After you're on top of your basic daily foot care, it's time to really start pampering yourself and those hard working feet of yours. Try your own combination of a few of these ideas.

First you can start with a nice Foot Bath. Pull up a nice comfy chair, soak your feet in warm soapy water for 15-20 minutes, towel off and apply a good moisturizing lotion. This is a nice way to finish your day. Some folks find this so enjoyable they do it pretty much every day.

A neat variation on this is to use something called Natural Foot Care, a treatment more common to the Asian countries where bare feet, sandals and nature's healing means are at hand. Follow the link for more complete information on this. Lemon juice, strawberries, almonds, honey, eucalyptus - hmmm! Have a look and imagine the natural benefits! Try this daily or every other day and see how your feet thank you.

Of course one of the true pleasures in life is having a good foot massage. Treat yourself to this delightful experience 1-2 times a month just because you deserve it. Follow the link above to learn a whole lot more and if you're inclined, look into some of the resources there that can help you teach yourself or a partner to do your own at home. It can be as much fun giving as receiving!

Another special treat you can add to your foot pampering arsenal is Foot Reflexology. There is something going on here that may not always be easy to explain but whatever it is, it's been going on for a whole lot of people for a very long time. Learn a lot more at the link just above.

One final 'neat thing' to add to your foot care bag of tricks is the new kid on the block called Ionic Foot Detox. This is something we do ourselves (not more than a couple of times a month for us) and we just love the feeling of lightness and energy we get from it We don't pretend to understand what it is all about. It works and it's safe and we like it. Highly recommended as an ongoing experience.

That's enough for you to create your own foot care program from for now. We hope you enjoy your experiences here. Your feet will be very happy too!

Great Idea

Here's a thought. Maybe you are thinking of doing a bit of travel to some far away places this summer. And of course you want to keep on your improved fitness you're enjoying from your walking.

Here are some links we recently discovered that let you know about all kinds of really neat walking events in different parts of the world.

If your traveling in the USA why not drop in to the American Volkssport Association website for some great walking opportunities.

For those traveling in Canada you can get similar great info at the CVF Volkssport Clubs & Walking Events in Canada. (item # 7 is a good starting point).

And if you are traveling in the UK this year here is a great walking forum where knowledgeable people share their info about walking events throughout that part of the world.

Know of other sites with good info on walking events in your area? Please do let us know. We will share it with you all in upcoming newsletters. A new page on our site is also under development to share the best of these sites with you too!

Tip Of The Month

When you're fitting new shoes:

• Measure your feet at the end of the day - when they are largest.
• Fit for the larger of your feet. Most folks have one foot larger than the other.
• Measure your feet standing up. Your foot changes shape when you are sitting down.
• Allow 3/8-1/2" between your longest toe and the end of the shoe (inside distance).

Want to learn more? Have a quick look at our Measure Your Foot Properly page. You'll find a whole lot more pain and money saving tips there.

Next month in the May edition we'll talk more about choosing the best walking shoes along with some of our personal favorites. In the meantime get in touch if you have any questions, suggestions, comments or ideas for future newsletters. We always love hearing from you!

Until then we remain ...

Your walking partners,

Yoko and Geoff

PS - Hmmm. Maybe you’ve gotten a little fuzzy on why walking is so gosh darn good for you? Drop by our Benefits of Walking page again!

PPS - Remember that we welcome your walking stories, hiking tales and tall tales too! Share yours with us, be published on your very own web page and maybe even win some neat prizes!