I was lucky enough to be asked by the fabulous lawyer/shoe fanatic/scottish person/not mommy blogger @Gabfran to write a guest post for Caveat Calcei. I am not a shoe person. I love a good heel every now and then - the higher the better - but my life is spent mostly in bare feet, sandals or chucks. I don't have any amazing shoes that whe n I wear women stop to stare at. I don't actually have anything that women would stop to stare at. I do have lots of stories that lots of people stop to listen to or read though. The more I thought about shoes the more I thought about the places I have been wearing them - the places I went wearing one pair in particular...
Here is the story:
The Shoes Help Make the Story – Guest Shoe Blog Post by Susan Fujiki aka @kungfupussy
April 23, 2011 by
lawandshoes 
Skechers(R) Sneakers Photocredit Famous Footwear
Most sneakers are worn around the house, for a walk around the block or if they are lucky, a trip to the gym a couple of times a week. Not my sneakers – I made mine work.
I remember exactly where I bought them. I was on my lunch break and I had just joined a gym in Japan and I needed some sneakers to wear. I had a 40 minute break between teaching classes and I headed over to the Kuzuha Mall and debated between these sneakers and another pair of more classic style running shoes. I liked the silver sparkles so I chose the Skechers.
The sneakers were broken in walking from my apartment in Neyagawa to the gym. They got comfy as I ran with them on the treadmill and walked around the gym avoiding people who wanted free English lessons. I wore them on the weekends as I walked around Osaka: along the Dotonbori river looking up at the Glico running man, around Osaka Castle, and in AmericaMura where I would go to buy CDs from Tower Records. No matter what the weather was, when I wasn’t working the sneakers were always on my feet and worn with blue jeans and a random Japanese-English t-shirt.
Their first trip overseas was to Thailand where they experienced ancient ruins and sandy beaches. The next trip was to China which was full of concrete and steps. After that I thought, why not try some snow? Together we walked an incredible number of miles through Moscow. They carried me to Lenin’s tomb, to the Kremlin and to the most amazing golden churches. They kept my feet warm as I walked around St Petersburg in a slushy mess. They were with me as I paced from Russia to Mongolia to China on the Trans-Mongolian Express. They were on my feet when I was almost thrown off the train in Siberia.
The sneakers, a little worn in but still comfortable, stayed with me until I left Japan but don’t worry, I didn’t leave them there. They traveled with me on a more important journey: backpacking around the world from my old home to my new home. Together we saw ancient temples in Cambodia and they helped me hike to see the sun rise over the Himalayas in Nepal. They filled with sand as I saw Egyptian pyramids and with water when it rained in Venice. They were on my feet when I handed over my immigration packet when I entered my new home – the USA.
Once I had settled into my new life I decided to let the worn down, faded and now not so sparkly silver lined black Sketchers have the ultimate rest. I got a little sad when I threw them away as together we had done so much but I reminded myself shoes can’t talk. Shoes help us get to where we need to be to collect our stories. Thank you Skechers. You helped me collect some amazing ones.
Susan Fujiki, sneakers and some famous mythical creature
Thanks to @gabfran for letting me guest blog for her. Go and give her some love on her blog. Make sure to leave her comments and she thinks that its like getting hugs from strangers - and not in a creepy way. 
