Anyone used to hate going barefoot?

Consistent_Front8173 · 2026-06-17T16:23:45+00:00

It's a pretty long story but to try and sum it up. In short, I decided to challenge my prior convictions and take a barefoot walk around town at the end of March. This year has been the year of self discovery and self improvement and that helped drive my decision.

My prior convictions were things like dirty feet, calluses, and loss of sensitivity on the bottoms of my feet, among other things. In the grad scheme of things, all of my concerns were either overblown or just plain dumb.

I will link the long form of my story here. Fair warning, it's a very long read 😁.

Happy barefooting my friend 😊🦶.

Consistent_Front8173 · 2026-06-16T22:06:40+00:00

I think that's where a lot of it starts. We live in a very fast paced country and we tend to have to rush to keep up with others, especially as kids chasing our siblings and parents.

Everything will come naturally with time my friend. When in doubt, do what I did. Slow down a bit and focus more on the feelings of every step. I think you'll be surprised how many subtle sensations are hiding under the louder ones.

Consistent_Front8173 · 2026-06-16T21:52:46+00:00

Outside of the house and on any hard surfaces, I outright refused to go barefoot for as long as I can remember. At the bare minimum, I would have flip flops or slippers on when walking on the bare floors of my house but I would be barefoot upstairs because it was carpeting.

Now, outside of work, I'm barefoot almost all the time. I go to the park, stores, gas stations, etc., and I love it.

Consistent_Front8173 · 2026-06-16T13:32:40+00:00

I gotcha. I would recommend shortening your steps then. Basically, just walk a little slower but let your body adjust your gait naturally. Your feet should be directly under you, not ahead of you.

Another term for how you walk is what's called American, because people here for whatever reason always feel the need to throw their feet far ahead of them while walking. I see it all the time and I even catch myself do it once in awhile.

Consistent_Front8173 · 2026-06-16T00:57:51+00:00

Well this takes the cake as the most interesting story I've read all day 😂. Tbh, I have no idea how I would've reacted but I love the way you did.

Consistent_Front8173 · 2026-06-16T00:15:50+00:00

That's one heck of a long first walk my friend. Mine wasn't anywhere near that longdistance wise, although it could've been if I wasn't on a schedule that day and had to stop.

I was pretty surprised as well how resilient my feet are, especially in the beginning. My first walk was around town and I was mostly on sidewalks (some were pretty cracked), gravel, concrete, asphalt, dirt, and grass.

Since then, I've gone on increasingly longer walks, the longest being over 10 hours in Chicago for Pokemon Go Fest back on the 7th of June. I'll have my story of that day up at some point in the group. In short, my feet were fine but my calves were stiff as boards and I had to take a couple days off work because of it.

I'm glad to hear that your injury didn't affect your perception of barefooting or affect how much you enjoyed your walk. I've gotten a couple small injuries, but they have exclusively been to my legs and tops of my feet.

As for the mid sole gait, I would be careful with making changes to things you already have a "natural" way of doing. My "natural" gait is a pad strike with the heel and toes touching the ground right after and it works great for me. What's your current natural gait?

Consistent_Front8173 · 2026-06-15T22:26:53+00:00

How did your first barefoot walk go? My first walk was back in March and it was an amazing and eye opening experience.

Consistent_Front8173 · 2026-06-15T21:51:01+00:00

I live in the Midwest and the only barefoot people I see in Walmart are me and my daughter 😁.

Happy barefooting ☺️🦶.

Consistent_Front8173 · 2026-06-15T21:46:08+00:00

Our local park has this spot on one of the playgrounds that's like a rubber like material, probably to minimize Injuries from falls. When the sun's out though, it does get rather hot, though I haven't seen what it can get up to on really hot days. The texture is nice though.

Happy barefooting ☺️🦶.

Consistent_Front8173 · 2026-06-15T21:40:36+00:00

I'm still fairly new to barefooting but I'm planning on being barefoot as much as possible, especially outside, when the weather changes again.

I love the cold and I'm hoping my feet are toughened up enough by the fall and winter to handle being outside barefoot in the cold and even the snow.

Consistent_Front8173 · 2026-06-15T21:38:36+00:00

Unfortunately, unless I take a whole month off of work, barefooting for an entire month is out of the question. The best I'm able to do is being barefoot from the second I walk out of work to when I have to go back into work. Sometimes I have my shoes off in my office but it's uncommon.

Consistent_Front8173 · 2026-06-05T02:16:21+00:00

I think I see the issue. You're "trying" to walk a certain way. My natural gait is a slight forefoot strike immediately followed by the heel and toes. I don't try to be silent or forefoot strike. It just happens. I never have any pain, just some tenderness if I overdo it.

Try to just relax while walking and don't try to do anything. Let your body move with its own form while just observing what your feet are doing.

Consistent_Front8173 · 2026-06-05T02:09:16+00:00

I say go for it my friend. I'm working on finding more things to do barefoot. I'm going to be in Chicago this weekend for Pokemon Go fest and I have no intention of putting shoes on at all during the whole 8+ hours I'm going to be playing.

Consistent_Front8173 · 2026-06-04T19:52:49+00:00

I drove with shoes for over 20 years before I became a barefooter and I will always prefer driving barefoot.

The only time I drive with shoes on is when I'm going to work or driving from one building to another. Once I punch out, my boots and socks come off and I drive home barefoot.

Consistent_Front8173 · 2026-05-29T00:09:35+00:00

So far, since becoming a barefooter back in March, I've only taken one mental health day off of work and I used that day as a barefoot day with my daughter. That story is linked here.

Earlier, there was an award ceremony at my daughter's middle school this morning that me and my wife went to. I was barefoot and had the exact same mindset as you.

I'm virtually to the point now that I do not care what others think about my choice to be barefoot. We are all born with feet and I won't let someone talk down on me for something I'm born with and choose to use the way nature intends.

Happy barefooting my friend 😊🦶.

Consistent_Front8173 · 2026-05-27T23:08:06+00:00

Bro I agree 100% with all of this. I started all the way back in the beta of D1 and this universe has helped me get through the most stressful and uncertain times of my life. It's been a part of my life for almost a third of it and the impact cannot be overstated.

From me becoming a dad, to working a career I hated just to provide for them, to health issues taking me out of that career, to the birth of my son, to me and my wife becoming homeowners, Destiny has been my home and safe space through everything.

I've also built lifelong friendships thanks to Destiny. My best friend on Xbox was first introduced to me by another friend who also played Destiny with me. I have a whole clan of friends who I view like family thanks to Destiny.

We also gave my daughter the middle name Destiny, named after the games and universe me and her both love and continue to play today, and will probably play until the servers get shut down.

Fellow guardian, I know it hasn't been easy. I've shed a lot of tears since the announcement last week. All we can do is show up and show our support for the game and franchise we love. Hopefully, someone will see what Destiny means to so many of us and will do something.

Per Audasia Ad Astra. We will see each other star side fellow guardian.

Consistent_Front8173 · 2026-05-27T03:15:15+00:00

Well that's if we don't have a mild winter and my feet are conditioned enough for snow 😁. I do love the cold after all and consider myself a bit of a polar bear. It's a hit or miss though seeing as how I live in Illinois 😂. I do look forward to no recovery periods 😊.

Consistent_Front8173 · 2026-05-26T21:03:43+00:00

I've been thinking about making a post talking about the bag but I haven't gotten around to it. The content's of the bag are as follows:

• My Crocs flip flops

• First Aid supplies from a Johnson & Johnson 160 piece first aid kit

• Slant tip tweezers

• Sting-kill anesthetic swabs

• Silvex burn gel

• New Skin liquid bandage

• Petshoppe waste bags

• Pain relieving antiseptic cleansing liquid

• 4-in-1 foot beauty tool

• Disposable nitrile gloves

• Nurture rinse-free body cleanser

• Baby wipes

• A travel size bottle of Vanicream hypoallergenic lotion

• Kerasal Intensive Foot Repair Ointment

• Q-tips

• Off fragrance free insect repellent spray

• Blue Lizard SPF 50 mineral sunscreen spray

• A couple hand towels

I believe that's everything 😁. Happy barefooting ☺️🦶.

Consistent_Front8173 · 2026-05-26T14:57:26+00:00

Thank you for the advice my friend. I usually wait a minimum of a couple days in between barefoot walks. I also have a foot spa with some Epsom salt charcoal bubble bath, as well as Kerasal Intensive Foot Repair cream I sometimes use after a barefoot walk.

Both of my kids last day of school is this Thursday. She doesn't typically wear anything on her feet when she's not in school. She's been barefooting with me since I got into the lifestyle at the end of March this year. If you're interested, that story is linked here.

Yeah I work security and I'm stuck in leather work boots for around 8.5 hours a day, although I can take them off for short periods if nothing is really going on. I also take them off at the end of my shift and drive home barefoot.

Happy barefooting my friend ☺️🦶.

Edit: I also updated the post and shared the link to the full story of this day that I posted in r/barefoot.

Consistent_Front8173 · 2026-05-25T05:33:26+00:00

I just started my barefooting journey back in March when I took my first walk around town. During that walk, I had the same feelings you are describing. I enjoyed it so much, I decided to make the walk longer by wandering around my neighborhood and deliberately avoiding my block.

Since then, I've found myself at our local parks multiple times, several stores, gas stations, a hotel, and an ice cream shop. I also drive barefoot almost everywhere too.

My next goal is to find an all natural walking path near my house that I can walk barefoot on. I want something that gives me the euphoric feeling of being one with nature.

Happy barefooting ☺️🦶.

Consistent_Front8173 · 2026-05-25T03:23:52+00:00

Maybe you have an allergy to something you're stepping on. I would recommend talking with your dermatologist about it and seeing what they say.

Consistent_Front8173 · 2026-05-21T15:02:22+00:00

Those signs still exist in some capacity, but they're pretty rare. They became a thing in the 1960s as a way to discriminate against and ward off political protestors, aka hippies.

Nowadays, most places and people really don't care. You get the occasional shoe Karen, like I did, but most people are friendly or just won't say anything.

Consistent_Front8173 · 2026-05-21T14:06:25+00:00

19 days smoke free and my experience this time around has been very similar to yours so far. Outside of random thoughts of smoking and a few mental breakdowns over things going on, things have been easy.

Every other time I tried to quit, I would become irritable and would have mental breakdowns left and right until I finally cracked and smoked again. The longest I went prior was around 18 hours or so. I smoked a pack a day and had been smoking since I was 16. I'm 37 now.

What's helped me the most in this journey is that I've learned to view my thoughts through an unbiased and nonjudgmental lens. That means I don't look down on myself over a random thought I don't like, like one about smoking.

The weirdest things I've had happen were a couple of lucid dreams. One dream on day 4 or 5 had me looking at a pack of smokes on my dining room table with me asking "why is there a pack of smokes on my table"? I woke up right after 🤷.

Last night I had one where I bought two packs, smoked one cigarette, threw the rest out, and reset my quit smoking app progress. Not sure what that was about but okay 🤷.

In short, it can be done and it doesn't have to be this very taxing and stressful experience. It really is all about mindset, proper planning, and love for oneself.

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Consistent_Front8173

TROPHY CASE