One Japanese, one English and one Spanish. Like the joke, but real.

It happened years ago.
On the other side of the phone a traveller asks.
I can hardly understand him, he speaks very little Spanish.
He tries with English, but speaking is not my thing. In writing I can handle it.

I reach to understand something.

    ⁃ yes, I do. Forty four, yes!
    ⁃ Ok, I will go to shop.

He wear all clothes in black. He has arrived to our town in the train and his detachable bicycle is also black.

I look at his feet. He is wearing a Vivobarefoot Ultra. Of course, black.

He tells me that he had trouble finding them. He was surprised that a small town could sell them.

He "touched" one of my favourite shoes. We quickly shared our experiences.

He is travelling around the world. He alternates public transport with bicycle routes.

He is Japanese. Minimalist and very confident.

He shows me the sole of his shoe. It has a good hole in it.

I start talking to him about other barefoot shoes, but he is not interested.

He wants the Ultra.

Out with the old King, in with the new one!

When he leaves, he leaves me the broken pair.
For some time it was on the shelf in the shop.
Along with some insoles left by the customers and my last cushioned shoe, an Asics.

As a reminder of a past life, which is not always better.

Years have passed since then and I still remember that day.
I'm surprised by the courage or fearlessness of some people.

Little baggage. Little luxury. Simply with the idea of getting to know other cultures.

Something similar happened to my English teacher. He also travelled around the world backpacking. In that case, Peter had a reason. A great motive.

He needed to meet after his wife, who was only 30 years old, passed away.
He sold his properties and he walked around part of Africa and Asia.

He 'fell' in Cordoba, sat down in the Plaza de las Tendillas and surrendered to the beauty of the Cordovan woman. Just as he told it.

His eyes shone. It was one of the few moments he spoke to me in Spanish.

He remarried her and created a beautiful family.  


Movement is the basis of life and many times, when we are lost or looking for new horizons, we turn to it.

Like Peter, like the Japanese traveller.

That is why your feet are important. They are the travel companions that will take you wherever you want to be.

The lighter the luggage, the lighter the journey.

The Vivobarefoot Ultra respects your feet and only weighs 100 grams.