| As you probably know, I go barefoot most of the time. As does my guest blogger, today, Dashley Driveby. Like me, Dashley can handle going barefoot on most surfaces, even in the cold... But she's taken barefooting to the next level - now being a foot model, and making it her life mission to be a barefoot personality. Over to Dashley - barefoot enthusiast, barefoot model, dirty soles specialist, and internet personality. This is her story: |  |
BAREFOOT BEGINNINGS
As a kid growing up a city outside of Milwaukee, WI – my sisters and I spent much of our summers outside. I recall not wearing shoes much, or at most sandals. When I entered high school, I joined the swim team. Not much use for shoes in the pool! Swim season ran through the winter months – and for convenience sake I started wearing flip-flops year-round, even in the snow! I’d get odd looks walking the halls with my toes sticking out when others had their boots on, but my feet never seemed to be cold.
I never thought to go completely barefoot to public places at this time, but kept going with the sandals year-round, through college. After college I took an office job doing admin work at a benefits company outside of Chicago. Heels and business professional clothes were the norm here. Now, I like the way heels look, but wearing them all day? Not for me, are you kidding? So after working there a few months I took to popping them off at my desk and walking around the office barefoot. I wore fairly long pants and no one seemed to notice or care.
DASHLEY DRIVEBY
Fast forward to January, 2012. As almost a joke, I decide to venture out to a neighborhood Taco Bell barefoot with a friend. Sensing the monumental nature of this event, perhaps, he decided to film it. The rest, they say, is history. Dashley Driveby was born.
I decided on a whim to post the video to YouTube. I hastily created a profile and uploaded the videos, faceless and focused solely on my bare feet, probably before I changed my mind. Here's the first profile pic I used for my YouTube account:
As a kid growing up a city outside of Milwaukee, WI – my sisters and I spent much of our summers outside. I recall not wearing shoes much, or at most sandals. When I entered high school, I joined the swim team. Not much use for shoes in the pool! Swim season ran through the winter months – and for convenience sake I started wearing flip-flops year-round, even in the snow! I’d get odd looks walking the halls with my toes sticking out when others had their boots on, but my feet never seemed to be cold.
I never thought to go completely barefoot to public places at this time, but kept going with the sandals year-round, through college. After college I took an office job doing admin work at a benefits company outside of Chicago. Heels and business professional clothes were the norm here. Now, I like the way heels look, but wearing them all day? Not for me, are you kidding? So after working there a few months I took to popping them off at my desk and walking around the office barefoot. I wore fairly long pants and no one seemed to notice or care.
DASHLEY DRIVEBY
Fast forward to January, 2012. As almost a joke, I decide to venture out to a neighborhood Taco Bell barefoot with a friend. Sensing the monumental nature of this event, perhaps, he decided to film it. The rest, they say, is history. Dashley Driveby was born.
I decided on a whim to post the video to YouTube. I hastily created a profile and uploaded the videos, faceless and focused solely on my bare feet, probably before I changed my mind. Here's the first profile pic I used for my YouTube account:
I continued to make more videos, venturing to gas stations, libraries and the like, all barefoot. And I began to realize a few things:
I created a twitter account and started connecting with people, other barefooters, and those that seemed to be a fan of my feet or that I went barefoot.
Spring came early. I was able to take my barefooting to the next level rather quickly. 18 hole round of golf sans shoes? Check.
- Going barefoot in public is rather fun
- People actually watch videos of other people going barefoot in public on the internet
- In the moment, not that many people seem to notice or care that you are barefoot if you maintain a confident attitude
I created a twitter account and started connecting with people, other barefooters, and those that seemed to be a fan of my feet or that I went barefoot.
Spring came early. I was able to take my barefooting to the next level rather quickly. 18 hole round of golf sans shoes? Check.
Barefoot trip to Starbucks and the local department store? Check.
The number of places I went barefoot grew. I was driving barefoot exclusively by this time, it feels weird now if I happen to have shoes on when I get behind the wheel. I feel less safe.
I have gotten scolded once for not having shoes on, at a Hobby Lobby. They indicated that it was dangerous for me to be barefoot, to which I replied that I would take that danger on myself and not hold them responsible for anything that happened to my feet. They allowed me to continue shopping and purchase my items, but seemed to have a fascination with my feet, and I had the feeling they were following me around the store.
Another amusing barefoot anecdote: I was meeting a friend at a Starbucks this past month. It had started to get cold out and some snow flurries were in the air. I walked in barefoot, with a jacket and pants on, as is my winter norm. A mother and her teenage daughters walked up in line behind me. We exchanged glances and smiles, I couldn’t help but notice that she looked at my feet. At first she said nothing, but then tapped me and said “I just have to ask, aren’t your feet cold?”. I giggled a bit and replied “Actually, my head is more cold than my feet, I should have worn my ear muffs”. She laughed too. As I retrieved my drink, I heard one of her daughters ask her mother “What if I took off my shoes too?”. It was a feeling of satisfaction I rarely get, knowing that I may have encouraged another to shed their shoes too!
As I have gone barefoot and posted more and more of my adventures, I have been able to take on a few “foot modeling” gigs, and go on a few barefoot outings with followers and fans. While I resist the notion that I am deserving of fans such as this – I have taken it as a goal of mine to try and make being a barefoot personality my life mission. I realize and appreciate that some are fascinated by me simply because they find a barefoot woman erotic in some kind of way. I think it is a completely normal interest, and it does amuse me a bit to realize that walking barefoot through the supermarket can make some take notice of me in such a way.
Going barefoot is healthy for my feet, my toes are strong, my back rarely gives me trouble, and my legs seem to not get fatigued. The winter months are a challenge, not as much from the snow, but from the chemicals and sharp salt pellets that are placed on the walkways to melt the snow and ice. I am not a fan. I can handle going barefoot on most surfaces, even in the cold.
DASHLEY DRIVEBY online:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/DashleyDriveby
Twitter: twitter.com/DashleyDriveby
Email: [email protected]
I have gotten scolded once for not having shoes on, at a Hobby Lobby. They indicated that it was dangerous for me to be barefoot, to which I replied that I would take that danger on myself and not hold them responsible for anything that happened to my feet. They allowed me to continue shopping and purchase my items, but seemed to have a fascination with my feet, and I had the feeling they were following me around the store.
Another amusing barefoot anecdote: I was meeting a friend at a Starbucks this past month. It had started to get cold out and some snow flurries were in the air. I walked in barefoot, with a jacket and pants on, as is my winter norm. A mother and her teenage daughters walked up in line behind me. We exchanged glances and smiles, I couldn’t help but notice that she looked at my feet. At first she said nothing, but then tapped me and said “I just have to ask, aren’t your feet cold?”. I giggled a bit and replied “Actually, my head is more cold than my feet, I should have worn my ear muffs”. She laughed too. As I retrieved my drink, I heard one of her daughters ask her mother “What if I took off my shoes too?”. It was a feeling of satisfaction I rarely get, knowing that I may have encouraged another to shed their shoes too!
As I have gone barefoot and posted more and more of my adventures, I have been able to take on a few “foot modeling” gigs, and go on a few barefoot outings with followers and fans. While I resist the notion that I am deserving of fans such as this – I have taken it as a goal of mine to try and make being a barefoot personality my life mission. I realize and appreciate that some are fascinated by me simply because they find a barefoot woman erotic in some kind of way. I think it is a completely normal interest, and it does amuse me a bit to realize that walking barefoot through the supermarket can make some take notice of me in such a way.
Going barefoot is healthy for my feet, my toes are strong, my back rarely gives me trouble, and my legs seem to not get fatigued. The winter months are a challenge, not as much from the snow, but from the chemicals and sharp salt pellets that are placed on the walkways to melt the snow and ice. I am not a fan. I can handle going barefoot on most surfaces, even in the cold.
DASHLEY DRIVEBY online:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/DashleyDriveby
Twitter: twitter.com/DashleyDriveby
Email: [email protected]
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