The quick downward (Sandal) spiral

How much time should a person spend researching footwear before they throw in the towel and slowly type in the inevitable URL: c-h-a-c-o-s?

I spent about four months. Surely, I thought, there must be a better option. I was determined to find it. 

But...

Toms? The sole was gone before I wore them out of the house. 
Birkenstocks? You can't get them wet. 
Flip flops? It's not realistic to walk around all day on a piece of foam. 

Despite what seemed to be an unlimited determination that there was something else "cuter" out there, all signs pointed to Chacos as the perfect travel sandal. So, why the aversion to this pretty little thing?

The truth is, I had a pair of Chacos when I was in college and they were the best. I hiked all over the Rocky Mountains, Canyonlands, Yosemite, and Europe in them. I loved them and I would not consider wearing anything else. I also didn't own a skirt or a dress until I was 23. I wore only clothes that placed ads in Climbing magazine or that I could sleep in. Hashtag college, I guess. 

But then, after discovering fashion when living in Spain, and spending most of my college savings on classy-trashy clothes in Europe, I quickly kicked my beat up Chacos under the bed. They wouldn't let me into Kapital wearing those old things. 

And now I equate Chacos to those things sitting in the bathtub "airing out" every night (ahem, Spencer).

I still love these sandals, but I'm afraid. When I put them on will I also find myself wearing a toe-ring? Will I end up in a pair of drawstring Prana khakis, a bandana, and an old Capeliene t-shirt? Will my eyebrow ring reappear? I guess that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, would it? 

I've just come so far, you know? I don't want to forget all of the important rules on how to look cool.