I’m a ‘barefoot walker’ – I get in trouble in stores, but shoes aren’t natural
She thought she could walk barefoot anywhere that wasn’t prohibited, but it caused problems.
“I just consider myself someone who walks barefoot every day, someone who can identify with me, because I don’t live in extreme cold or go hiking in the mountains,” she said.
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Mara, 30, spoke exclusively to The US Sun about going barefoot as a mother of five.
“Ever since I was a kid, I loved going barefoot,” says the Texas native.
“As I got older, I realized that it was becoming more and more socially unacceptable not to wear shoes.”
In 2022, Mara decided to “go full time and retire from shoes.”
“At first it was scary to go out in public and know that people were looking at you. Then I just built up a thick skin, you know, literally and figuratively,” she joked.
“I could just do my thing and not care what anyone thought.”
Mara summed up the initial reaction of her friends and family as one of confusion.
“Everyone was just like, ‘Are you sure? That’s gross, that’s weird,’” she said.
She remembers being asked if she could go to the shops without getting into trouble.
Mara did her homework and noted the entry requirements for the public spaces she visited.
“I read a lot of the signs beforehand. So in hardware stores it says, [that] “You have to wear shoes, but in many other places, like supermarkets, there is no sign saying it is mandatory,” she said.
“I always pay attention to that, because I don’t want companies to get into trouble and I don’t want to get into trouble myself.”
Mara indicated that she had had problems before, despite there being no sign requiring her to wear shoes.
“It was a bookstore, which I thought was very strange,” she said.
“I would go to Barnes & Noble and sometimes if they didn’t have anything posted I would just ask [what their policy is].
At the California airport they said the policy was that you had to wear shoes when boarding and disembarking the plane
Mara
“They said I couldn’t walk there barefoot because someone else was walking barefoot. They left mud everywhere and footprints.”
Another time she had a problem was when she took a domestic flight from California to Texas.
“I usually take [a pair] in a baby carrier just in case, but I didn’t [that time]“And at the airport in California they said you had to wear shoes when you got on and off the plane,” she explained.
“That’s a lesson I learned. I take shoes to the airport because it was stressful. I thought I wouldn’t be able to fly.”
Although she’s had countless conversations with employees about her barefoot lifestyle, Mara says no stranger has ever broached the subject.
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However, that doesn’t mean her unique lifestyle goes unnoticed in public.
“I see people looking twice or looking back,” she said.
Some of Mara’s children also walk barefoot in public, especially her eldest.
“She likes to go barefoot. She’s 11 years old and she goes barefoot in stores and everywhere she can go barefoot,” she said.
“I’m fine with that because she’s embracing something that I enjoy. But I don’t think all of my children will follow that lifestyle.”
Shoes are bulky and I often trip over my own feet when I wear shoes because it feels unnatural.
Mara
Mara even saved a pair of her favorite shoes for when her kids are older.
“I donated a lot of them because they were just collecting dust,” she said.
“I have a pair of flip-flops that I wear on warm days, and then a pair of closed shoes, and that’s about it.”
Mara recently bought a pair of heels for a friend’s wedding, but quickly ditched them once she hit the dance floor on the big day.
She described the physical changes she has noticed since living barefoot.
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“I feel like my feet have gotten stronger and I have better balance,” she said.
“Shoes are bulky, I trip over my own feet more easily when I wear shoes, simply because it is not natural.
“It’s just that extra weight and shoes are like heels, they’re just heavy.”
Mara says that not only can she walk more easily, but she is also more aware of her surroundings and more alert to potential dangers.
According to Mara, the most common misconception is that she could harm herself.
“I think people just find it unsafe. They always think you’re going to step on a needle or glass.
“That’s what people are stuck with and it’s something I don’t see very often in practice.”
She explained that she always keeps a pair of flip-flops in her car, even when she drives barefoot, in case she gets into an accident where she has to step over broken glass.
Her flip-flops also help her protect the burning sidewalks during the hot Texas summers.
Mara documents her barefoot journey on her TikTok account @TheAmazingMarawhere she builds a following with her ‘recognizable’ content.
“I just consider myself someone who walks barefoot every day, someone who can identify with me, because I don’t live in extreme cold or go hiking in the mountains,” she said.
“I just do everyday things like going to the grocery store or taking a walk, nothing extravagant [just showing] it’s still feasible in a city.”
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