I did a four-day trek through the jungle to get to Machu Picchu. My trusty gray shoes still propelled me forward even when I thought I couldn’t take another step. I met monkeys, stepped to the edge of cliffs, and picked carefully over rapids across broken-down swinging bridges. I biked down a 5,000-meter mountain at high speeds. And I zip-lined like Supergirl over the tops of the jungle trees.
It was Rainbow Mountain that took my heart though. At 5,400 meters high, it was like walking through water to get to the top. Yet my Skechers helped me to conquer it, and once again my trusty shoes led me to the summit. It was the most spectacular view I have ever seen – one of my top five places to see in the world. A mountain frozen as a rainbow on one side, a towering glacier mountain on the other, and beautiful landscape of all kinds in between. It was the perfect ending to this trip. I was ready to head home and tell everyone about the latest adventure and how Skechers was truly the best shoe ever!
New York City
I am still wearing my Skechers daily through the streets of NYC. With all of the cultures represented here and the hours of walking we New Yorkers do, it is like traveling the world every time I step out of my front door. I’m still fulfilling my dreams as I continue to do the things I have put off. I am a writer by heart but I never had time to really follow that road or my passion for acting when I was sitting behind my desk. Now, I have worn Skechers on many sets of prime time television shows. And, I continue to document stories about life, love, and transparency on my website. During my long shoots, it is my Skechers that I love to slip on for the journey home. And when I sit at the coffee shop to write, it is my Skechers that I always wear. Public transportation is not my style since I love the freedom that biking around the city affords, and again it is Skechers that lets me do it in style and comfort. I am in love – with travel, with NYC, and most certainly with Skechers!
Keep up with all of Jessica Maiuzzo’s adventures around the world and through life on her blog The Miss-Happenstances and follow @themisshappenstances on Instagram and Facebook.
Photographs from Trip 1 and Trip 2 by Jessica Maiuzzo. Photographs from New York City by Keri Tan. Find more of Keri’s work at keritanphotography.com and on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Filed under: Life & Style Tagged: Blog Takeover
