The Best Shoes for Traveling: Cole Haan Zerogrand Stitchlite Oxfords
/After 2.5 years of wearing them almost exclusively through everyday life and while traveling through 25 countries, I can highly recommend the Cole Haan Zerogrand Stitchlite Oxford as the best shoe for traveling. This article is a review of what I love about them, and shares my tips for how I wash them and where to buy them.
Why the Cole Haan Zerogrand Stitchlite Oxfords are my favorite shoe for traveling
They’re lightweight. Weighing in at about 3 ounces each, these shoes are so light the feeling is almost like you only have socks on. I would say that these are so lightweight that they’re perfect for packing in your luggage, but I can guarantee that they’ll never see the inside of your suitcase- these are the shoes that you will be wearing on your feet through the airport, train station, or wherever your travels take you.
They’re comfortable. I’ve found that these sneakers have been perfect for walking great distances, standing for long periods, and can even handle moderate hiking. The sneakers are lace-up but I more often found myself easily (read: lazily) slipping them on and off without having to re-tie them. For me, they’ve been great for getting through airport security, standing in lines for attractions, and especially those 15,000+ step days while exploring new destinations.
They’re versatile. These shoes are casual yet have proven to be presentable/discreet enough if I’m going somewhere I have to look a little more put-together- or even just taking photos for social media! The light weight, comfort, and versatility of these sneakers are important for me as a traveler who almost always packs carry-on-only and needs to narrow down to essentials that can be worn to a range of places.
They’re easy to wash. More on this below!
Wearing the same sneakers in Sevilla Spain in March 2019, and in Mostar BiH in July 2021:
My Cole Haan sneakers led me through 25 countries over the last 2.5 years, and have survived what’s probably amounted to a hundred cycles in the washing machine. Overall, I think they held up pretty great considering how often I wore them and how often I washed them. It wasn’t until I compared my old pair to my brand new pair that I noticed the outer fabric seemed to have stretched out a bit, but that could have been from regular wear and from slipping them on and off instead of tying the laces every time. Aside from other regular signs of wear (I spilled a small drop of white paint while renovating a rental property, and had to stitch up a small hole near the toe that appeared after falling off a bike in Spain), they always looked great and I continued getting compliments and people asking me if they were new, even 2.5 years later.
On the left, a brand new pair of Cole Haan 2.Zerogrand Stitchlite oxfords. On the Right, a Pair I wore for 2.5 years and washed almost weekly.
How to machine wash Cole Haan Zerogrand Stitchlite Oxfords
If I’m home and have the time, I use a brush to scrub my Cole Haans with laundry detergent (or Oxiclean) before placing them in the washing machine on a regular cycle with more detergent, and they always come out spotless and bright white. If I’m traveling or short on time, I’ll just throw them in the machine with detergent and they’ll come out pretty clean. I’ll usually wash them with an old towel to minimize the noise of banging around the washing machine’s drum.
How to dry them: set them outside or by a window to air dry. They’ll lose a lot of water if your wash cycle ends with a spin, so air drying tends to be very fast.
What they look like after 2.5 years of washing almost weekly: The knit outer fabric and laces show normal signs of wear, but I think the repeated washing eventually took the biggest toll on the inner sole. After about two years of washing, the foam of the inner sole began disintegrating and the fabric lining started peeling around the edges. The yellow foam layer of the sole became more and more exposed after continued wear and washing, and I eventually noticed they started to stain my white socks yellow- not a big deal, but could be a little embarrassing if someone sees your socks and wonders what you may have stepped in! In the end, once I started noticing the wear of the inner sole two years in, they ended up having about another six months of wear (and travel) in them before becoming so worn on the inside that I realized they were not as comfortable as they used to be. It was time to shop for a new pair!
A pair of Cole Haan 2.Zerogrand Stitchlite Oxfords that traveled through 25 countries and survived about one hundred washing machine cycles in the span of 2.5 years
Where to buy Cole Haan Zerogrand Stitchlite Oxfords
My favorite Cole Haan 2.Zerogrand Stitchlite Oxfords are sold on a number of sites like Amazon, Zappos, and on the Cole Haan website, and I would recommend checking multiple sites before purchasing because your preferred color way and size could be on sale. They usually retail for $150 but I have seen them on sale on Amazon for as low as $40-$80.
Though my review is solely describing my experience wearing the Women’s Cole Haan 2.Zerogrand Stitchlite Oxford, Cole Haan has a whole range of Zerogrand sneakers with the same lightweight knit Stitchlite fabric, for both women and men:
As sad as it is to part with my trusty shoes that have been with me through so many places, I’m excited to see where my next pair takes me! Do you own a pair of these shoes or have a question before you purchase them? Leave a comment below!
UPDATE:
Turns out, I really did have a hard time parting with my trusty shoes! Though my original pair had seen better days, I decided to bring them with me on another trip because I was planning on visiting the sandy deserts of Jordan and didn’t want to destroy my brand new pair. I ended up wearing them comfortably through another five countries (Spain, Malta, Jordan, Cyprus, and France) before officially retiring them, and was able to extend their life by replacing the inner soles, replacing the laces, and buffing the outer soles with a magic eraser.
I certainly got as much wear out of them as I possibly could, and am convinced that these are the best shoes for traveling. My new pair have already led me through a number of destinations both new and familiar, and truly make it easy to pack light for any trip. Since I know the Cole Haan Zerogrand Stitchlite Oxfords are the shoes that I will be wearing daily while traveling, I don’t even bother packing many other footwear options for my trips.
I was able to extend the life of my Cole Haan Zerogrand Stitchlite Oxfords by Replacing the Inner Soles and Replacing the Laces and continued traveling with them through five more countries before officially retiring them.
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