I seek advice

I haven't gone barefoot in a while due to this sensitive area... It's healing quickly, though, and I shall be at it again soon... To the grievances of my mother. :tongue:

 

Well... Soon turned out to be 2 weeks.

First time in a while that I've gone barefoot for any amount of time for quite a while. Amazingly enjoyable, too. Just like I remember.

Time to re-toughen my soles again...

 

Just as the title says, best walk ever!!

I take a walk a route that is about 1.5 miles (usually multiple times) every day. Today, after the first block of walking (the block where my parents can see all the way down :tongue: ) I took my sandals off.

I didn't put them back on until I reached that block the next time.

That's about 1.4 miles of barefoot walking!! That's a ton of barefooting for me!!

And did I get a single cut?

No.

A single scrape? No. Laceration? No. Bee sting? No. Puncture wound? No. Did somebody point me out and make fun of me? No. Nobody even noticed (probably because I was carrying my sandals... haha).

I think the next step is to leave the shoes at the house.

 

Good job dude! Keep it up - to be honest I actually like to sneak out of the house when my parents are out because I don't really want them knowing or watching me while I'm barefoot (I lose my feeling of privacy). Also, just like wat u said u do in the other thread, I also like going bf at night. Oh yea, and try going barefoot to the park in the grass, mud and dirt AFTER it rains. It's such a blast (or I think so anyways).

 

Your privacy issue is understandable, as I remember doing a similar thing after dark back in my teen years. I would take my dog for a walk, but once outside I would remove my shoes and socks and hide them in the bushes. When I would return, my shoes and socks were waiting for me, once back inside, my mom never knew I went barefoot.

I did in fact and still love walking barefoot in grass after it rains. I love soft and wet grass stained soles. Even though I now live in the desert southwest, there are several patches of grass here on my apartment complex. Nice to hold on to those simple pleasures I had back in the northeast.

 

I go barefoot a lot when my parents aren't home. Problem is: that's during the day when it's too hot to go on the sidewalks... I don't really care about people I don't know. If they don't like it, there is nothing they can do because they don't know me and they'd be just as strange to approach me. And I'd probably lecture them on how disgusting their shoes are.

Once it cools off a little, though, I may start to go on the streets more during the day. Like I said, pretty soon I won't have to take my shoes with me because I'll really confront my parents and tell them the whole spiel. I only have confided with one of my sisters and she thinks I have the right to tell my parents my intentions.

*disclaimer* I have NOTHING against my parents. They're wonderful people and I love them to death. We just disagree on footwear.

There is just one more problem I'd like to address: Do you lose friends over going barefoot? Do people "spread rumors"? I don't want that to happen... I'm not trying to sound shallow or anything, but you know... Middle school peeps can be asshats and though I love barefooting and it's part of me, I don't want my social life to be ruined. I don't know if this would happen; my friends are pretty cool, but my age group has a lot of people who wouldn't be so happy about my footwear choice and they could use stereotypes, tell people I'm dirty, and of course that evolves into A LOT of things.

Or am I just paranoid?^^

 

Wow, I didnt even notice this thread before I posted mine.

 

There is just one more problem I'd like to address: Do you lose friends over going barefoot? Do people "spread rumors"? I don't want that to happen... I'm not trying to sound shallow or anything, but you know... Middle school peeps can be asshats and though I love barefooting and it's part of me, I don't want my social life to be ruined. I don't know if this would happen; my friends are pretty cool, but my age group has a lot of people who wouldn't be so happy about my footwear choice and they could use stereotypes, tell people I'm dirty, and of course that evolves into A LOT of things.
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You may lose some friends, but maybe they were not really good friends anyway. Good friends take you as you are. We always lose friends, probaly you don´t have the same friends now as you had at the playground.
But we also get new friends. Maybe someone you hadn´t noticed before wants to become friend with you just because you are barefoot?
Maybe the girls think you are more interesting because you appear more cool and self confident when barefoot.
What would you think if someone else were barefoot at your school? Maybe you would like to be friend? Maybe someone would think the same when they see you.

 

I wouldn't get my hopes up about getting chicks because of going barefoot, but that would be pretty sweet.

Well, now my parents pretty much "know". They saw me and my mom goes, "You know, that's not a very good idea!" I said, "Why?" She said, "There's glass over there; I've seen it!"

"I'll watch for it."
Dad said, "But it can be hidden under the grass."

Oh puh-leeze. Even so, I did my own experiment. I put a piece of glass on top of the grass and stepped on it with more force than normal and nothing. Not a scratch. Not even pain. Just pressure, like stepping on a branch or something. Well, they know about the park now... But not the sidewalk. :tongue:

 

If your feet are toughened up enough, you may wish to do a demonstration that I've done for skeptical folks in the past: spread nails and glass on the ground and casual walk over them with no problems.

Of course, you'll need to adjust your gate accordingly, and remember that the demonstration is more easily done on hard-packed dirt rather than asphalt or concrete. Do the demonstration on a surface on which you're comfortable and practice a bit first.

Also, keep in mind that on surfaces such as grass, the points can stick up, so be midful of this as you walk. You can easily and quickly manipulate the points with no problems as you walk if you're aware of them, just like you would normally do.

Caveat: Be sure to avoid bottle bottoms just like you would if you encountered them "in the wild". Older "weathered" glass is a bit easier to deal with than newly broken glass.

 

When i joined the UK barefoot hikers in 2001, i downloaded the "barefoot hikers" logo from the site and had it printed on to a t-shirt. I figured that because of the way peoples minds work, this would "authorize" me to go barefoot anywhere i liked (i did that anyway!) So if you are a bit shy about it, that may help.

 

As mentioned in another discussion, I only barefoot at home,for now (although I'm far less inhibited on my travels). Saying that I wear flip-flops with increasing regularity when a few a years ago they were almost tabboo for men, even on the beach. There's also the practical aspect as we too have for too many establishments which take a dim view to customers entering their premises barefoot. Mind you, I'll be buying a new car shortly so I guess that presents an opportunity, driving barefoot.

 

Still going at it, though I'm being more cautious now because this is the season where though the temperatures are ideal for giving shoes the boot (whatever sense that makes), the bees become EVIL. I'm gonna have to be really careful...

I've told a friend about my stance on footwear and he seems pretty cool with it, though he thinks it's a bit weird. But we're definitely still friends. I guess it's not really that big of a deal, is it?...

 

Big milestone today, guys!

I was over in the park with no shoes in sight (like usual) and one of my buddies came over, so I greeted him - obviously barefoot by choice. I could tell he was a little surprised as he made quite a few glances at my feet while I was talking to him. He stopped noticing after a while and we went inside for a bit.

Then we went back outside and he said, "Are you going to put some shoes on?" and I said, "Well, where are we going?"

"The park."
"Then no. "

We went beyond the park, though. We ended up walking to his house to get something (not very long, but still in the public on the sidewalk) and I was thinking, "Oh my, one year ago today I never thought I'd be doing this!"

So then it turned out that their family was meeting some new neighbors. They were across the street, so I walked over there barefoot (what a first impression) and they didn't even seem to notice. One kid was my age and the other was a couple years younger, so we went to the park for baseball... I was a bit unsure whether I should wear shoes, but I ended up putting them on. But it was still a HUGE accomplishment.

My plan is that when school isn't in session, I'm only going to wear shoes to the store. I think next walk I can leave them at home. And when I'm hanging out with friends at the park or something, I really don't need to wear them anymore! \,,/(-.-)\,,/

 

Well, I had a 45-minute argument with my Mom about going barefoot.... I won't post specifics, but here's a summary:

She was worried that I could step on "something" (glass, nail, hypodermic needle from druggies) at the park, so she really did NOT want me doing that!

We eventually compromised that I would wear shoes to the park, but I don't have to on the sidewalk because then I can "at least see what I'm stepping on".

That's an offer I can't refuse!

 

I ran into an acquaintance from school today, whilst barefoot. Keep in mind that this kid is not very smart, actually, I think he might receive special services from the special ed part of the school.

As I approached (I didn't want to; I don't like the kid in the first place) he actually pointed and laughed at the fact that I was barefoot. He asked, "Where are your shoes?" whilst in a laughter of hysteric confusion. "Fuck, I forgot them!" I said somewhat tongue in cheek. I told him how amusing it was that he was in utter shock of seeing me barefoot. I said, "Is the world turning upside down for you or something?" and he said "Yeah, I don't know what's next." Then he went on to laugh some more and I just sort of smirked. Then we talked about the brand of shorts I had on, school, and then we parted ways.

He's kind of a rude little pusillanimous dolt.

 

Hey essenceofweez, how have things been going since your last post (september 2007) and today? Have you become a full time barefooter?

 

I wore flops today to school for the first time (yeah, it took me long enough!) and I drove there as well, but I knew that wearing them while driving would be a fatal mistake, so I tried driving barefoot. It was not as fun as I thought it would be. It was hard to get good leverage on the brake because I'm used to having a heel to prop my foot up higher so I can use it as an efficient lever to push down. Driving barefoot, while comfortable and making you more sensitive (it worked great on the accelerator) was not as easy as I thought it would be.

Any suggestions to help with this?

 

as in driving, it takes practice. you will get used to it and when you do, driving with shoes will feel alien. it is easy for me to say cuz I live in Texas where I can drive barefoot all year long, drive barefoot when ever you get the chance.

also, I don't have large feet .. 9 1/2 and I usually will pivot my foot over to the brake and then lift it to press fully and firmly on the brake. as I said it take practice. you could even practice in the driveway but that might look strange, sitting in your car in the driveway.

 

I'm so used to driving barefoot that I don't want to do it any other way anymore!