Barefoot Interview #6: Croatia's Nikola
There are many different people from all over the world who like going barefoot. Some people like doing it as a hobby. On the other hand, other people who go barefoot as a tradition or as a part of their culture. Apparently, there are many who like going barefoot are unable to share their stories. So, this will be a long interviewing series and talking to people who are from all over and let them speak about their barefooting. So, welcome the newest barefoot interviewee, Nikola. Nikola is (currently) a 32 year old programmer who is both born and resides in Croatia. Here is what Nikola had to say about being barefoot.
What inspired you to go barefoot?
There were many factors involved. One of the biggest was the fact that even before I became a barefooter, I was a nudist. I liked going on long walks in nature sans clothing and have enjoyed staying in nudist camps and sunbathing on nudist beaches. However, back then I didn't pay much attention to footwear. I was convinced that sometimes one simply ought to wear shoes for protection and there was no way around that. Whenever I'd move over a surface that was comfortable to walk on with untrained soles, I'd take off my shoes. I was much like other "shoddies" (people who habitually wear shoes), and when I saw videos of people running barefoot, the thought that was going through my head was that they were crazy and would get blisters, step on something sharp, and hurt themselves. The tipping point was when I saw Tim Minchin perform barefoot on stage. It was a curious thing and I found it a bit cool that he would appear barefoot before all those people. I researched a bit about why he went barefoot and found that he simply liked it. And I thought that hey, I like going barefoot too. Without bothering to do much research, I started experimenting and soon after I became a nearly full-time barefooter.
What are some of the reasons you like going barefoot?
When I started going places barefoot, I found that I couldn't stop. I had to go to more and more places barefoot. It was addictive. I loved every moment I spent barefoot and felt sad I hadn't discovered the joys of barefooting sooner. It was like discovering a world that was completely hidden to me until I exposed my feet to it. I find that I love exploring with my feet. I often go out of my way just to try what a particular surface feels like. Another reason is freedom. Yes, being barefoot is an expression of freedom and it makes me feel free, but I'm talking about a much more mundane kind of freedom. That is, the freedom to spread my toes, to squeeze them, to stretch them, etc. I couldn't do that while wearing shoes, as they are so restrictive. I love flexing my toes and spreading them as far as I can. I love the cool feeling between them when I spread them apart and swing my foot back and forth. It's very refreshing.
Name some places you like going barefoot.
Well, I like going everywhere barefoot. I don't really think I have favorites, but there are some places where I go that I don't really care if I'm barefoot or shod. This is places that have smooth tiles on the floors. They feel rather sterile and produce no interesting sensations on the foot, so I might as well be shod as far as sense of touch is concerned. Consequently, the more texture there is to the floor/ground, the more I like the place, at least as far as barefooting goes. Forest floors are particularly interesting and I can't wait for my next barefoot walk through a forest. Finding Geocaches hidden outside urban areas has become my passion since I started going barefoot.
Where would you like to try and go barefoot that you haven't done so?
Mountains. Before I became a dad I was a hiker and I can't wait until my kids grow up to be old enough to accompany my wife and me. I became a barefooter some 3 months before I became a dad, so I haven't had the chance to go hike on a mountain yet.
Why do you think people should go barefoot more often besides at home and the beach?
I don't think it's a matter of "should" or "shouldn't", but they'd certainly be doing their feet (and the rest of their bodies) a service. Our feet evolved through the millenia to get us from point A to point B without being weighed down by a thick-bottomed foot coffin. There are 200 000 nerve endings in each foot and they're there for a reason. As a nudist I always thought how silly we are as humans to be so squeamish about seeing certain body parts on other humans. I never considered feet would be one such part, until I started going barefoot to public places. Going barefoot in public may make us trailblazing barefooters seem eccentric, but really if we don't do it then it will only seem even more eccentric later. And it's not eccentric! It's one of the most natural and most enjoyable things that shoddies deny themselves, for no reason whatever.
Give us a story of a time you went barefoot and had a lot of fun doing it.
Every day. I have a lot of fun going barefoot every day. Really, there is no one particular day that I could single out and say "THAT was the best one". Every day has something special. So, I'm going to give you a story that was part of my motivation for becoming a barefooter. It was some years before I started going barefoot. I went out for one of my naked walks through the fields and forests that surround my home. It was a wonderful day and it was nearing an end, so I knew I'd be coming back after nightfall. I actually wore (only) shoes after I left my clothes in a hidden place in the forest. It wasn't until I was returning home that I took off my shoes. I'd walked out of a forest and stumbled on a freshly tilled patch of land. It was a very long way around and I was getting very tired, so I tried walking across it. The ground was so well tilled that my entire shoe simply sank in it and some of the soil ended up inside my shoes. I was too tired to walk around, especially because I knew there were some thorns along the way and I couldn't see them in the dark, so I took off my shoes and my socks and walked across the tilled soil. It was the most amazing feeling. The Sun had warmed the earth during the day to a very comfortable temperature and the soil hadn't cooled yet. It was also amazingly soft. Stepping into that and having my feet sink in really deep felt so wonderful I'm never going to forget it. I really savored each step and I'm longing to stumble upon such a thing again ever since.
Why do you think some stores have banned going barefoot?
I'm lucky enough to live in a country where such a thing hadn't happened. People here are very friendly and make no fuss about my bare feet. In fact, most of them are amazed because they think I must be really resistant to the cold and all the hazards that the foot encounters on the ground (which are not as numerous as they think). In USA, as far as I can tell from what I read on the Society for Barefoot Living (SBL) mailing list, I think people believe there are some laws or government issued health codes that the store owners need to uphold. As the members there will say, there are no such laws or codes, but for some reason people still believe there are, and will go to great lengths to enforce these fictional laws. Another reason that keeps popping up every once in a while is that many store owners believe they will be liable if a barefoot person injures themself while in the store, even though there really is no ground on which that barefooter could file a lawsuit.
If possible, please share any of your barefooting experiences.
I've gathered a whole lot of experience, but really I've learned most (and am still learning from it) when I badly injured myself. It was at the very beginning of my barefooting, but still late enough that I was hooked to it sufficiently to consider my injury a setback rather than a failure. I got injured because I exposed my untrained soles to the cold salted roads in winter for too long (9 km too long) while at the same time being careless. My feet took a full month to heal fully and I consider myself lucky in that respect. This injury was, in fact, what got me to join the SBL mailing list eventually, and learn what other barefooters are doing, and how they cope with extreme weather conditions. It was at once a group in which I found understanding, was given friendly advice, and which helped me get the most from what happened.
Since going barefoot is healthy, why do you think people deny it?
Many people I've met don't actually deny it and in fact know it too well, they just don't go barefoot. I think it's much the same as knowing that too much sugar is bad for your health and still eating a large chocolate whole. It's what we've been taught to do, or what we've become accustomed to, not what we'd really do if we could easily override our habits and what we think others expect of us. It's mainly younger generations here that are entirely oblivious to the benefits of going barefoot. New research catches on quite slow in my country and parents mainly pass to their children their own behavior as-is, without the rationale behind it, so I think the younglings are confused about barefooting, much like I was before I started going barefoot myself.
Finish this analogy: Someone who does not want to go barefoot is like...
...a person who shuts their eyes so as not to see the beautiful colors of the world, or a person who covers their ears so as not to hear the wonderful music.
What would you say to someone who thinking going barefoot is gross?
I've never really met anyone like that, though one of my former colleague's wife did look pretty disgusted. We hadn't spoken, though. Thankfully, if I may add, because I feel that if we had it would've been like trying to talk sense into a rabid dog (and I'm not a dog whisperer). I really can't think of much to say to such a person, except "It's your loss".
Conclusion.
I do thank Nikola for taking the time and answering these questions and as well as supporting that going barefoot is actually a good and healthy thing. Tune in next time when someone else in another country talks about their likes on barefooting. Remember, speak your mind and comment down below.
What inspired you to go barefoot?
There were many factors involved. One of the biggest was the fact that even before I became a barefooter, I was a nudist. I liked going on long walks in nature sans clothing and have enjoyed staying in nudist camps and sunbathing on nudist beaches. However, back then I didn't pay much attention to footwear. I was convinced that sometimes one simply ought to wear shoes for protection and there was no way around that. Whenever I'd move over a surface that was comfortable to walk on with untrained soles, I'd take off my shoes. I was much like other "shoddies" (people who habitually wear shoes), and when I saw videos of people running barefoot, the thought that was going through my head was that they were crazy and would get blisters, step on something sharp, and hurt themselves. The tipping point was when I saw Tim Minchin perform barefoot on stage. It was a curious thing and I found it a bit cool that he would appear barefoot before all those people. I researched a bit about why he went barefoot and found that he simply liked it. And I thought that hey, I like going barefoot too. Without bothering to do much research, I started experimenting and soon after I became a nearly full-time barefooter.
What are some of the reasons you like going barefoot?
When I started going places barefoot, I found that I couldn't stop. I had to go to more and more places barefoot. It was addictive. I loved every moment I spent barefoot and felt sad I hadn't discovered the joys of barefooting sooner. It was like discovering a world that was completely hidden to me until I exposed my feet to it. I find that I love exploring with my feet. I often go out of my way just to try what a particular surface feels like. Another reason is freedom. Yes, being barefoot is an expression of freedom and it makes me feel free, but I'm talking about a much more mundane kind of freedom. That is, the freedom to spread my toes, to squeeze them, to stretch them, etc. I couldn't do that while wearing shoes, as they are so restrictive. I love flexing my toes and spreading them as far as I can. I love the cool feeling between them when I spread them apart and swing my foot back and forth. It's very refreshing.
Name some places you like going barefoot.
Well, I like going everywhere barefoot. I don't really think I have favorites, but there are some places where I go that I don't really care if I'm barefoot or shod. This is places that have smooth tiles on the floors. They feel rather sterile and produce no interesting sensations on the foot, so I might as well be shod as far as sense of touch is concerned. Consequently, the more texture there is to the floor/ground, the more I like the place, at least as far as barefooting goes. Forest floors are particularly interesting and I can't wait for my next barefoot walk through a forest. Finding Geocaches hidden outside urban areas has become my passion since I started going barefoot.
Where would you like to try and go barefoot that you haven't done so?
Mountains. Before I became a dad I was a hiker and I can't wait until my kids grow up to be old enough to accompany my wife and me. I became a barefooter some 3 months before I became a dad, so I haven't had the chance to go hike on a mountain yet.
Why do you think people should go barefoot more often besides at home and the beach?
I don't think it's a matter of "should" or "shouldn't", but they'd certainly be doing their feet (and the rest of their bodies) a service. Our feet evolved through the millenia to get us from point A to point B without being weighed down by a thick-bottomed foot coffin. There are 200 000 nerve endings in each foot and they're there for a reason. As a nudist I always thought how silly we are as humans to be so squeamish about seeing certain body parts on other humans. I never considered feet would be one such part, until I started going barefoot to public places. Going barefoot in public may make us trailblazing barefooters seem eccentric, but really if we don't do it then it will only seem even more eccentric later. And it's not eccentric! It's one of the most natural and most enjoyable things that shoddies deny themselves, for no reason whatever.
Give us a story of a time you went barefoot and had a lot of fun doing it.
Every day. I have a lot of fun going barefoot every day. Really, there is no one particular day that I could single out and say "THAT was the best one". Every day has something special. So, I'm going to give you a story that was part of my motivation for becoming a barefooter. It was some years before I started going barefoot. I went out for one of my naked walks through the fields and forests that surround my home. It was a wonderful day and it was nearing an end, so I knew I'd be coming back after nightfall. I actually wore (only) shoes after I left my clothes in a hidden place in the forest. It wasn't until I was returning home that I took off my shoes. I'd walked out of a forest and stumbled on a freshly tilled patch of land. It was a very long way around and I was getting very tired, so I tried walking across it. The ground was so well tilled that my entire shoe simply sank in it and some of the soil ended up inside my shoes. I was too tired to walk around, especially because I knew there were some thorns along the way and I couldn't see them in the dark, so I took off my shoes and my socks and walked across the tilled soil. It was the most amazing feeling. The Sun had warmed the earth during the day to a very comfortable temperature and the soil hadn't cooled yet. It was also amazingly soft. Stepping into that and having my feet sink in really deep felt so wonderful I'm never going to forget it. I really savored each step and I'm longing to stumble upon such a thing again ever since.
Why do you think some stores have banned going barefoot?
I'm lucky enough to live in a country where such a thing hadn't happened. People here are very friendly and make no fuss about my bare feet. In fact, most of them are amazed because they think I must be really resistant to the cold and all the hazards that the foot encounters on the ground (which are not as numerous as they think). In USA, as far as I can tell from what I read on the Society for Barefoot Living (SBL) mailing list, I think people believe there are some laws or government issued health codes that the store owners need to uphold. As the members there will say, there are no such laws or codes, but for some reason people still believe there are, and will go to great lengths to enforce these fictional laws. Another reason that keeps popping up every once in a while is that many store owners believe they will be liable if a barefoot person injures themself while in the store, even though there really is no ground on which that barefooter could file a lawsuit.
If possible, please share any of your barefooting experiences.
I've gathered a whole lot of experience, but really I've learned most (and am still learning from it) when I badly injured myself. It was at the very beginning of my barefooting, but still late enough that I was hooked to it sufficiently to consider my injury a setback rather than a failure. I got injured because I exposed my untrained soles to the cold salted roads in winter for too long (9 km too long) while at the same time being careless. My feet took a full month to heal fully and I consider myself lucky in that respect. This injury was, in fact, what got me to join the SBL mailing list eventually, and learn what other barefooters are doing, and how they cope with extreme weather conditions. It was at once a group in which I found understanding, was given friendly advice, and which helped me get the most from what happened.
Since going barefoot is healthy, why do you think people deny it?
Many people I've met don't actually deny it and in fact know it too well, they just don't go barefoot. I think it's much the same as knowing that too much sugar is bad for your health and still eating a large chocolate whole. It's what we've been taught to do, or what we've become accustomed to, not what we'd really do if we could easily override our habits and what we think others expect of us. It's mainly younger generations here that are entirely oblivious to the benefits of going barefoot. New research catches on quite slow in my country and parents mainly pass to their children their own behavior as-is, without the rationale behind it, so I think the younglings are confused about barefooting, much like I was before I started going barefoot myself.
Finish this analogy: Someone who does not want to go barefoot is like...
...a person who shuts their eyes so as not to see the beautiful colors of the world, or a person who covers their ears so as not to hear the wonderful music.
What would you say to someone who thinking going barefoot is gross?
I've never really met anyone like that, though one of my former colleague's wife did look pretty disgusted. We hadn't spoken, though. Thankfully, if I may add, because I feel that if we had it would've been like trying to talk sense into a rabid dog (and I'm not a dog whisperer). I really can't think of much to say to such a person, except "It's your loss".
Conclusion.
I do thank Nikola for taking the time and answering these questions and as well as supporting that going barefoot is actually a good and healthy thing. Tune in next time when someone else in another country talks about their likes on barefooting. Remember, speak your mind and comment down below.
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