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Sunnystep Shoes review: lightweight, versatile and easy to pack

As a solo indie traveller, I generally try to pack as light as I can to minimise the effort of having to haul around my bag on my own. I talk about that in detail in this post about how I pack, but here we’re going to look specifically at shoes for travel. I was recently asked to review Sunnystep Shoes [affiliate link] and brought them along on my recent trip to Taiwan – I did like them a lot, so here’s a more detailed post and review on Sunnystep Shoes for travellers (discount code at bottom of the post!)

Sunnystep Shoes Grass
Sunnystep Shoes – Women’s Balance Runner Limited Edition (Olive)

How I pack shoes for travel

My formula when it comes to packing shoes for travel is generally 2-3 pairs no matter the length of the trip

  1. Pair of flipflops – good for beach holidays or walking around the house if needed
  2. Pair of hiking-ready shoes – currently these are my Timberland boots, hardy and waterproof and ready for any outdoor situation
  3. Pair of walking shoes – something comfortable enough for walking around the city all day but also nice enough to dress up a little. Should be easy to pack and light.

Here’s a shoe tip for you if you don’t already know: wear your heaviest shoes to the airport if you’re trying to pack light! Which usually means I’m wearing my high cut hiking boots on the plane and need to pack my walking shoes.

To give you a sense of my current walking shoe preferences, right now I rotate between Anothersole leather flats (good for the office) and Allbirds Tree Dashers (I’ve done hours of walking tours in these) depending on how much walking I’m expecting to do on a trip.

About Sunnystep Shoes

Quite honestly I’d never even heard of the brand before until they approached me, but Sunnystep is a Singapore brand that’s been around since 2019 and has 9 stores around the island, including being carried in department stores like OG, Isetan and Tangs (Goes to show how much I’ve been out and about..).

First impressions

The one thing you’ll notice immediately about Sunnystep shoes when you pick them up is how light they are. According to the marketing, they weigh less that 160gm, but they don’t feel too flimsy when you have them on.

What I like about Sunnystep shoes is that they’ve gone the Uniqlo route in terms of design – simple colours and no overt branding, which is useful when you need a shoe that goes with most of your wardrobe while travelling. I considered getting a more neutral colour, but was ultimately drawn to the beautiful green olive shade and ended up picking it. Most of my wardrobe tends towards monochrome, blues and greens anyway so it works for me.

My shoes: Women’s Balance Runner Limited Edition (Olive) [affiliate link]

Sunnystep Shoes Sole
I like the dark green colour, it’s quite unique but not too bright

Road-testing Sunnystep shoes for travel

I’ve had the shoes for about 2 months now and have worn them to work, walk around and brought them on recent trips too. Here are some thoughts so far:

Comfort: What I like about Sunnystep shoes is that the toe box area is wider, which is great for my wide feet that don’t feel compressed. The sole and insole are springy enough that you don’t feel like your feet are flattening out after a long day walking. The shoes are comfortable enough that you could wear them without socks, but I do find them a little warm and because the uppers are relatively thin so I usually wear them with thicker socks.

Rating: 5 out of 5.
Sunnystep Shoes Step Up
Stepping out in Sunnystep

Packing: The shoes are very light so they don’t add a lot of weight to a bag, which is great for backpackers especially. The leather uppers are quite thin and don’t have thick structure/boning, so you can compress the shoes a little if you need some more room without damaging the shoe.

Rating: 5 out of 5.
Sunnystep Shoes Compressed
Useful if you need to squeeze out room for extra shopping!

Aesthetics and look: I love my Timberlands for their hardiness but they look very obviously like hiking shoes. Sometimes when I’m wearing something pretty or going to a fancier place, it’s nice to have a more elegant shoe option available especially when you’re walking around a city and trying not to stand out too obviously as a backpacker with just 1 set of shoes. I do like that Sunnystep overall isn’t too flashy and that there are some interesting colour options available beyond the usual neutrals.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
Sunnystep Shoes Me Bopiliao
Pairing with a long dress
Hualien Shoufeng Mr Sam Cafe Lamppost Me
Goes with pants as well

Walking around: The insoles of Sunnystep shoes are ergonomic with a supportive arch that is quite comfortable to walk in. I find the shoe more comfortable with thicker socks cause I’m not so used to the acupressure bumps on the insole, but they are still quite comfy to walk around in. I haven’t seriously hiked in them, but have climbed stairs and viewpoint slopes with these quite comfortably and even gone for hiphop dance classes with them without any issues.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
Sunnystep Shoes Insole Out
See the acupressure bumps on the insole? You can also see that there is additional stitching inside

Weather proof: I wore Sunnystep shoes while exploring Hualien’s coastal sights and there was a pretty sudden downpour at one point where I had to pull out the brolly and run back to the bus. Surprisingly, they are pretty water resistant and my feet were not soaked through, and the shoes dried quite quickly as well. When it comes to heat, I do recommend wearing socks because they aren’t the most airy or absorbent overall, so on the plus side it doesn’t smell, but things get a bit slide-y without socks.

Rating: 4 out of 5.
Sunnystep Shoe Wet
Fairly water resistant in a downpour
Hualien Coast Xinshe Rice Terrace Me Rain
It rained a lot in the 2nd half of this Hualien tour zzz. That white background is supposed to be ocean view!

Overall I found the Sunnystep to be a pretty good shoe that works well for travellers but something I can also wear in my daily life. Anyone else tried their shoes? Tell me what you think in the comments.

Check out Sunnystep Shoes [affiliate link]. Use my promo code to get $8 off minimum purchase of S$125 – JACLYNN8OFF

My shoes were provided for review by Sunnystep. All opinions are based on my own experience.