He’s kicking footwear to the curb.
Robin Greenfield hasn’t worn shoes in more than a decade — even while hiking mountains or ambling through the grocery store.
“People look down on me a lot; people often assume I am homeless. Their perception is I am down and out, and I have no other choices,” he told South West News Service.
But the 37-year-old says it keeps him “humble” — in fact, he likes that barefoot-ness is a “practice of humility.”
Greenfield, who doesn’t even own any business attire, was first inspired to ditch his kicks back in 2008 on a college trip to New Zealand, where he witnessed one of the course leaders sans shoes.
“I don’t recall a time having a particular reason, except that it felt right,” the environmental activist recalled. “I wanted to go barefoot, and I did it.”
At the time, he felt a “natural draw” to being barefooted and went barefoot full-time beginning in 2011.
The Asheville, North Carolina, resident says he is often the only person in a crowd to not be wearing shoes and faces scrutiny as a result.
“I went to a festival last weekend where there were 5,000 people,” said Greenfield, who admitted it took “years” to mentally overcome the “stigma” he faced. “I didn’t see a single other person that was barefoot, and I had hundreds of people looking at my feet.”
The same was true years ago while walking barefoot in a “fancy area” of Glendale, California, where he was met with the stares of “people in their thousand-dollar clothes.”
Unless he is forced to put on shoes — in inclement weather or in places that require them — his feet are bare. In rare cases, he’ll opt for socks for comfort or warmth.
“For me, being barefoot is an opportunity to reach people at any moment, with every step that I take to break outside societal norm,” he said, adding that he enjoys when people question his barefoot behavior.
“Everywhere I go, I am creating opportunities to shake people up, to stir people up.”
Despite having to bandage his feet after stepping on glass, the occasional pain of traveling barefoot has not deterred him from pursuing a shoeless lifestyle.
In fact, he just tossed his last pair of footwear six months ago.
While his family was “concerned” about his future, they also were supportive. After all, he is what his parents “are most proud of.”
“The Greenfields — we’re a small family and we’re all weirdos in one way or another,” he explained.
“We’re all unique — none of us fit into the societal norms, and so I got a lot of support.”
Since being liberated from footwear, Greenfield launched an endeavor called Barefoot School, where he bestows his knowledge about barefooted-ness upon others interested in ditching shoes, too.
He claimed his first session, hosted in North Carolina this July, attracted 40 people.
“It was a weekend of reconnecting with the earth through being barefoot, as well as foraging, spending time in the woods and connecting with communities,” he said.
“Being barefoot was the center of the school, but it was a gateway of reconnecting, which is a big part of being barefoot.”
For beginners hoping to ditch footwear entirely someday, Greenfield recommends starting out on easier surfaces and slowly working up to more treacherous terrain — remembering that cuts and scratches are expected, so long as you’re not pushing yourself too hard.
His practices, however, go against what some experts advise for optimal foot health.
While being barefoot in moderation — even outdoors — can strengthen the muscles of the foot and ankle because they are forced to work harder, podiatrists warn that the prolonged stress of not wearing shoes can lead to future problems.
Foot pain is a common symptom of sans-shoe proponents, who could suffer from plantar fasciitis or tendinitis.
“Those with a pronatory [prone to pronantion] or flat foot type are predisposed to more injury from not wearing shoes since they’re already lacking the support needed to promote a neutral foot position,” Dr. Daniel Cuttica, a board-certified orthopedic foot and ankle surgeon in Virginia, told Shape.
Wearing proper shoes while cooking, cleaning working and exercising — save for some floor mat workouts like yoga — is necessary for protection, experts say.
Greenfield previously raised eyebrows when he claimed that he has not used toilet paper for a decade and instead wipes himself with leaves of a blue spur flower, a plant native to South Asia and Africa, according to SWNS.
Earlier this year, he went on an 11-day “The Florida Man Tour” — part of his self-proclaimed “Grow Your Own Toilet Paper” initiative.