Featured Post

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Holiday Gifts for Travelers: Treats for the Feet

Cold, sweaty and tired feet can leave many a traveler feeling defeeted.  Here are a few new products that claim to prime your paws for all travel conditions. I have not tested these products, and so will not rate them. If you've tried them, let me know what you think.

First off, we have Get Grounded Footwear Groundals for $49.99 (straps come in black, gold or silver).
The claim: Wearing these sandals will ground you to Mother Nature's magnetic field. The press materials call Groundals "the first footwear featuring a fully-grounded foot bed, made with a proprietary trade-secret material called TerraMater." Apparently, this material conducts negatively-charged free electrons "allowing for the absorption of  positive energy from the earth's natural surfaces." The process, called grounding, allows one's body to be in direct electrical contact with the earth, leading to an increase in energy. Amazing....just from wearing a pair of sandals. Now look, I am not a total skeptic. I lived across from the ocean in Santa Barbara for four years and found barefoot beach walks quite energizing (something to do with the negative ions, they say). But as the sample pair of Groundals sent to me were too big to wade in, I cannot replicate my Pacific experience here on the East Coast. For the New Age-types on your gift list, though, this might give them a charge.


Somewhat more down to earth are the superlatives offered by the makers of Heat Holders. The packaging calls Heat Holders the warmest thermal socks around.  The scientific proof, as claimed by the manufacturer, is in the Thermal Overall Grade (TOG). This measure of a textile's warming ability shows Heat Holders get a 2.34 score; ordinary thermal socks rate a .89; and your basic cotton socks score a .33.  At $15.99, it's worth a try. If they don't end up being the perfect stocking stuffer, next year, you can use them as your spare Christmas stocking.



Blue Kauai Mary JanesThe Nufoot sock is a good slip-on for those who prefer not to walk around the plane/hotel room/yoga studio barefoot.  Made with a breathable four-way stretch fabric,the Nufoot footie is water and skid resistant. Priced at $14.99, the footies come in a variety of pleasing patterns.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi. Thank you for the shoe links ! Am loving the grounding ones. Do you make it back to SB very often?