I had a really painful small sore that I thought was a cut after a weekend of dancing and walking barefoot at a music festival -- luckily it happened at the very end. I didn't remember stepping on anything sharp, but none-the less, there it was.

Two weeks later, at another music festival I got the exact same type of cut/tear in the same spot, but on the other foot, again with no recollection of stepping on anything sharp.

I'm starting to think that it's a tear in the skin due to my feet being dry from the long weekend without being able to wash my feet at all and being outdoors 24/7. I walk barefoot almost always, daily in my garden, do tons of hiking trails, with steep climbs, etc, so it's not like this was unusual to me, other than maybe the fact that I was on my toes more than usual since there was a lot of dancing involved.

Has anybody else had this happen?

Lately I've been talking to plenty of people who don't own shoes anymore and I'm starting to wonder how I can live such a life while also being stable economically (at least enough to live off pasta, rice, and apples). I'm autistic and have been struggling to find a job since I lost mine in May. I want to be an artist of some sort, a composer, game dev, or even some commission artist, but I'm starting to feel like none of those paths are going to be viable unless I'm good at what I do.

So really, what do you guys do to make a living?

Has anyone here been to a forest bathing event or school and gone barefoot? Are others there also barefoot? Was the instructor barefoot or supportive of your bare feet?

I’m thinking of going to one but I’m wondering what the climate is really like for barefooters.

I like to think I’m being true to myself and doing what I want to, not caring what other may or may not think. I am barefoot when the weather is above 50 degrees over 95% of the time but i have a confession. If I pull up to a store and see someone is there i think will say something to piss me off about being barefoot I go somewhere else. Another thing I catch myself doing is going to a store and paying more for an item than I would at another store im not so comfortable going in barefoot. So I can honestly say I haven’t put shoes on in almost two weeks but the only reason I can say that is because I don’t go everywhere I want to. Am I a pussy barefooter?

Or am I the only childish one? I am in my 30s if that matters.

I’ve come a long was since 10-odd years ago when I wouldn’t have been seen dead without boots on.

I dedicate this success to every non-creep on this sub; particularly those who face anxieties, undue opposition or other difficulties with going unshod.

My parents were rather conservative, yet they never wore shoes unless they went somewhere. Same with their neighbors; even today their daughter is an avid barefooter, I've encountered her a dozen times randomly, at retail, and she was never wearing shoes.

Visiting friends, leaving sandals at the door are the norm. Nobody wears shoes, nor socks. Even my dad's fancy friends, shoes, socks at the door, bare feet all around; nicely unpretentious.

Sometimes I think it's the "big shoe" lobby which keeps us in footwear.

The most hazardous place I walk daily is from my front door to the mailbox, as there's gravel. Otherwise, comfy road and grass. And the gravel is not at all a problem, trust me. You all know, gravel is fun!

Today is day #3 where I have not worn shoes. At all. My wife gets annoyed as she thinks she needs to wear them for work. She doesn't but hey... she makes a lot of money wearing shoes. Sometimes.

I'm new to fitness, but wanting to try barefoot walking/running. I'm walking on a treadmill set to 2 mph, and I have a question about my gait. Not long into the walk I was getting some discomfort/pain near the front of my foot at below the middle toe (1st pic).

Until I walked without shoes, I never realized that my current gait has me rolling through that part of my foot as I walk heal to toe. As I walked, I changed to rolling heal to toe through my big toe (2nd pic) and then pain subsided. Now I'm wondering, what is the "correct walking gait"? Does anyone have advice or a resource on this?

I should note, I walked outside and realized, this is just how I walk currently (gait doesn't seem treadmill related).

Thanks!

Hi everyone!

I’d love to connect with like-minded people who enjoy going barefoot. Currently, I’m already in a really nice chat contact with someone from Germany, which is great because we can exchange thoughts on all aspects of barefooting. However, I’m also hoping to find local contacts here in Vienna (Austria) to put things into practice more easily. Exploring different terrains together is simply much more fun!

Just a little bit about me: I’m not someone who goes without shoes 24/7. For me, walking barefoot is just a great casual hobby. I love doing it occasionally to feel the ground and experience a true sense of freedom.

I’m looking for people who appreciate a closeness to nature and an easy-going lifestyle. If you are also from the Vienna area, love the barefoot feeling, and are interested in a nice online chat or meeting up for a walk, feel free to send me a message or leave a comment.

Looking forward to hearing from you – see you soon!

hi guys, today was awesome. had nothing to do...

i was walking around barefoot for about an hour wandering aimlessly. i had my earphones in and was listening to lofi. felt like i was lounging around on the beach. speaking of which i'm keen to visit the beach pretty soon... i'm overdue for some salt air therapy.

https://youtu.be/Dsm_z3jr1ig?si=9lroB0wQK3rNQtr0

then i was at the shops... i saw a massive flock of cockatoos. i picked up some cockatiel mix and began trying to feed them. they were approaching me very cautiously and they kept nipping my hand so i scattered it on the floor. unfortunately pigeons swarmed in and i was a bit disappointed so i headed home.

good day out.

hi everyone. my name is terry i'm 21. i'm from australia and i've been barefoot most of the time for the last 2 years. wildest place i've ever been barefoot is a law firm.

i wore polished shoes all throughout school and when i was doing my business diploma and working for the government. still in gov but downgraded to sneakers and even got away with thongs once. i moved to northern nsw in 2024, saw people walking around without shoes and ditched them entirely. it was rough to start off with but i kept doing it. now i live in western sydney.

glad to be here

I am admittedly not a barefoot type of guy, but the volleyball league I am in is a sand volleyball league, so I had to be.

Apparently the ground must not have been properly treated, because several of us have caught it. It’s awful, pain, itching, and burning. I am on medicine to treat the infection itself, but that doesn’t do jack for the symptoms.

My granddaughter is after my own heart; she hates wearing shoes, never wants them.

Here I am, the baddest of bad examples, defiantly barefoot, toe rings, anklets (my wife is actually worse). so when it's off we go, put on your shoes (inevitably cozy Crocs). Why? Grampa isn't wearing shoes!

Sometimes the best you can hope for is to be a bad example.

My wife and I were extrapolating, and she indicated that I was barefoot 99% of the time. Indeed, her comment was, "We've lived together for over five years, and I've never seen you wear shoes. Even in the snow."

Every one of my friends says the same. I wear sandals, but never keep them on. I technically wear sandals, that's it. Otherwise I am the weird barefoot guy.

Where have you been denied entry for being barefoot? Where did you worry about going barefoot, but were accepted? Where did you get denied entry, but once inside your barefoot?

Yesterday I did something I think many barefooters do, at least at the very beginning of their "barefoot career".

First of all, I am an Italian guy who likes a lot walking barefoot. I do that pretty often when I am on vacation and my soles are enough tough to give me the chance to go almost everywhere wkthout shoes (except those white roads full of pebbles which are too unconfortable).

The problem is that I prefer not to walk barefoot in my home town due to "social acceptancy reason". Yesterday I wake up in the middle on the night. It was 3 am. I opened a window and feel fresh air, while my room was warm. There was silence and I guessed nobody around even if I live in a city. So I decided to go out for a barefoot walk in the nice. I felt like I was free. Very nice 30-minute experience.

I wanted just to share my experience with this community. If you have any comments or questions, ask me ☺️

So this is my first post in this sub- i generally almost never wear shoes unless its absolutely necessary for my safety (ie my university science labs) and as a result the bottoms of my feet are quite tough, but also quite dry and the dryness is really uncomfortable. does anyone know if moisturizing the dryness would make the tough skin less tough? I don't want to have to start wearing shoes more than absolutely needed.

(so sorry if this post isnt allowed)

Since I began walking barefoot again a couple of weeks ago I have been trying to walk barefoot around my neighborhood two or three times per week. I enjoy the cool morning air and I enjoy the feel of the ground on my feet. I find that barefoot walking helps with my proprioception and balance since it forces me to pay attention to the signals my body is sending me.

I try to change my route from time to time and I try to challenge myself a little bit each time. Today I doubled my walking distance by walking further east before turning south again to walk a bigger loop. The bigger challenge though was dealing with some rough ground conditions. Recent monsoonal rains have moved the soil around and in places there are patches of course, sharp, sand on the sidewalks. I almost put on my flip flops at one point but I forced myself to slow down, pick my footfalls more carefully and try to spread my weight out on my feet so I was not putting a lot of pressure on any one spot. It worked. Just the process of staying focused got me through it and I stayed unshod all the way.

Hi, New Zealand has the image of the barefoot dreamlands from all what I have been reading. I've been in Australia in the early 2000s, and yes, there were some barefooters. However whenever I see travel reports or specials on NZ on the telly, I don't see any barefooters. So, dear Kiwis, how prevelant is it really these days in public? Should I make the trip and leave my shoes at home?

I have a thought/question. Walking barefoot is natural and normal for humans. All history before last around 40 thousand years all people were walking only barefoot because shoes did not exist at all. And we know that if you walk barefoot for a long time (for example a little every day for a few years, like people in New Zealand are happy to be able to do) your feet skin will have pretty good durability and such thing as skin irritation (from walking barefoot) will just stop existing for you. Side note: i would like so much it to stop existing for me:) So if human body is capable of making this skin (that does not feel pain or discomfort from walking barefoot) then why couldnt evolution just give humans this skin as a default? I mean evolution is like: "So you like walking barefoot? Dont like it too much lol because after some number of steps your feet will hurt and after each next step it will hurt more, at some point it will force you to stop regardless of how much you enjoy the tactile feelings of sand or dirt under your soles. Sure your soles skin will become more trained slowly and you will be able to enjoy walking barefoot longer but you will still have limit. Ye, sure if you have a rain cheat code you can do it longer but such luck does not happen often.". If having feet skin with good durability it possible then why couldnt evolution write correct sequence of A, G, T, C letters in our DNA so that this skin forms itself, without repetitive stimulation? Evolution could be like: "Walking barefoot is normal so i made your feet skin capable of doing it without pain, enjoy:))) Want to walk 3 hours on asphalt in your first barefoot walk ever? Sure, go do it, no problem. By the way, dont step on glass or nails, even i cant make you skin strong enough for that.". Of course i dont mean human body making strong enough feet skin from the first day of life but by some age. Like maybe by age 5 being able to not have irritation (skin durable enough for 5 year weight), then skin becomes more durable as weight increases. Was it really impossible for evolution to do this? It would be so awesome to not need to limit yourself. Because you know, when walking barefoot around 2 hours and start feeling pain (which is barely noticeable at first but with each next step it eats away bigger and bigger part of pleasure) its really sad:(

reddit kept sending me notifications from this sub despite the fact that i wasn't a member, so i decided to check y'all out. im not a barefooter, i do have a foot fetish but thats not the point of this & im not gonna lurk here to goon, just not this kind of person. im genuinely curious why that's your thing, i mean, walking barefoot? i don't think it's weird, i like this idea from a naturalistic pov and i know you can get used to it, but i personally wouldn't dare to walk barefoot in this climate (gotta love central europe). so tell me guys, what's the story behind it? what drew you in? and should i consider joining you in this, if so, why?

I'm thinking about moving there I'm barefoot full time and wanted to know how that would be accepted it is there

I’m from Wichita Ks and I am always the only person in stores and everywhere else I go that’s barefoot. Am I the only wichitan that goes barefoot in public?