As you are making your list of items to pack for camping in Australia, you want to give lots of though to the shoes you take along. For the beach it makes sense to wear shoes you can easily slip on and off. However, when you are going hiking you need shoes that are going to offer support for the feet and the ankles. A twisted ankle can be very painful – and it can be make it hard to get back to the camper trailer on your own- especially if you took the off road camper trailer way out into the bush and the hiked even farther out on foot.

You need to go hiking in shoes that are snug but not too tight. You don’t want them to be able to slip and slide as you move through the terrain. This is especially true when you go through caves and other locations that aren’t always on level ground. The wrong shoes can result in stickers, thorns, and various injuries to your feet.

However, you don’t want your hiking shoes to be so tight that your feet are throbbing and you feel like you aren’t getting enough blood circulating through them. Painful blisters can form very quickly that will make hiking a chore instead of fun. Since it can take days for those blisters to heal, it could ruin the rest of your camping trip.

To shop for great hiking shoes, you want to try them on at the end of the day. As the day progresses our feet swell up. If you shop for shoes early in the day then you may prevent yourself from getting those hiking shoes that offer enough room for that swelling to occur and that could make them too tight when you have them on.

You don’t want hiking shoes that are too heavy either. That can make each step tiring and then you would get very much hiking done either. Most hiking shoes are durable though so that you can handle the rugged terrain with ease. You may want to consider a pair that is waterproof too.

Don’t just buy a new pair of hiking boots or shoes though and toss them in your bags for camping. As we all know, it  can take some time to break in a new pair of shoes. Wear them for short periods of time around the house, hiking locally, and even for a walk around the block. Then your feet will be used to them by the time you go camping in Australia.