It´s time for me to introduce my self. My name is Martin. I live in Sweden. I have always got this like of going barefoot. So to speak. When I was a kid in the 70´s I remember I went barefoot everywhere and all the time in the summer. It wasn´t like a serious lifestyle choise back then. It was just like something most kids did in my neighborhood at that time. Back then , in my eyes the oppinions about child raising were more natural and less commersialized. Going barefoot in the summer were considered good for the childrens feet. As a teenager I became foot shy and felt childish when barefoot. I almost never went barefoot. As time went by I got problems with aching feet and ingrown toenails. I had to seek medical care for my problems. I knew that being barefoot would help but I just hadn´t the self confidence to do so. At the age of 20 I saw some barefoot kids playing around, and found it the right way to go. I had seen many barefoot kids before that, but just in that moment it started a turning point for me. I decided to go for it. A little step by step I began to go barefoot more and more. As time went on and I went barefoot in more places without major problems and when I had got tough soles, my self confidence grew and I went barefoot even more. My foot problems dissapeared. My feet became strong and helthy. Slowly after some years I realized that I had come to a point when I went barefoot as much as possible. I hadn´t never thought about my self as a barefooter. I just like going barefoot. I didn´t even know there were such a thing. I found a group called SBL on the net and I became a member. But I found it a little sad discussions and hope there will be more inputs here in the forum about the fun of going barefoot. //Martin
Welcome to this forum, Martin! I hope you will like it here. I really do, although I'm not vistiting very often anymore. I started barefooting several years ago, and go barefoot more and more also. I made a barefoot walk of 10 kilometers the other day (midst of February!), people looked at me in a funny way, but that is something yoy have to go through! Thanks for your personal story, and I'm glad to read that your foot problems were solved by going barefoot. Proves our case is a right one!
Thanks. I think it´s polite to start with telling a litte bit about the background and thoughts about become a member here. Not bad to learn to know each other abit. With all respect if someone just could not find the right words or do not yet feel confident to tell about problems and personal matters. Just go for it when you feel your ready.
welcome to the forum barefootswede !! It is good to know more about people. there are lots of like minded folks here and we're all friendly.
same for me! but i was born severely crippled with my feet turned inside and back. I was surgically "repaired" when less than 1 year old and this made me able to look normal except two long scars in the back of my calves and have a regular life. But I always had problems, mostly flat feet and my right underdeveloped calf muscle. Painful Orthopedical shoes corrected somewhat the flat feet issue but years of hard gym and various shod sports yes gave me strong arms etc but couldnt help me in having decent legs until I started going barefoot as much as I liked, in winter too. Then in a couple of years my calves grew by about 50%, making me able to raise myself on the toes of each foot, though the right leg is still weaker. I also said goodbye to blood circulation issues in my feet that plagued me for years. Definitely it was worth a few splinters in my soles, and yes, all those morons gawking at me all the time. who gives a fuck
