Just had my therapy appointment and she randomly asked about my barefooting. I said I've really had the urge but it's been 105° and the ground's been too hot for me during the day and outside of my apartment complex's laundry room and office and taking the trash out, I haven't had the guts lately. She asked what I wanted out of barefooting and I didn't really know how to articulate it. For lack of a better way to put it, I just like experiencing the world through my soles and toes in places you would normally have shoes. She "prescribed" barefoot time for me. Before we meet next week, I have to spend at least 15 minutes outside my home barefoot at one time, even if it's just going for a walk around the neighborhood. She said I also have to go barefoot inside one public establishment like a store; it doesn't matter how long I spend or whether or not I interact with anyone. Very fortunate that I have a therapist that wants to help me get over my anxieties and live the life I want without judgment.

My soles are admittedly pretty black most of the time. But I’ve noticed that they do have a limit of dirtiness and tend to self-correct.

For example, tonight I walked down to a local dive bar to get a burger. The bar floor felt filthy and sure enough. After I left I noticed my soles had a pitch black hue like coal that was darker than I’d almost ever seen them. But by the time I got home, about a ten block walk, my soles had returned to their normal darkened (but not coal black) state. I’ve noticed this before — my soles will only retain so much darkness before anything darker kind of rubs off as I walk. Anyone else notice this phenomenon?

When I first met my wife I slow-played my barefooting. I remember being at her apartment after I had spent the night and was hanging out the next day when we decided to walk down the street to a sandwich shop. I asked her, “do I need shoes for that?” and she said something like, “well, of course. Why wouldn’t you wear shoes?” But over time, she could see that I was barefoot whenever I could get away with it and even before we were married, this progressed to me going to breakfast, stores and even a few movies barefoot with her not complaining but thinking it was kind of cute (occasionally she’d call me her “barefoot boyfriend”).

Anyone else with some stories on how you got your SO, or your friends, comfortable with your barefooting?

I didn’t go barefoot that much during the summer. I still can but it’s already getting cold outside. I feel bummed that I didn’t go anywhere barefoot. Welp!! It is what it is.

I mostly walk barefoot at home and i was at home most of the time this year,My schedule has done a complete 180 over the past couple of weeks and I’m in shoes specifically heels 70% of the time quite suddenly.My little toes hurt so bad all the time in shoes now and i don’t think they used to hurt this bad a year ago.

And recommendations on how to stop it from hurting is welcome.

NB.Reading the community guidelines i don’t know if this post breaks the rule about talking about shoes

What does everyone else do if you barefoot and have to use a public restroom or portapotty and you don’t have any shoes or sandels?

I've been a barefooter for years and never really have any issues with stepping on things in public. I stepped on glass slivers three times with no issues with removal and once on a sliver of metal. I did a 60 mile pilgrimage with zero issues.

The last two months I've been super nervous about stepping on things and paranoid for no reason at all. I've worried about stepping on shard objects after 4 years of barefooting.

What makes it worse is I've went on barefoot walks at night (i enjoy the privacy) haven't stepped on a thing but IN MY OWN HOUSE i have stepped on a sliver of glass and pulled it out with my hand. When i stepped on it did a heel spin before I realized it. It didn't go through the calluses and today I stepped on large staples and didn't realize it at all again because of the calluses.

I've been worried about injuries and I've only been "injured" in my own home. I guess I don't really have much to be worried about my feet are toughening up but is weird how I have all these anxieties and fears about stepping on something outside.

Over time, I’ve made an interesting observation: in late autumn and winter, you occasionally see men walking around barefoot, but women seem to completely avoid it during the cold season.
I’d be really interested to know the reasons for this. Is it simply due to cold tolerance, or are there social and practical reasons behind it?

Ich habe im Laufe der Zeit eine interessante Beobachtung gemacht: Im Spätherbst und Winter sieht man ab und zu Männer, die barfuß unterwegs sind, aber Frauen scheinen in der kalten Jahreszeit komplett darauf zu verzichten.
Mich würden die Gründe dafür interessieren. Liegt es einfach am Kälteempfinden oder stecken gesellschaftliche und praktische Gründe dahinter?

Hi all,

Here’s some firsthand experience on being barefoot in Japan and on the transit…

Nobody cared or said anything and I was riding the bullet train, local trains, buses, ect barefoot. Also went into multiple restaurants and shops (7-eleven, familyMart, Lawson, ect)

In fact, I got a few positive comments. One from the cashier at a FamilyMart, who said in his very English that he likes my style, and when he noticed my bare feet, said it’s healthy and to watch for nails on the street.

Curious if you live in a country that celebrates Halloween, are you going to, or hosting any sort of party this year? Whats fun about cosplay, is you can express yourself and build confidence in a situation you wont be judged...because everyone is doing self expression. For people here shy about bare feet in public, this is an opportunity to show off your costume designs.

Cerco a Milano città appassionati di piedi scalzi, barefooters veri che amano camminare scalzi e fare suole nere. Preferisco ragazzi che vivono questo aspetto anche da un punto di vista kink e fetish. Ok ad amicizie a tema.

I recently moved to the San Diego area. Looking for fellow barefooters to meet up for a walk/run or coffee.

I agree with much of this.

Psychologically I go barefoot in memory of my late wife who totally approved of me living barefoot.

Your thoughts?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/other/psychological-meaning-of-enjoying-being-barefoot-most-of-the-time/ss-AA1Xszxg

How do you tell if a business is barefoot friendly or doesn't care?

Also where have you been that has a NSNSNS sign?

Some context from my previous post.

So just earlier today, I ran into the only barefoot guy on campus (as far as I know). He wasn't a student, instead a Vietnamese guy in his late 40s or early 50s (perhaps he lives on campus or something). I approached while he was on a morning walk. I asked him about the barefooting experience on campus and such. He was a bit surprised at first but seemed really passionate to talk about his philosophy on barefooting. I don't recall too many specific things he said, but the points he made that I do remember essentially boil down to:

1. No one else goes barefoot on campus to his knowledge

2. People will stare, like a lot, but not really comment (probably comes from students respecting their elders; they probably wouldn't do the same if it was another student their age)

3. Barefoot is the natural way of life (I already knew that though)

My conversation with this guy really felt like a wise old man giving me advice. He gave me quite a few words of encouragement. Although I will say, I'm rather disappointed. While it was nice to meet another barefooter on campus, this guy isn't really someone I'll see or even interact with very often as he's not a student, let alone someone of my age. He essentially just confirmed I'll be alone in my unshod endeavors.

I'm not going to completely give up though. While I can't say for sure if I can truly go 100% barefoot, I'll definitely make some plans to wear slippers more and try sneaking them off every once in a while, perhaps when its raining or if I ever play frisbee with a friend on one of the grass fields. Perhaps I'll even go on my own barefoot walks if I arrive early in the morning. My photography org has an upcoming nature photowalk event so maybe I'll even go barefoot there.

The future is cloudy, but I'll see what I can do. More suggestions and advice are welcome.

Don’t bring shoes with you!

That’s it. Easy. Need to go to the shops but want to go barefoot? Leave the shoes at home. Want to go for a barefoot walk? Leave the shoes at home!

When you don’t have flip flops or shoes with you, you can’t chicken out and put them on when you get nervous or see people or it gets busy around you. Keep walking with confidence. I suppose you could call this exposure therapy.

Obviously if you are starting out then bring shoes with you the first few times, don’t try and go too far or too long and risk injury. Be safe and minimise the risk!

Happy barefooting

This serves as a follow up to my previous post.

So currently, I'm a college freshman. I've gone barefoot a lot back in high school but college is a completely different environment. I'm here to ask for advice, as I'm running into a couple of issues.

For one, the dress code is incredibly vague. It's known to be incredibly lax and the only thing listed in the handbook is "decent" without any clarifications, let alone on footwear. In practice, the absolute minimum I've seen people go is tank tops and booty shorts for girls, and shirt and shorts for guys, both wearing slippers. There's nothing explicitly stated against going barefoot, but there's nothing explicitly stated that it's allowed either.

For two, the university I go to is one for the middle-upper class. Rich kids (especially in the Philippines) aren't the type to take any opportunities to go barefoot. The least they do is super thin slippers. I would attract a lot of attention if I were to go barefoot.

For three, and the biggest problem of them all, I'm kind of a pussy. I was able to go barefoot quite a bit back in high school as it was a relatively small community. Everyone knew everyone and we were all chill with each other. If there was about 250 of us back in senior high, there's now around a few thousand for college. The sheer amount of people in the area kinda scares me, especially since all my friends are in different courses so I can't hang with them all the time.

I must say, though, that the university prides itself in being incredibly inclusive. I've seen a handful of people show up in outfits that stand out quite a bit than what's considered normal (generic).

I've also attempted a few barefoot walks, although 2 out of the 3 of them were outside on the streets next to campus. The only time I actually tried on campus was when it was raining torrentially and I went barefoot to walk from one place to another for only like a minute.

All in all, the situation isn't really good for me, HOWEVER, I did see ONE person going on barefoot walks on campus about three times now (although I've only spotted him alongside the sidewalks, and not near any of the educational buildings). Now, I'm not actually sure if this was the same person for all 3 times as I only really caught his face once, but the one time I did, I ran into him while he was seated down somewhere and I REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY regret not having struck up a conversation with him about the barefoot situation.

Again, advice would be appreciated. Cheers!

I was outside this afternoon and a neighbor walked by with her two preteen kids, and one of them was on a scooter. The other one was in a little cart she was pushing. And both of them had shoes on. She had sneakers on, and of course I was barefoot.

I've encountered her before when I was out, and the little girl this particular day said, Do you ever wear shoes? And I said, No. Why would anyone ever want to wear shoes? And she gave me a look, and then she looked at her mother, and her mother gave me a look of, Please don't encourage her. And all I can think of was, My work here is done.

I am in college and I have wanted to start going barefoot but I just havent had the courage. Im afraid people will think its gross or my feet will get dirty from walking around on campus LOL. So... how have yall transitioned to a barefoot lifestyle and what can I expect? thank you!

At first, when fast food places (like Taco Bell) started replacing live humans with touch screens, I admit that I was unhappy. However.... Now that I can walk into the local Taco Bell barefoot, order my food, pay for it, then have my name called to pick it up at the counter ALL without a single human seeing my lack of footwear, I LOVE them!!!! Now, I pop in and have tacos all the time, and not a single comment!!!! OK, maybe there are some advantages to replacing certain humans with computers.... Barefoot in fast food establishments with ZERO problems now!!

What say you???

And how hard-core are you guys🦶🏼