The Day I started donning vegan shoes...

People might call me 'Skinny Vinny', with my 6 foot 1 and weighing just 70 kgs, but believe me, I am still eating everything I can get my hands on. Nevertheless, since a couple of days, I have been wearing vegan shoes.

To be a little more specific, to quote the website of vivobarefoot, they are made of: "an algae-based alternative to synthetic and petrochemical EVA".

And then I got sidetracked, looking at more barefoot shoes, as that is what they're called. I might just order myself another ( more formal looking ) pair or two of vegan shoes very soon.

You might ask yourself why I got myself these otherworldy looking sneakers? Fair question.

I was inspired by friends like @trucklifefamily @yangyanje and @samstonehill who like to talk about and do barefoot walking and tipped off by @movingman. For several reasons that I won't go into, I don't see myself go for actual serious barefoot walking, let alone in cities. I like the feeling of it though. I like to be in touch with nature.I like to have feet, socks and shoes that sweat less and so on and so forth. Or, to be more precise, I prefer not wearing shoes or socks at all. Isn't loosing socks all the time - whether they are swallowed by washing machines, sucked into black holes or thrown out because of actual holes in the toes - that we should not wear socks at all.

I learnt that these shoes were more natural and healthy, taking the shape of your foot, to be worn without socks, giving you the feeling that you're walking without shoes but then with some protection. Furthermore, I heard that they are made from algae biomass that cleans and restores the environment when harvested and that they are produced using animal free products and processes. It made my decision an easy one.

I also liked the fact that they can be worn in the water too. In fact, I wore them at the beach yesterday afternoon and also walked through the sea for a bit. They dry pretty quick too.

Okay, I have to admit, I have a little blister on the pinky toe of my right foot now but that's okay, it's all worth it. I already walked about 20 k on these shoes and - as mentioned before - I can't wait to buy another pair of barefoot shoes, In fact, I'm seriously wondering if I will ever wear socks or other types of shoes again. Let's see, for know it's well worth the experience and experiment.

Before I forget, I am seriously wondering if these shoes, by bringing me back to my natural way of walking literally make me feel better: the shoes are wider than average shoes, so there's more space for your toes to be planted in a natural position. There's also no heels, nothing that changes the height of the different parts of your feet. The shoes just take on the shape of your feet. This might sound extreme, but shoes like these might improve your overall way of walking, your posture and thus take away chronic pains caused by wearing ( the wrong type of ) shoes.

It all sound pretty awesome but I guess time will tell. And if time doesn't, I will.

TO BE CONTINUED.

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