Sarah Outen Barefoot on the BBC

I was watching the Clare Balding show for the first time and was encouraged to see Sarah Outen sporting two bare feet on the sofa. At first I wasn't sure if she was perhaps just in flip-flops as the table was obscuring them slightly. But Clare asked her about her lack of footwear and Sarah explained how she loved to be barefoot whenever she can (though mostly when inside).

BBC iPlayer Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06y8k24

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www.nickbailey.co.uk

Barefoot in the Woods - brought to you by the Woodland Trust

This was the Woodland Trust's promotional material this year. It gave things to do for various ages of children. And for those aged 3-5 the thing to do is to go barefoot! I was thrilled to see this. Well done them. Of course it's also the best thing to do for older children too and you can do all the other activities while shoeless, but nonetheless it's a very promising start. Also, considering this is about things to do while away from home, the suggestion to play around in mud in a woodland is really rather exotic and brave.

Trust Me I'm A Doctor

Tonight's episode considered the problems of wearing high heals. Gabriel Weston used some mocap wizardry to observe people walking in shoes and then without. The comparison was made that being barefoot puts your centre of gravity through the knees correctly, while with heals this is off centre. She then came up with a bunch of suggestions as to how to improve your feet but failed completely to suggest that people walk around barefoot.

Close, but no cigar.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b063jzxq/trust-me-im-a-doctor-series-3-episode-2


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Florence and the Machine Barefoot at Glastonbury 2015

Trust Florence. What a queen of awesome.

Warm this weekend? Why not head out without your shoes...

The MetOffice are forecasting a first* taste of spring this coming weekend. Finally, after a fairly lengthy winter we are going to be rewarded with some warmth. I'm looking forward to it and getting out in the sunshine.

But what is more glorious than simply being outside in that first warmth of the year - that day when you wear only a t-shirt and yet still feel warm? Doing it without your shoes. Yes, there is little nicer than letting your feet loose outside, especially if they've been cooped up indoors and/or shod all winter. Get them out, on the grass and in the puddles or mud. Stretch your toes and enjoy spring at last.

Enjoy the day and may you put your best bare foot forward!


* after that crazy warmth right back at the beginning of January.

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Cold Feet? Try Removing Your Socks First.

Nowadays I must admit that I am not a full time barefooter. I don't want to let you down, but that is the case. However, still I find myself frequently shoeless for all sorts of reasons, most of the sorts of reasons that I took it up for in the first place.

This morning I woke up and dressed my feet as typical these days, and as today is a little chillier than expected I popped on some thick socks for warmth. But just a few hours later and my feet had decended into a deep chill. Perhaps it being a Saturday I'm only padding round the house rather than cycling anywhere so my feet have not really been doing much work and as such not keeping themselves warm. Never-the-less there they were with nice supposedly thick socks on for warmth yet feeling frozen.

The solution I have learnt for this is to whip of the socks. It seems somewhat counter intuitive - reduce their thermal insulation and my feet will be warmer? Yet this is exactly what happened. One of the top advantages of my solid barefoot days was the complete lack of cold feet (and cold hands come to think of it). They just were warm all the time, especially in bed. These days of shodness my feet are frequently back to their cold ways. However, take of my coverings exposing the skin to the cold and they feel so much warmer.

So go on - liberate your feet from their surroundings and feel the warmth, even in the cold (it's kind of what they're designed for).

Cold feet? Shead those socks

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www.nickbailey.co.uk

Barefoot DIY

Doing a bit of renovation at home and discovered that barefoot is a great way to accomplish this. Not only are feet easier to clean than socks and less messy than shoes (we don't have shoes indoors due to Asian tendencies) but you can utilise toes for grabbing hold of pieces of skirting board as you saw them at 45 degrees without using a specialist tool. Perhaps I should get one of those angled cutting guides, but this worked just as well.

Sawing barefoot? What could possibly go wrong.

Footlose

Fully Waterproof Footware

What happens in Croatia when a sudden torrential rainstorm floods the city streets? Off go the shoes and barefooting becomes the way to go. I found the smooth cobbles somewhat slippery though so care had to be taken on the submerged surface.

Monty Don Approved

There was I, watching Gardeners' World, when low, the great Monty Don un-dons his shoes and promotes barefooting in a public garden on primetime British television. Well done Monty, what a star. There really is little better than being in the garden barefoot.

Barefoot Running

One of the next things to by on my Amazon basket:

Check out his website here:

http://www.chrismcdougall.com/
And in particular his TED talk through which I first heard of him (and barefoot running):
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/christopher_mcdougall_are_we_born_to_run.html

Barefooting down a Korean mountain

Yesterday I hiked up Baegundae mountain just north of Seoul, South Korea. I went up in my hiking boots (only their second time on a real mountain). Walking up we passed a couple walking down barefoot, carrying their shoes. I was a bit jealous.

The whole ascent was breathtaking and the views at the top were superb. We had a snack of kimbap (rice rolls, like sushi) on the summit rock and I decided to take of my shoes.

We then climbed down the mountain taking a different route to the way up. I was thinking I'd have to re-shoe myself when I got to the first stream. But instead Suyeon decided to take her shoes off as well. So there we both were hiking down this mountain barefoot. Awesome!

Today my feet feel quite different. Not in pain as such, but certainly they feel alive.

Barefoot on the BBC

I've now barefooted myself on the the BBC Hampshire website, being interviewed by the lovely Indy Almroth-Wright who was brave enough to go for a barefoot wonder with me during the interview. Check out the article here:
Nick Bailey - BBC Barefoot Interview

Barefoot fix?

Came across this link:
http://lifehacker.com/383740/fix-your-achy-body-by-walking-barefoot

Asking Out Barefoot

It was not by concious act that I happened to be barefoot when I asked my girlfriend out, thought I was quite pleased to find that it was the case. I was (and still am) quite bearded. Thus, remaining a geek, I can report that the barefoot bearded geek, while not 24/7 any more, is still alive and kicking (and successful in the very thing that many said would be impossible).

Go eccentricity!

More Glass No Cut

Yesterday I noticed some discomfort in my right big toe. On investigation that evening I noticed a small piece of glass lodged in the center. Extraction with my leatherman knife proved painless and revealed that the glass had penetrated but not made a cut.

Skin 1, glass nill.

[I'm still barefooting on the odd days, but not full time anymore. Now just barefooting for fun.]
barefoot

Luna Lovegood Barefoot

I recently watched the latest Harry Potter film - the Order of the Pheonix - and very much enjoyed it. I gave a little gasp of joy when I saw that Luna was out in the woods barefoot - good for her :)

luna lovegood, harry potter, barefoot

Joss Stone for Diana

I just enjoyed watching Joss Stone's performance for the Princess Diana memorial concert in Wembley stadium. I quite like her music, but mostly I enjoyed her being barefoot on stage. Well done Joss :)


Joss Stone, Diana, Wembley Stadium

Nice Barefoot Encounter

There I was this afternoon walking to the student services building on Highfield campus past the library where lots of students were lounging around on the grass outside. Three girls got up in front of me and started walking ahead. I heard one exclaim that she'd forgotten to put her shoes one. As I walked past I mentioned that she'd be just fine without them. As they noticed that I was not wearing shoes either I heard their exclamation, then the girl without shoes called her thanks to me saying that she'd just made a barefoot friend.

I just love how differences break down barriers with strangers.


University of Southampton, barefoot, library

Flip Flops

Can anyone tell me why it is that men with out shoes on is weird and strange but men with flip flops on is quite acceptable? It just looks girly, get them off and take the ground like a man.


flip flops