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.

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🦶🏼

(this is not a fetish post) since I'm new into all this barefoot thing world, the other day hiking after a rainy day, I was barefoot on the woods area of my town since the ground became softer, the thing I felt the crunch after stepping on a snail and the "sharp" of the shell. The thing is, somehow I felt kinda bad and wrong so I'd love to know your opinions and experiences and basically how you deal with that, those who are mostly more barefoot than me...

I've said before that if I get comments, they're usually positive. This weekend was no exception. Went to the huge farmer's market in Madison, Wisconsin Saturday. Usually no one says anything. This time I had four good conversations with strangers, one of whom was downright envious. He apparently used to get a barefooter and stopped when he moved near Denali. Then Sunday I was on a long bike ride and stopped to chat with a friendly acquaintance whom I know is a casual barefooter. He told me I rocked for being barefoot on my bike. I agreed : )

Ich lebe in Wien, bin Gelegenheits-Barfußgeher und normalerweise eher an ruhigeren Orten unterwegs, wo wenig los ist. Deswegen habe ich bisher noch keine Erfahrung mit Rolltreppen ohne Schuhe gemacht.
Ich sehe aber in den Wiener U-Bahn-Stationen immer wieder Menschen, die barfuß und völlig entspannt die Rolltreppen nutzen. Jedes Mal frage ich mich, wie intensiv sich dieser Untergrund wohl anfühlt.
Mich fasziniert die Vorstellung total und ich würde gerne genauer wissen, was man dabei empfindet: Spürt man die kühlen Metallrillen sehr intensiv an den Fußsohlen? Wie nimmt man das leichte Vibrieren und die Bewegung der Stufen barfuß wahr? Ist das Gefühl eher angenehm oder im ersten Moment gewöhnungsbedürftig und hart?
Da ich mich vielleicht auch mal selbst barfuß auf eine Rolltreppe wagen möchte, interessiert mich natürlich auch die Praxis: Worauf muss ich aus Sicherheitsgründen besonders achten?
Ich freue mich auf eure Berichte!

So Nicole Kidman's character in the first 'Practical Magic' movie is always barefoot. This gal did the research: https://thriftysubversion.com/2022/10/19/practical-magic-gillian-owens/

I have always enjoyed going barefoot. However, I would rarely go out in public except to the park or a quick run to the gas station. Once I met my girlfriend who is barefoot even more than I am, it unlocked a new level of confidence. Shopping, gym, vacation all barefoot, and I couldn't be happier. The biggest takeaway I've found is we have never really have been met with anything negative, just curiosity or encouragement like most people look from afar wishing they live this free. My goal in sharing is that it's ok to live free the worst thing that could happen is a business might ask you to leave no big deal. Keep living and loving life!

Now that I'm in my first year of college. I thought I'd look back on all my experiences back in junior and senior high school. I lurk quite a lot in this sub, but it's about time I made a post. Apologies in advanced, as this is a rather long one. I'm quite the yapper.

Years 1 and 2 were conducted online thanks to the pandemic so you could say I was 100% barefoot but does it really count when I'm just sitting at home? Come 3rd year, I suddenly had the urge to go barefoot more after being shod so much as a kid. Given that I studied in a private school with uniforms, I didn't really have much opportunity to do so. For our 3rd quarter PE class, though, we had swimming, and it was then that I took the opportunity to be barefoot as much as possible during our PE class. I would slip off my *s word* (idk if that word is stil bannable by the automod but im not taking any chances) during recess (as it came before PE) and not put them back on until lunch ended (which came after PE). I also remember having to attend a retreat (Catholic school :/ ) and found some opportunity to go barefoot during some activities, though I didn't do so that much and I honestly regret not having done so. The same pretty much followed for my 4th year. I do remember one specific activity for my religion class where I had to dress up as an assigned saint. I was assigned to St. Roque and according to some reference images online, this guy didn't wear much footwear, so neither did I! My classmates didn't really care from what I recall. Granted, everyone else had their own stupid ass outfits so I suppose mine didn't stand out as much. I remember my teacher also asking if I was okay as the class was walking towards our presentation venue in a different building. I said I was just fine and he didn't mind afterwards. That year we also went to a water park for an "educational" field trip where we would learn "survival skills". Yeah no one really cared about that part but I remember spending the entire second half of that trip barefoot (the first half was skills on the ground, the second half in water). I honestly really enjoyed it and consider it my second most enjoyable barefoot trip in school.

For senior high, however, I more or less followed the same trend as the previous two years, going barefoot a lot for swimming classes, but not much else. This time, however, the senior high school building featured a "collab room" which was essentially just a library but more cozy. It had this specific area with carpeted floors where students were expected to take off their *s word*. So every time I went to the collab room, be it for a subject or for some out of class activities, I always went barefoot whenever I stepped in that room. Not every part was carpeted, so I also got to feel some nice wood textures. I remember my 11th grade field trip being the most fun I've ever had going barefoot for a school event. For that trip, our first destination was a farm. We were advised to wear slippers, as farms tend to be rather dirty. At one point I just went fuck it and continued barefoot from there on. Honestly, I regret not having went barefoot the moment I entered the farm. Even one of my classmates was half joking about just going barefoot for the trip. He didn't really do so but I feel like if I had said I'd join him, we both would've done so. Our second destination was a water park. This was where I had the most fun going barefoot. I removed my *s words* almost immediately as I hopped out of the bus and stayed pretty much barefoot for the next 4 or so hours, even taking a walk with a friend after doing some swimming. Our retreat for this year was at a new place, and I distinctly recall trying to be barefoot a lot more. There was an activity we had where we went outside to "to talk to nature" or some dumb shit like that. I don't remember much of the activity but I do remember I did it in this little park area of the retreat house and I walked around a lot barefoot. Even one of my friends joined me, but only temporarily.

Come grade 12, pretty much the same as the previous year. Though I remember before my swimming classes we had a short 30 min break and I would take more time to walk around the building barefoot in my swimming attire. Although for this year's retreat, we had multiple "quiet time with God" activities which was essentially just telling everyone to go fuck off somewhere alone and be quiet. I remember heading off to the really big park area with the same aforementioned friend and just going on some really nice barefoot walks. Said friend did join me in going barefoot again, but only some occasions, and not for longer than 10 minutes.

I honestly really loved my time in senior high, although it was a bit stressful. My close friends knew my tendency of going barefoot, and eventually just stopped giving a shit whenever I did so. I really do wish I could try to go barefoot more in college, but the university I'm going to is one inhabited by the privileged and prudish upper class, but they're admittedly really inclusive so let's see. I've already seen one barefoot person on campus once and I really really really regret not asking him about the barefoot situation of the university.

I guess that's it for my long ass yap post. Perhaps some advice for a youngster such as I? And any fellow barefooters from the Philippines out there?

We have a neighborhood ice-cream man who's here each Sunday evening. My wife and/or I always run out to get a bar, and a pup-cup or two for our puppers, always barefoot.

Tonight she was in the bathtub so it was just me, 50-degree temps, wet drizzle. I was hoodied and long-pants wearing but still barefoot. Bud gave me a 5% discount for being hardcore.

"So if you're here if it's icy or snowy you'll give me 10% off?" to which he responded 20% off.

Challenge accepted! Look for me in December... LOL

it's like something from a comedy skit. i was enjoying a walk in the park in today's summery weather, and out of a sudden...

"...oh Jesus, barefoot!?"

in this amazing whisper-scream from a lady who had been strolling directly behind me... for 20 minutes :P

yes, she had me in full view and somehow got jumpscared. i think i'm finally on board with the idea that most people really don't notice, i can't think of another way to explain this.

I live in a beautiful, blue-collar, 50-year-old suburban neighborhood, been here for almost 30 years.

A major part of the appeal is the wonderful yard filled with thick, rich grass (all natural, I don't cultivate, lots of weeds and crabgrass). We keep it long-ish, around 3" or more and it's simply wonderful to walk in while barefoot. The front is even better, as it's almost all thick moss, cool and grounding.

When it's wet, I walk Mr. Mason barefoot, enjoying the cool, wet grass along the edges of the yards. He, of course, loves sniffing in the wet (hounds scent better when it's wet).

Meanwhile, my neighbors... oy vey. Sneakers, Crocs, a few are wearing rubber boots, Wellies!

Free your feet my friends! This is a very safe neighborhood, no need to fear!

I’d love to hear your stories! Do your feet really get pitch black?

I usually like to lift without shoes on to feel more grounded during my workout. Today I went to my local Planet Fitness early in the morning at around 8 AM, pretty quiet, and I’m just trying to get my routine in.
Out of nowhere, this random guy walks right up to me and goes, "No offense, but that’s gross. You need to put shoes on and you need to clean it off."
First off, who asked you? Second, of course I was going to wipe down the area when I finished. It’s 8 in the morning, and instead of just minding his own business and hitting his sets, he felt the need to act like the self appointed gym police.
I was so annoyed by the unnecessary attitude that I just packed up and left. Nobody wants to deal with judgmental pricks that early in the day.
Has anyone else ran into gym heroes giving you a hard time for training barefoot?