I was wondering when staying at caravan parks do you long term nomads use footware like thongs or Crocks when using the shower facilities? I had tinea many years ago & it was a nuisance to get rid of so want to avoid it happening again. Have many of you had problems like this from caravan park showers in the past?
Jon

A very good question.I always wear some kind of footwear when showering in public places like c/ps, motels,hotels etc.Tinea is a nasty nasty to catch and usually takes a while to clear up.So yes ALWAYS wear some form of footwear whilst showering in strange places(not those kind of strange places).Regards.Paddy.

Yes .. we always wear thongs/Crocs when using caravan park showers.

An after thought! We find it a nuisance stepping into wet footwear after the shower to make our way back to our van so I thought as we have a small rubber bath mat I cut smaller for our caravan shower which we don't use in the parks it may be an idea to roll the mat up & take it to the cp showers to use there as long as we remember to bring it back.
Jon

Good idea Jon.Make sure that you clean the underneath surface wont you,waste of time using it if you are taking the germs with you.Maybe a good spray with Glen 20 or similar.I live with the original Baroness Bleach,she swears that it is the best disinfectant.Me I think it pongs.Poor me.lol.Regards Paddy.

The mat could pick up stuff off the floor, especially those spongy mat tiles which join together in panels. I did have a burst of foot rot here in Cairns. Thongs and all, and yet 11 years in the Kimberleys in all sorts of bathrooms on cattle stations, nothing. The showers in this park are bleached to death every day. Nothing, not even tinea would dare survive in these showers. I do wear thongs and squeak myself all the way home. No tinea since. I also soak my feet in a blend of hot water, baby oil and vinegar when I give myself a pedi. Cracked heels are a bigger problem for me than foot rot. I have to keep my feet nice, they keep my a..s off the ground.

To add to this post,I mentioned to my mate about the protection problem,and I should have known better, his answer was for good protection wear a Condom.Just see it now lots of G/N's padding around the shower block wearing Condoms on their feet,the mind boggles.Regards.Paddy.

Do they come in foot size? Or just toe size?

Thongs or crocks can't go wrong and scrub them and put them in the sun regularly can't beat the old sun for killing bugs

We keep a separate pair of cheap thongs just for the shower. They then sit outside in the sun until next shower.

We've been on the road for 12 months, neither of us wear thongs or anything else in the shower and have not had any foot problems. We do, however, use our own bathmats, so get to dry our feet thoroughly then put them into our nice dry footwear which is left just outside the shower cubicle door.

We've solved the problem  ...... Use our own ensuite.   Miss the company at the ablutions block though.

That's true Cupie. All the best travel tips are shared in the bathroom and at the laundry over a shuddering washing machine slowly shaking its way across the laundry floor. One has to be on their toes, with or without protection, to stay on top of the best travel and camping trips.

We use old thongs, kept outside the van when not in use. We also take one of the small hard foam matts with the holes in them (link matts) over and put that down when getting dressed to keep our feet up off the wet or germy floor. They are tied to our bumper bar in the sun when not in use. A good scub of the thongs and mat now and then with Napi San will also kill the nasties if you don't want to use bleach. The only trouble I ever had was when a dog ran away with one of my thongs at night and I found it chewed up some distance from the van.......may have been a Dingo, but a very sheepish looking dog was running around loosed near the van so suspect that was the culprit.

The funny look was probably the gut ache he was suffering. Punishment for stealing and chewing you thong. You do realise in some other parts of the world thongs have a very different role in relation to one's dress sense.

Thanks Wonker - My cracked heels are caused by constantly wearing open backed shoes such as thongs and sandals. One of the lifestyle hazards of living in the tropics. I have used that heel balm, and it does work. I still have to use a "foot grater" to grate the dry and dead skin off first. Then pack the cream on. Tinea or foot rot is caused by so many bugs, not all of which are inflicted in the shower. Gardening in open shoes can do it from the soil. I also had a fungai (I called him mushroom) under my fingernails, not just under the thumb. But seriously folks - The fungus under my finger nails caused no pain or discomfort, but it simply lifted the nail off the bed in slow stages. Then the dirt would accumulate under all that space, so gloves were compulsory. I still soak my hands and feet in hot water, vinegar and baby oil when I do the pedi and manicure.

There is another one for cracked feet that many swear by, similar ingredients called Eucalypti or something.

Thanks for the recipe for the feet/hands, I'll have to try it.

I am another of the thongs/bare feet brigade, so my feet suffer badly, lol