20,000 Steps and No Pain: How Barefoot Shoes Changed Everything for Sarah

 

 

Some people discover barefoot shoes through research. Others stumble across them by accident. For Sarah, it was neither. It was years of pain that eventually led her here, and her story is one I think so many of you will recognise.

She's a member of our BarefootBrit community Facebook group, and when she shared how far she's come, I knew straight away it had to be our next Community Spotlight feature. Not because it's extraordinary (though it is), but because it's the story so many of you are living right now: years of searching for the right shoes, foot pain that won't go away, and then that moment where everything clicks.

Sarah spent years trying to find something, anything, that would make her feet more comfortable. Big toe pain. Wide feet. Shoes that promised relief and never delivered. And then she found barefoot shoes, and everything changed.

This is her story, in her words.

Sarah's path to barefoot shoes began after years of trying to find something, anything, that would make her feet more comfortable.

I'd spent horrific amounts of money purchasing larger Wolky and Russell and Bromley shoes as an attempt to deal with my big toe pain and wide feet, but that didn't solve my problems.

Her foot pain had become particularly noticeable when she was walking to university in 2016.

Perimenopause had definitely hit and my feet suddenly really hurt, especially my big toe.

She bought some oversized Merrell walking shoes with lots of padding, which ended up being pretty much all she wore for several years.

She continued trying other shoes too. There were some gorgeous Russell and Bromley white trainers, which Sarah remembers being particularly excited about, followed by some "funky platform boots". Unfortunately, the boots gave her an enormous blister and still didn't solve the problem with her big toe.

I probably should have visited a physio but I just thought I had arthritis in my toe and was getting old.

There was something else, though, that had already given Sarah a clue about what was going on. She'd always been barefoot around the house and garden, and noticed that her feet felt better when she was.

I also understood that when I was barefoot around the house and garden, which I've always been, the pain eased, so I knew it was a shoe problem.

Finding barefoot shoes again

Sarah had actually tried barefoot shoes once before, back in 2013, when she bought a pair of Vivo trainers. It didn't go well.

Looking back, she realised that the shoes had been too narrow and that she hadn't combined wearing them with exercises, so she eventually gave up.

Then, towards the end of 2024, Sarah came across the BarefootBrit Facebook page.

I realised barefoot shoes had come on quite a bit since I'd tried a pair of Vivo trainers in 2013.

This time, she decided to give them another chance.

In autumn 2024, she bought her first pair of Barebarics, describing them as "a good transition shoe and a great replacement for my posh white trainers - and comfy too".

By Christmas, she'd ordered some Shapen boots and was wearing them for longer walks.

I was a convert to complete comfort.

And after years of struggling to find shoes that were both comfortable and suitable for her feet, Sarah was understandably keen to get on with it.

Perhaps a little too keen.

Learning that the transition takes time

Needless to say, despite reading all the warnings, I transitioned far too quickly without enough exercises.

By February 2025, the pain in her right foot was worse. It became particularly worrying because Sarah had a holiday to Uzbekistan booked for May.

It was really quite bad and I was in a panic because we had a holiday to Uzbekistan booked in May.

Fortunately, by this point Sarah had already found a huge amount of information through the BarefootBrit community. She knew that she needed to do more than simply change her footwear.

By now I'd read a lot on Brit's page to know that I needed exercises, so I set about researching everything I could on the group.

People recommended The Foot Collective and Petra Fischer Movement, and Sarah started incorporating exercises into her routine.

That's the part so many people skip. The shoes are important, but they're only half the story. The exercises strengthen the muscles in your feet and lower legs, helping your body adapt to a completely different way of moving. Without them, even the best barefoot shoes can feel uncomfortable, and that's exactly what Sarah experienced.

Uzbekistan was a turning point

By the time Sarah headed to Central Asia, the difference was significant. She was able to make the trip in her white Barebarics without foot pain.

There was even an interesting comparison with her old shoes.

My trip to Central Asia in my lovely white Barebarics was pain free (apart from when I put the Merrell's on for one day).

After years of looking for the right shoes, Sarah finally felt that she had found something that worked for her.

She describes the BarefootBrit group and website as "a goldmine of information", as well as remembering the encouragement she received from other members of the community.

I had literally been searching for the right shoe for years and now I have a wardrobe and shoe shelf full.

Nackt barefoot trainers in red - one of the brands in Sarah's growing collection.

The exercises became part of everyday life

Sarah's experience also showed her that the exercises weren't something to abandon once her feet started feeling better.

The exercises are ongoing and have given me a really good understanding of how my body works and how I can keep moving as I age.

She admits that she wasn't always as consistent as she is now. When she started studying again, she found herself sitting a lot more and doing fewer exercises, and eventually the pain returned.

I was a bit lazy last year and didn't do my exercises, and because I'm studying again and sitting a lot, the pain came back.

Rather than treating exercise as something that required a dedicated block of time, Sarah found ways to fit it into everyday life.

I do my exercises regularly - stretching while I wait for the kettle to boil, while I'm standing in a queue, or listening to the radio.

That's the thing about foot exercises. They don't need a gym membership or a yoga mat. They need consistency. A few minutes here and there, built into the things you already do every day, adds up to something powerful. Sarah's proof of that.

From struggling to walk to 20,000 steps

Fast forward to now, and Sarah's feet are taking her places she once wouldn't have thought possible.

She recently spent two weeks travelling through North Macedonia and Albania, wearing just her Wildsoles. The trip included medieval cobbled streets, rocky cliff paths and broken pavements.

It's a remarkable contrast to where Sarah's story began. Back in 2016, walking to university had become difficult because of her painful feet. Now she is able to spend full days exploring challenging terrain in barefoot sandals.

And barefoot shoes have become about more than simply solving her own footwear problems. Sarah is now sharing what she's learned with the people around her.

I'm proud that my enthusiasm has converted my husband and a good friend to barefoot shoes.

Her friend recently messaged her to say she was amazed by how comfortable her first pair of barefoot shoes were.

Sarah, having learned the hard way that the transition shouldn't be rushed, has made sure to pass that lesson on too.

Needless to say, I've stressed the importance of exercises to both of them.

Finally, comfortable shoes can be beautiful too

There's another part of Sarah's story that I particularly love.

For someone who had spent years trying to find comfortable shoes, she had also missed out on being able to wear the sort of shoes she actually wanted.

I've never owned so many comfy shoes or had the opportunity to wear dressy shoes: my first and last pair of stiletto heels, aged 15, were given to granny.

Now 55, Sarah says it has been "a long wait to enjoy fancy shoes and comfy shoes".

And this year, she got married wearing a gorgeous pair of red Shapen Orchid shoes.

Sarah and Ian on their wedding day - Sarah wearing red Shapen Orchid barefoot shoes. Photo credit: Alan Blundell @Albluoffical.

Her story is a lovely reminder that the barefoot journey isn't necessarily about giving things up. For Sarah, it has meant finally having the freedom to choose shoes that are comfortable, to walk further, to travel and, perhaps most importantly, to stop assuming that painful feet were simply something she had to accept.

It took a few false starts, a little too much enthusiasm at the beginning, plenty of exercises and a supportive community to get there.

But nearly two years on, Sarah has a shoe shelf full of comfortable shoes, a growing understanding of how her body works and the confidence to tackle 20,000-step days in barefoot sandals.

Sarah's collection of barefoot shoes, built up over nearly two years.

And she has no intention of giving that up.

Thank you, Sarah, for sharing your barefoot story with the BarefootBrit community.

Every story matters. Every journey counts. Your experience could be the one that helps someone else finally find relief.