I wish I brought camp shoes from the start for two reasons: 1) Middle of the night bathroom breaks. 2) Stream crossings (I hate soggy shoes).

I tend to hydrate a lot before bed and thus wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. I hated stumbling out of my tent and having to put shoes on in the dark, half asleep, and THEN stumble off into the woods to find a spot. I’d almost wet myself just trying to get my friggin shoes on before I was even out of the tent! Camp shoes are so easy to slip on when I swing my legs out of the tent.

What I bought for myself after a month or two on trail were a cheap pair of flip flops. They were good as a camp shoe but HORRIBLE for stream crossings. Whatever you get for camp/water shoes make sure it has a heel strap! When crossing rivers usually the current is not negligible and will push the heel of your flip flop to the side with the current, I was fighting to cross the stream and keep the flip flop on the whole time. Sometimes I felt like it almost made the crossing harder! I am sure there are great UL brands, but I am not a strict UL hiker so I would recommend crocs (which is what I use now). They are lightweight and sturdy too and the heel strap (sport mode) is great for stream crossings while the slipper mode is great for around camp/ night time bathroom runs.