My second pair of TEVA I owned happened to be a knock-off I got as an emergency replacement for my then battered TEVA sandals which finally gave way after 5 years while I was travelling in Laos sometime in 2006. I bought it for only 10 or 20 US dollars at some obscure small-town outdoor shop and it endured brutality pretty well for at least 4 more years.
TEVA has always been my favourite brand of outdoor sandals and needless to say, after all the round-the-world adventures with my TEVA for more than a decade, I became extremely picky when it comes to outdoor sandals. I not only love it for it’s simple but cool designs; but also because it is light-weight, resilient and most of all, extremely comfortable to wear for extended period of time or just for a casual weekend walk-about. For a sandal, it was one of the most resilient footwear I ever had. The only reason I had to finally throw it away (grudgingly!) was because it smelt of rotten carcass after being subjected to numerous tortures under varied conditions and circumstances.
Since then, I have been looking for the brand in every possible shop I know – both in Thailand and Singapore – only to come to the conclusion that they may have disappeared from the face of the earth. I blame my curse for that. I know I could have searched for it online, but given that I never really knew the exact size, I refrained from doing so to save the hassle.
I eventually gave up after 3 years of searching, and settled on a pair of Dortmüend. It was quite pricey, but did not mind paying for it as I saw it as an investment that would last me for a while. To my disappointment, the rather expensive piece of crap died on me after less than 2 years of only light usage (mostly in the weekends or for casual outdoor usage when travelling). Needless to say, I was not a very happy camper!
My search for another TEVA never really did stop. I was always hoping that I might chance by it one of these days. To my delight, I did! And I found it when we were in Holland at one small-ish shop selling outdoor stuff while I was looking for a jacket.
It might not be THE design which I fancy (the size that I liked was not available in my size), but it IS a TEVA. After years of searching, I beamed with extreme delight on the fact that I am reunited with my favourite brand of footwear again.
And…to find out later that I had actually bought a pair of TEVA in conjunction of a cause just as I took my new sandals out of its box, makes me feel even better about owning it.
Here’s my swanky pair of foot. I am glad that the brand is still alive in other parts of the world.
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