Timberland has a special place in my heart. I took a pair of their hiking boots around the world with me on my first round-the-world journey. Ply me with a few drinks in a bar and I’ll tell you the tale of chasing an Indian teenager down the fort ramparts of Jodhpur after he snagged them outside of a temple at the top. But that’s for another time…

I’m more than a decade older and have a kid and a mortgage, so I’m more likely to go somewhere for a week or two rather than a year non-stop. I also tend to have the budget to eat a meal at a decent restaurant now and then, so I like to have some shoes along that aren’t a) hiking boots or b) sandals. Timberland has grown up as well and they’re no longer just the place to go for hiking boots and urban streetwear in hip-hop videos.

I’ve been trying out two pairs of shoes that are good for travel on recent trips. Both are from their Earthkeepers line. Shoes can only get so Earth-friendly, but in this case they’re at least giving it a good college try. The boxes and packaging are made from 100% recycled materials, the outsoles are made from recycled rubber, there are 50% recycled PET linings, and Timberland uses tanneries that aren’t filling the local creek with chemicals. So you may not be saving the world buying these, but you’re doing some small part to keep it from getting worse.

Nobody cares about any of that if the shoes are crappy though, and thankfully these are not. They’re comfortable, well-made, and will work in a variety of travel situations. The one pictured at the top is the Oxford Nubeck model, great with a pair of slacks or jeans. The second is the Cupsole 3. With these you can be sailing on a yacht, have dinner at a decent seafood restaurant, and spend an hour walking around the city afterwards. Multi-functional, which means fewer pairs to pack.

What you like best is going to depend on your personal style, but I’ve been quite happy with both these pairs of shoes. I expect to still be using them five years from now, unlike a few cheaper pairs I donated to Goodwill in order to fit these in my closet.

When you’ve been around as long as Timberland has, you need to be doing something right to justify the brand recognition and the list prices—in this case around a hundred bucks. You can get by for a while on hype, but to survive the fads and build up loyal customers it takes some quality in the mix. These are good shoes, made with a minimum of impact. Older and wiser, I’m still a fan.

See the full range of travel shoes at Timberland.com.

Timberland Men’s Earthkeepers Oxford at Endless.com

Get the Earthkeepers Cupsole Boat Shoe