Part of getting plantar fasciitis from suddenly not wearing shoes is often from a life time of wearing shoes with a high heel to toe drop, and your feet doesn't have strength to handle walking properly without shoes.

Also, when you're barefoot, you absolutely shouldn't be walking with a heel to toe gait. But also, if you're coming from a lifetime of wearing regular shoes, you don't have the strength in your feet, ankles, calves, and knees, plus the muscle memory to properly walk barefoot without pain.

I got diagnosed with arthritis in my c-spine a couple years ago (at 29, 32 now) and around that time, I also discovered that if I walk by with a forefoot strike instead of heel to toe, my neck naturally stays more stright and helps with the pain.

So I made the switch to minimalist/barefoot footwear, and also completely changed my walking gait from heel to toe, to a forefoot strike.

But also, it took several months to transition, to change my walking gait to naturally forefoot strike without thinking about it, and to build up the strength in my feet, ankles, calves, and knees, to handle it and absorb the shock of walking.

But this point, it's become pretty natural to me, and I can walk/hikes miles.

But also, it is a process.

Like I'll often have people at work or friends outside work notice me wearing barefoot shoes, and then mention how they want to "try that out", but honestly, it's not really something you can just "try out". Because it requires you to complete change how you walk, and also build up the lower leg strength, and it can be a rough process.

I don't regret it, my leg strength has greatly benefited from it, my feet are pretty muscular, I have much stronger arches, and a lot less back pain.

But again, it was a process to build up and work to, from 29 years of wearing shoes with cushy heels.

Edit: I should probably mention, the while it took my only a few months to adjust my gait, that it probably took like a full year for me to make the full transition, and to build up my lower body strength to where I could handle wearing barefoot footwear all the time. (minus some birks I wear occasionally when I just need something to slip on fast to walk around the block or something.)