... If any of you fine UK Citizens are barefooters of any sort? That's the thing that orginally led me to this message board, as it has an area for discussing going barefoot and little else, but I thought I'd ask if there were any in the UK, or even better in or close to my neck of the woods. Or perhaps I could initiate a general discussion of going barefoot - please feel free to give your thoughts for or against.
I have this weird thing about nails, don't like them rubbing against any sort of material. So I like a bit of barefooting, yeah. Unfortunately I have to don my shoes all the time outdoors. That or make slow progress walking watching out for broken glass and dog shit. Get to kick them off when I go camping or to the beach, it just aint really possible going barefoot round these doors.
i just started barefootin about a month ago saz u gave me some advice and then we started arguin about different words in england and america LOL good times anyhoo yeah i barefoot but i have to wear shoes when i ride my bike or go skatin
Perhaps it's not the case where you live, but I've been barefoot around a fair few cities, Guidford, Oxford, Cambridge, Amsterdam, London, etc. and what I've noticed is glass isn't all that common really. It's always there, but it's not as if there's so much of it that you can't avoid it. And even if you do step in a bit of glass, the skin toughens and thickens fairly quickly. Chances are it won't cut you and it won't even hurt. The skin is rather pliable and will change shape to accommodate any object pushing against it without tearing. So unless it's a big piece of glass sticking up away from the ground, which you're easily going to spot from a fair way away it's not really much of a threat. In fact, often if I see an area covered in broken glass I tend to deliberately walk through it (not recklessly, mind) just to see what might happen, and generally it's just like walking through small stones and pieces of gravel. Sometimes it sticks to the soles of my feet, but I can just dust it off, it rarely penetrates the skin. Once I did this walking along a row of terraced houses up a street, and I heard a voice of someone who'd presumably been looking out of the window by chance at the time "Oh my god, did you see him walk through that glass with bare feet!??" which made me laugh because really it was nothing. As far as dog shit is concerned, well it's again something easily avoidable. Also, if you've ever stepped in dogshit with shoes on (and presumably you must have done if you're worried about stepping in it), you'll be aware of how much effort it takes to clean it off your shoes. In the case of your feet, this is not so at all, just wipe your foot in a bit of thick wet grass, or rinse it in a puddle and it'll be gone. Similarly if your feet get really dirty from going barefoot, it doesn't really take much to clean them, normally a shower and a bit of a rub with soap and water is easily enough. So in short, stuff that you might not want to tread in shouldn't really slow you down.
I don't know man! Broken glass tends to come in a range of sizes with varying degrees of sharpness . I'm sure my town isn't Europe's capital of smashed glass, but it is very common. It's too much of a hassle, watching for large chunks or wiping away wee shards, when you just want to pop down the shops. If I'm going to be walking a decent distance I don't mind, beats having shoes on for the trip. But there aint much walking I want to do at all round here, so I prefere to wait til I'm away when I don't have to think about it.
I barefoot all the way through london all the time. i only ever don shoes these days if its raining because i dont like cold feet.. but if its warm summer rain again i wont put shoes on. Ive only ever got one bit of glass in my foot and that was in reading and it was a tiny bit which i swiftly removed and was fine again. The worst is sticky sweets that melt but aside from that i genenrally look out for glass anbd dog poo weather im barfoot or inshoes..i know i dont tread in dog poo with shoes ... why should i do it without them
Which part of Surrey are you in? I've done a fair bit of barefooting around Guildford as I'm at university there. not done much in london itself as most of the time I'm only in london to go to the football.
I live in staines (whcih technically is middlesex) but i used to live 5 mins down the road in egham ..and that was surrey :S But yea i used to barefoot to college which is in selhurst near croydon, and back again every day. And then i barefoot through london and stuff up to kingcross for trains to camnbridge and i i barefoot down to brighton. i usually take shoes with me tied to my bag incase i need to use public toilets :S just cos i dont wanna stand in pee.
nice. You know skin is waterproof and urine is not only sterile, it's actually a very good disinfectant. Sounds like you had a lot of fun. I'm very much on my own when it comes to barefooting - I don't know anyone who is into it to the same degree that I am. My parents think it's odd that i prefer not to wear shoes, and I went to an independant school where I wasn't even allowed to grow a beard. Being surrounded by people who would never consider going barefoot anywhere led me to believe that I was very much unique and I really couldn't face coming out of the closet in front of people I knew since as far as I knew I was the only one. So my barefooting has only got going in the last couple of years really, since I've been more on my own and more independent. I still haven't met any people who are keen barefooters like myself, but at least I've built up the confidence to just do it anyway. Most of my friends whom I've 'come out to' have either been understanding, or even if they thought it was weird just accepted it anyway. There are always some who'll keep up the protests but they haven't disowned me for it. Been barefooting around Cambridge much? It's a good fun city for it!
I used to wander barefoot when I lived in London but when I moved to Glastonbury, I got sick of having to avoid dog shit, blood, beer cans and beggars all the time so I now wear shoes. I don't like having my feet enclosed tho', my shoes come straight off when I get home. I love the feeling of grass underneath my feet, me n the Dok were camping t'other week and I love that first moment of climbing out of the tent and putting your feet into grass full of morning dew.....mmmmmm.......
*pats you on the back* its ok man... keep strong! Actually i have barefooted cambridge quite a bit a few times in the town centre, them cobbles are nice and ig stones and the parks, large area of grass But ive done more around St Neots just outside Cambridge cos thats where my boyfriend live.
For me, it's not so much that it feels better without shoes (although of course it does) but it is actually unbearable wearing shoes. My feet get very hot and when Ive got shoes on of any kind, the air circulation isn't there to carry the heat away from my feet. So my feet just get hotter and hotter, and sweatier, and because the sweat doesn't evaporate, a smell builds up, and this means if I were to take off my shoes at this point it would inflict an obnoxious odour on everyone around me. The best solution is to not wear shoes in the first place. Unless it's really cold. Normally I can cope when barefoot in the cold, but also if it's really cold my feet don't feel uncomortably hot. The rest of the time though wearing shoes is a test of endurance and going barefoot is the only way I can feel comfortable. It also helps me concentrate on doing things - for example if I'm playing in an orchestra, I don't want the hot stuffy feeling of my feet in shoes to be a distraction. I generally perform better barefoot.
i love feeling things with my feet thats why i do it.. i have bad circulation and my hands and feet get incredibly cold incredibly easily and when my feet get cold it makes me very cold all over so i barefoot till the point where my feet hurt then shoe it to keep them warm. i also love how when i listen to my music my toes dance..and id never noticed it before.. and people find it incredibly amusing on the train to watch my toes jigging away
I just went barefoot for 2 days unintentionally ~ I left all my footwear in my camper before it went in to the garage to get welded. I have sore feet now.
Yep, going barefoot certainly does open you up to a whole new sensory dimension. Do you have a lot of likeminded people amongst your family and friends? Or did you just decided to do it one day and got lucky in that everyone supported you? What about your boyfriend? Does he share it too, or is he merely a supportive shoe-wearing person? I think if I were in a relationship with someone who could share something as exciting as going barefoot with me then I'd be pretty sorted!
