Hi Everyone, I’ve been lurking on these pages for about a year but never posted up until now. In fact, it was this forum that gave me the confidence to actually go barefoot in public and not feel that I was doing something wrong. I’ve always been really self concious and up until a year or so ago I wouldn’t even leave the house unless I was fully dressed and wouldn’t dream of going outside in the view of other people barefoot. The stupid thing is that I hated wearing shoes and loved being barefoot, but the thought that everyone could be staring at me made me feel too venerable to actually go out in public that way. I think part of my nervousness came from the friends I grew up with at school. I was part of a group who tried to be “cool”, so having the best clothes and trainers was part of my outfit and anything less than that just wouldn’t do There was a lot of peer pressure back then, so I found myself dressing to suit other people instead of being “me”. Anyway, a couple of summers ago I decided to be brave and started wearing flip flops for the first time in my life. Again, for some weird reason it made me feel really self concious, probably because I’m a guy and I’ve always seen flip flops as a girls thing. I guess I was uneducated! Anyway, people obviously started to comment since it was out of character for me, but I shrugged it off and just made some passing comment about being in a hurry when I got dressed and they were all I could find. It felt really good to finally be able to go out in the sun and not be trapped in hot shoes. I started wearing flip flops more and more as my confidence increased, but still wished that I could have left them at home too... When I found this forum a year ago, I started reading with interest. There were loads and loads of people who went barefoot everywhere without even questioning it. To the shops, the cinema, around town and even to work. I was shocked! For some reason, I never realised that being barefoot in public could in fact be normal and not just one of those “desires” that doesn’t happen in real life. A few days later, I got a phone call from a friend who needed to pop into PC World and wanted me to come and help her. I grabbed my car keys and went outside, suddenly realising I wasn’t wearing any shoes. I paused for a moment and then just thought “sod it!” and got in my car. I felt really weird because I knew I was going to have to go somewhere very public without shoes on. Choosing a busy retail store for my first barefoot venture probably wasn’t my brightest idea and when i finally got there I was as nervous as hell. I just kept reminding myself of the stories on these pages, that I wasn’t actually doing anything wrong. I went inside and met up with my friend who asked me the inevetible. She knows I’m a bit crazy so I answered with “I knew I’d forgotten something!!!” in a jokingly way and quickly changed the subject. For the record, I’m not the most “plain” looking person as I have various facial piercings, long hair and like to wear”gothy” type clothes, so it was no real shock to my friend that I was being “different” again. To my surprise, all my nervousness disappeared within a few seconds and it all felt really normal. I was very aware that people were looking at my face, then looking down at my feet and then back at my face again with a look of surprise, but I made a point of acting just like I would have had I been wearing shoes. I just walked around like it was the most normal thing in the world and made sure I didn’t look shy. Incidently, I was wearing quite baggy trousers which partly covered my feet. After the store I went back to my friends house for the rest of the day. She’s used to me not wearing shoes as I tend to drive barefoot and then go into her house that way out of habbit. Anyway, over the next few months I started going other places without shoes. To start with it was just my friends house, but then I started walking the few hundred metres to my local shop, buying some food and then walk home again. When the peak of summer arrived, I also started wearing shorts which made it a lot more obvious that I wasn’t wearing shoes. Again, I felt really nervous about this, but after a while it felt normal and I learnt to ignore any insecurities in my head. I also started forcing myself into barefoot situations that I couldn’t back out of. For example, I go on the overnight ferry to Holland several times a year and I made a point of not taking any shoes on board with me. I do the same thing at music festivals, and have even walked around some parts of London without shoes when my feet start to ache. At this point, I guess I should try to explain my reasons for not wanting to wear shoes. Its hard to explain, but one of the main reasons is that it just feels a lot better. Its as simple as that really! I like not having tight socks stopping any movement and shoes not squeezing me into unnatural shapes. I’m sure everyone knows the how it feels when you take shoes off after a long day and you get that amazing sense of relief – well, when you’re barefoot, you get that feeling all the time. I like that I feel lighter when I walk around barefoot and can feel all the different surfaces beneath me. I also feel stronger when I walk and feel my muscles working instead of being “numbed” by artificial footware. A year on and being barefoot is now quite normal for me. At home I never wear anything on my feet and mostly wear shorts from early spring until the beginning of winter. When I go out in public places, I tend to wear flip flops but quickly take them off in places like the cinema. I’m still unsure about places like supermarkets and pubs etc, so to avoid confrontation I again wear flip flops but am going to test the situation again over the summer to see what i can get away with. I don’t think anything of going barefoot to DIY stores, or on walks to the local shops, or around my friends houses. I’m also really lucky to have quite a relaxed dress code at work (I work in IT), so I spend most of the day with no shoes on and just keep a pair under my desk for when I have to visit peoples PC’s or go on a site visit. Again, I never thought I would be brave enough to wear anything less than chunky boots at work. I’m still a relative newcomer to not wearing shoes in public, but I’m sure over the next year or so it will become even more normal as I test the boundaries of society. Having said that, I do still wear chunky boots when I go pubbing in the evenings or trainers when I go to the gym, but its good to get them off again when I get home! Oh, I also thought I would add a few pictures of the outcome of an entire day’s barefoot gardening today. I usually keep things nice and clean down there, but dirt is errr.... well dirty! Have included a “clean” picture too for balance Thanks for reading, Dan.
Dan, Welcome to the forum, you are in good company here! Your story is very similar to mine as during my twenties I couldn't dream of going outside barefoot and was envious of others displaying their feet. I can understand being hesitant about wearing flip fllops, I've raised a few eyebrows during the days before they became popular for guys. Sounds like you have made significant progress in your barefooting, keep it up! Welcome to the forum and enjoy your barefeet! Your feet are very natural and healthy looking.
Welcome, and thanks for the great post! It's gratifying to see that these forums are serving as inspiration for those who might be inclined towards barefooting, yet are hesitant. Congratulations on your expeditions. The adventure has just begun. There's literally an entire world to be experienced via the soles of your feet.
Hi, Dan. I've had a very similar experience to you. Feeling weird and different and repressing myself, then discovering the SBL and fora such as this one online, and then having the balls to go out and try it myself, and then having even more courage to do it in front of people I knew. I still have annual repeats of the same argument with my mum, who seesmt to think she shares her preferences of appearance with everyone in the world except for me. But it's true, going barefoot is not wrong and while it takes a bit of courage and determination (borne out of a real dislike for wearing shoes, which is always going to be the easy option in terms of social pressure, and the occasional physical discomfort in some places and temperatures), the only reason there are so few of us is because most people would probably like they idea but can manage happily in shoes as well. And as long as you're prepared to be known as someone who goes barefoot then you can BE someone who goes barefoot. And enjoy it. A lot.
Well done Dan and welcome to the group. you will find barefooting easier as you go along and more natural. Great post too.
Hi everyone, MANY thanks for all your kind words and comments I'll try to post more often in future and hopefully offer others words of encouragment, just like I have received here! I was just thinking about how crazy the world is sometimes with regards to dress codes. A month or so ago I was denied access to one of the resturants in the Splash Landings hotel at Alton Towers because I wasn't wearing shoes. For those without the local knowledge, Splash Landings is a Carribean themed hotel joined to the UK's main theme park and is home to a HUGE waterpark. You can pretty much walk from your room to the pool in your swimming gear and wander about the hotel as though you are on a beach. The whole resturant is themed too like a Carribean snack bar – very informal with all the staff wearing bright shirts etc. Anyway, they wouldn’t let me in due to health & saftey, and hygine reasons. It seemed weird since there were a number of children of various ages walking around without shoes, and many of the adults were only wearing flip flops. I pointed out that I’d been shoeless for the previous 2 days without anyone questioning me, but this particular member of staff was adement I wasn’t going to get in. Since it was the final day I just left without eating. Anyway, last week I went for an evening out in my local town. This time I was wearing quite normal clothes, including a tshirt, trousers, boots and a sports cap. I kept being asked to remove my hat in various bars, mainly the posher ones who probably felt I was too scruffy to be welcome on their premises. I know there is also issues with CCTV these days and they like to be able to see peoples faces, but it was obvious from the group of people I was with that none of us are trouble makers. All of the less classy places were fine with how I was dressed, but the more upmarket ones simply wouldn’t let me in! It made me smile because one day I’m being told I can’t possibly eat in a resturant without a piece of material on my feet, and then I’m being told I can’t get a drink without removing the piece of material from my head!!! Oh well, I guess I will just carry on spending my money in the places who accept me as I am and stay away from those that don’t. In these days of recession and lack of money, you wouldn’t think places would be so eager to turn customers away. Thanks again everyone, Dan.
Ugghh. The most disgusting part of your post was the CCTV part. They really have that there? That's like something straight out of 1984! :ack2:
Dan, Congratulations on facing your concerns and doing what you want! I love the barefoot life! Winter is such a bummer.
Thanks for the birthday wishes! It's the "Big 5-0"! Unfortunately, I'm stuck in meetings today (dress clothes - shoes req'd). I understand tonight there's big snow coming in. Bad time for bare feet, but next week looks good!
Well Look On The Bright Side.. At Least You Won't Have To Change The 50ish In Your Avatar. Take Care.......Keep Em Bare.. Cheers Glen.
Howdy Dan, great post and welcome. it is funny that you could be wearing a $4,000 Armani suit and ballcap and get denied entry to a place because of the cap. I wonder if wearing a fedora woulda made any difference. CCTV, yeah big brother is everywhere and going barefoot is a quick trip to being an unperson LOL
I love your attitude, Dan, of "they're not gonna get my money if they toss me aside!" That's definitely how it should be - no worries, just go somewhere else and give your money to places that actually *want* it!
I'm so fed up with government that I've been considering anarcho-capitalism... But I've decided that I like plain ol' minarchism better.
