Why Are Men Packing so Many Shoes for Vacation?
5 min readAs an overpacker myself, I try not to be too judgemental about other people’s packing habits. I regularly check a bag so that I can bring half a suitcase full of skincare products for work trips—I literally do not have room to judge. But I did develop some curiosity about men’s shoe packing habits when I started getting fed TikToks about how many pairs of shoes some men are bringing on vacation.
I’m not talking about one or two pairs of sneakers; I’m talking about six pairs of sneakers, some dress shoes, and some sandals. And these are bigger shoes too—both in size and bulk. Just look at NBA player Collin Sexton’s vacation shoe lineup. Two pairs of Air Jordans, two pairs of Air Max 1s, and a pair of Dunk Lows.
But it is not just NBA players and TikTok stars that are going all in on footwear. “I typically pack about four to five different types of shoes,” Dominic Brown, the man behind @TallTravelEats says. “On most trips, I pack athletic sneakers, swim shoes, dress shoes, slides, and casual shoes that are comfortable for a lot of walking.”
Writer TM Brown (no relation to Dominic) is also an avid shoe overpacker. With size 13 shoes, each pair takes a substantial amount of space. “I’m packing for a trip to Scotland and Puglia in August,” TM says. “There are the beater shoes, which are what I can wear every day. There’s usually a pair of three odd lugs from Timberland. I have a pair of Yucatan loafers that I can wear around town, I could do the Sambas or I have some New Balance. The foundational pair is always going to be something that I can wear either walking around a lot, or that I can wear walking around a lot and wear to a restaurant or to a nice bar.”
TM and Dominic are just a few of the men packing a full range of footwear. For Kimanzi Constable, it is a deeply set routine to always travel with four pairs of shoes. “I’ve traveled to 88 countries, and will travel to 14 this year,” he says. “I travel with four pairs of shoes. Asics for everyday use. Timberland boots/shoes for informal outings with jeans. Skechers slip-on shoes for walking about hotels and small distances. And formal shoes for nice occasions.”
So, how are all these shoes fitting into their luggage? Are these men checking extra bags or taking carry-ons stuffed to bursting with sneakers? Not quite. After so many trips, Dominic has developed a solid packing system.
“A hack I learned from years of traveling is to use compression bags for my clothes so I have more space in my suitcase for multiple pairs of shoes,” Dominic says. “I typically bring two large suitcases whenever I travel. I haven’t paid extra for packing shoes. I’m a frequent traveler, I learned how to pack efficiently so I’m not charged extra.”
For TM, packing his shoes is a bit more of a logistical challenge. He will sometimes use a bag that is just for shoes, with space for a little bit of extra stuff. “The hardest thing to pack for me is my shoes. It can be a headache,” TM says. “My shoe-to-outfit ratio, I’m probably bringing five to six pairs of shoes on any given trip. And I’m probably bringing the same amount of outfits, I think proper fits. I use Baggu shoe bags for my shoes.”
The trend of men traveling with a lot of shoes has become so popular that there’s now even a specific product for those packing multiple pairs of sneakers. The Kicks Kase is a shoe-carrying backpack designed specifically for traveling with shoes.
“When the brand started our target customers were quite narrow. We really only targeted sneaker enthusiasts who needed a bag for traveling,” Kicks Kase founder Yujun Chen told Thrillist. “These people usually wear rare or expensive shoes and they need the assurance that they wouldn’t be lost during travel so a carry-on bag to hold their shoes is the perfect solution.”
So why has this become such a trend for men? For TM, Dominic, and Kimanzi, their reasons for packing multiple pairs of shoes is a mixture of fashion and function. They are packing shoes for going out to dinner, going to the beach, going on walks around the city, and going on excursions. Really, it’s not so different from my own shoe packing habits. Chen says that excessive shoe packing is not really exclusive to any gender.
“We create our content around ‘men packing for vacations’ lately more because we have found that type of content is going viral more regularly but when it really comes down to it I don’t think it is specific to men,” Chen says.
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