I bought my first pair of Chaco sandals in 2009 when I was living in Guyana, South America. Guyana is the country north of Brazil, between Venezuela and Suriname, and on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. It’s also super close to the Equator and very hot. Too hot to wear socks and sneakers on a daily basis. I was living there on a teaching fellowship with my grad school. I spent a lot of my time on my feet in the classroom as well as walking everywhere. I walked to the grocery store, to class, around town, and wherever I needed to go after a taxi dropped me off. My feet were tired, and I needed something better than what I had. I needed a pair of Chaco sandals.
I’d seen quite a few people wearing them. They seemed versatile. A lot of women wore them with skirts and shorts (it was way too hot to wear long pants or long sleeves). So, I took the plunge and bought two pairs. A brown and purple pair and a black pair (I still needed options). Both of them were Z/2s. I had them shipped to my parents to give them to a friend who was about to visit. As soon as she arrived, I put the sandals to work.
First, I went on a day trip to Kaieteur National Park. It’s located in the Potaro-Siparuni Region of Guyana, south of Georgetown, the country’s capital and where I lived. The park is also in Guyana’s rainforest. To get to it, we took a 90 minute ride on a six-seater plane. The purpose of the whole trip was to see Kaieteur, the largest single-drop waterfall in the world. We flew around to get different views of it. Once the plane landed, we walked through the jungle to see the falls from different vantage points. The last stop was at the top, almost 750 feet in the air. Standing there, looking over the edge, feeling and hearing the roar of the water around me is still one of the most meaningful experiences of my life. And my trek to the top was made easier because of my Chaco sandals.
During the next 16 years, I used them (and other pairs that I bought) everywhere. I walked on the beaches in the Outer Banks, North Carolina, and Sarasota, Florida, as well as Teddy Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. They were part of my everyday life in Ohio, Georgia, and Nevada. They made appearances in Nevada at Valley of Fire State Park and Lake Mead National Recreation Area as well as places in Utah, Arizona (the Grand Canyon), and Colorado. I even wore them on the first hike I went on with my now husband (at Sweetwater Creek State Park in Lithia Springs, Georgia).
I almost bought a pair for my wedding, but I opted to go the more traditional route in order to match the Doctor Who color scheme (they did go with us on our honeymoon in Tennessee). I also perfected the art of wearing them with my professional clothes when I covered City Council meetings in Boulder City.
In fact, all those Chaco sandals were an essential part of my life until late 2024 when I was diagnosed with a Giant Cell tumor on my right big toe. It was so large that I had to get the toe amputated. And with it went my ability to wear Chaco sandals 😦 I thought maybe I could wear my Z/1s since they didn’t have a toe loop, but I was wrong. I cried when I realized I couldn’t wear them anymore.
After sharing the issue with some of my peers, they encouraged me to reach out to you at Chaco. So, that is what I’m doing. I’m asking if there is any way something could be done to make these sandals wearable by a nine toed person? I’ve had so many great experiences in them, I hate to think they won’t be a part of my life anymore. If that does end up being the case, however, I’ll survive. Why? Because the experiences I had in my Chaco sandals were some of the best of my life, and I know there are more to come no matter what kind of shoes or sandals I’m wearing.
-Celia Goodyear
Glimpses from the Other Side 