Thought I'd say hello. I come here from reddit, which, one way or another, seems to be circling the drain - though the barefooter community there is still among the best, and I'll probably won't just yet nuke my account there, even though that option is very much on the table.
While I joined reddit and r/barefoot only about three years ago, I've been a barefooter for close to twenty years. Most of the time nowadays, I basically live almost (see next paragraph) my whole life on bare soles and there's hardly a place or ground where I wouldn't at least try to go unshod. About the only thing I still have respect for is coarse train track gravel. That stuff is evil. ^^'
I wear something on my feet for an average of less than six hours per week, and I do still own a few pairs of shoes, which I regard as protective gear to be used if and when appropiate (= very sparsely ๐)
I am from Germany, which I've learned is among the more barefooter-friendly nations on this gravity well. Denials of entry and this whole "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service" thing that both seem so prevalent in many other nations are largely unheard of here. In my twenty years, I count three DOEs, of which only one was barely sensible.
The overwhelmingly vast rest of the time, nobody gives a flying eff about what people do or don't wear on their pedes. I've been barefoot in cities and in the wilderness, in buses and trains, at the doctor's, in supermarkets and malls, in the cinema, and who knows where else, alone and with my friends (who also are very accepting).
I hope I fit in here. If there are questions, shoot - while this isn't an AMA, I'll answer questions I deem sensible and on-topic.
All y'all, have fun and fair ways!