Barefoot Girl's Adventure (Traveling Barefoot Part 2)
by Sharleen (Lynn) WL
This is part 2 of Traveling Barefoot. If you haven't read part 1 yet, you can find the link at the bottom of this post.
We landed bright and early (around 8 am) at the Houston Bush airport. I was a little sleepy but very excited about the vacation.
We had plenty of time before boarding our connecting flight to Orlando, and as we were walking in the terminal we saw a nice restaurant and dad decided to go in for breakfast. But he said to me, "We'll see if they'll let you in barefoot. If not, we'll just go to the food court and grab some fast food." I just smiled knowing that they would let me in. Yes, I believe is magic :)
We were seated and served without any problem. As I was eating my nose was running again, and I kept sniffling. Mom finally told me to blow it. I was going to use the cloth napkin but she scolded me saying it was improper (I had done this before but she just never noticed, lol), and told me to go to the bathroom. Some of the wait staff were standing in the hallway as I walked pass them to the bathroom with my bare feet in plain site. They smiled at me and said good morning.
We had quite a long way to walk to our next flight gate but we still had quite a bit of time even after we ate, so we walked leisurely and stopped at a few stores along the way. Mom's feet were hurting and she unexpectedly said to me, "It must be nice to be barefoot, huh?"
I jokingly said to her, "Why don't you take off you're shoes, mom!"
Before she could respond, dad said, "Hahaha, that'll be the day!"
Mom just smirked. She won't go barefoot in public in a million years. Hell, she won't even do it at home!
We finally arrived at our gate. Unsurprisingly, I was again the only one barefoot. Some people looked at my feet but said nothing. They must have thought I was tired of wearing shoes and had taken them off. I have also learned that little kids can get away with alot of things adults can't because people tend to think they don't know any better. Ah, the good old days! lol.
Once again, I boarded the plane without any problem. The flight to Orlando was relatively short (about 3 hours) and uneventful. We got there before we knew it.
At the Orlando airport we had to take the train to the baggage claim area. I felt people were looking at me on the train but I played with my phone and pretended to be oblivious. Again, no one said anything.
As we were waiting for our luggage there was an old lady standing next to me. She looked at me from head to toe and said, "I see your all dressed for summer!"
I smiled shyly and she continued, "Being barefoot is the only way to enjoy summer to the fullest!" She went on to tell me that she grew up in the country and used to go barefoot all summer. Didn't wear shoes from the last day of school in the spring till the first day of school in the fall. She said the main reason was to save money on shoes as her family wasn't rich, but she enjoyed every moment her feet were bare.
After we got our luggage we had to take the bus to the rental car place. There were not many people on the bus. I was curious how dirty my soles were by then, so I took a look and wow, they were fucking black!
As we got to our resort dad said to me, "Ok Lynn (my nickname), you need to wear you're slippers from now on as this is not Hawaii, and I don't want any confrontation. So wash you're feet if you like and take a short rest, then we'll go out for lunch."
"Ok daddy," I said and went to wash my feet. I couldn't get them completely clean though, and there was some sticky dirt that remained.
I had the time of my life in Disney World. As far as barefooting is concerned there are a couple things worth mentioning.
At one point in Magic Kingdom I got kinda tired of wearing flip flops. My feet were longing to touch the ground! So I decided to break the rule and see how strict they really were about it. I took them off and started walking barefoot which felt really good. Mom was getting nervous and told me to put my slippers back on.
I said, "Don't worry mom, I would put them on if someone told me too, no big deal!"
She just sighed but didn't give me anymore hard time. After all, we were there for my birthday, right? :)
But I didn't get to go barefoot for very long. A staff member saw me and told me to put on my flip flops. She was nice about it though, and said alot of kids like to go barefoot but she needed to enforce the rule. So I complied.
Mom and dad were like, "We told you so!" and I was like, "ok... ok..."
At the Pirates of the Caribbean I took off my slippers as I was seated on the boat. It was dark and there was no staff member around, so I figured it would be ok. I felt the floor of the boat was kinda wet and thought it must have been from some little splashes along the ride. But as we rode along, more water got into the boat somehow until my feet were totally submerged. The water was quite cold.
The others also realized that they're shoes got wet all of a sudden and had to lift up they're feet. They weren't too happy about it and dad mentioned it to the staff member as we got off. Kevin had it worst as his shoes and socks were totally soaked, so we went into a gift shop and bought him a pair of flip flops to change into. As for me, I was quite happy to get a free foot wash! :)
Btw, Kevin loved his new flip flops as they had Mickey Mouse (his favorite Disney character) on them that he decided to wear them instead of shoes for the remaining time in Florida. Ha!
The travel back home was quite uneventful for the most part with one exception which I'll tell you about in a sec. Once again I packed my slippers in my suitcase. Mom didn't ask about it this time :) I dressed casually again - jeans shorts and a purple tank top.
We checked in our luggage at the Orlando airport and went through security. One nice thing about flying barefoot is that you don't have to take you're shoes off at the security check point. But something unexpected happened that day. Seeing me barefoot, one of the TSA agents told me I didn't need to take my shoes off since I was under 12, and should put them back on.
I was a bit astounded and felt my heart skip a beat. Then I sheepishly told him I wasn't wearing shoes.
Now it was his turn to be shocked. He raised his eyebrows and was like, "Oh really? Wow... ok! hahaha!"
Phew! Now I could laugh. Mom, dad, and Kevin couldn't help laughing as well. Btw, my cold had gotten worse. My ears were really stuffed up and a little painful during take-off and landing, so we had to buy some decongestant at the airport in Houston.
Needless to say, my soles were really filthy again by the time we got home. It was a fantastic experience traveling barefoot although I didn't get to do it full time and came home with a full-blown cold.
From paradise Hawaii this is Sharleen reminding you that life is magical. So...
Aloha, and let's make it a magical day!
Traveling Barefoot Part 1
The Storyteller (read about my experience the following year while traveling for my 11th birthday - this is part fiction).
Also read the story about when I went back to Houston as a college student: Barefoot Thanksgiving break
Enjoy going barefoot? Check out this book!
This is part 2 of Traveling Barefoot. If you haven't read part 1 yet, you can find the link at the bottom of this post.
We had plenty of time before boarding our connecting flight to Orlando, and as we were walking in the terminal we saw a nice restaurant and dad decided to go in for breakfast. But he said to me, "We'll see if they'll let you in barefoot. If not, we'll just go to the food court and grab some fast food." I just smiled knowing that they would let me in. Yes, I believe is magic :)
We were seated and served without any problem. As I was eating my nose was running again, and I kept sniffling. Mom finally told me to blow it. I was going to use the cloth napkin but she scolded me saying it was improper (I had done this before but she just never noticed, lol), and told me to go to the bathroom. Some of the wait staff were standing in the hallway as I walked pass them to the bathroom with my bare feet in plain site. They smiled at me and said good morning.
We had quite a long way to walk to our next flight gate but we still had quite a bit of time even after we ate, so we walked leisurely and stopped at a few stores along the way. Mom's feet were hurting and she unexpectedly said to me, "It must be nice to be barefoot, huh?"
I jokingly said to her, "Why don't you take off you're shoes, mom!"
Before she could respond, dad said, "Hahaha, that'll be the day!"
Mom just smirked. She won't go barefoot in public in a million years. Hell, she won't even do it at home!
We finally arrived at our gate. Unsurprisingly, I was again the only one barefoot. Some people looked at my feet but said nothing. They must have thought I was tired of wearing shoes and had taken them off. I have also learned that little kids can get away with alot of things adults can't because people tend to think they don't know any better. Ah, the good old days! lol.
Once again, I boarded the plane without any problem. The flight to Orlando was relatively short (about 3 hours) and uneventful. We got there before we knew it.
At the Orlando airport we had to take the train to the baggage claim area. I felt people were looking at me on the train but I played with my phone and pretended to be oblivious. Again, no one said anything.
As we were waiting for our luggage there was an old lady standing next to me. She looked at me from head to toe and said, "I see your all dressed for summer!"
I smiled shyly and she continued, "Being barefoot is the only way to enjoy summer to the fullest!" She went on to tell me that she grew up in the country and used to go barefoot all summer. Didn't wear shoes from the last day of school in the spring till the first day of school in the fall. She said the main reason was to save money on shoes as her family wasn't rich, but she enjoyed every moment her feet were bare.
After we got our luggage we had to take the bus to the rental car place. There were not many people on the bus. I was curious how dirty my soles were by then, so I took a look and wow, they were fucking black!
As we got to our resort dad said to me, "Ok Lynn (my nickname), you need to wear you're slippers from now on as this is not Hawaii, and I don't want any confrontation. So wash you're feet if you like and take a short rest, then we'll go out for lunch."
"Ok daddy," I said and went to wash my feet. I couldn't get them completely clean though, and there was some sticky dirt that remained.
I had the time of my life in Disney World. As far as barefooting is concerned there are a couple things worth mentioning.
At one point in Magic Kingdom I got kinda tired of wearing flip flops. My feet were longing to touch the ground! So I decided to break the rule and see how strict they really were about it. I took them off and started walking barefoot which felt really good. Mom was getting nervous and told me to put my slippers back on.
I said, "Don't worry mom, I would put them on if someone told me too, no big deal!"
She just sighed but didn't give me anymore hard time. After all, we were there for my birthday, right? :)
But I didn't get to go barefoot for very long. A staff member saw me and told me to put on my flip flops. She was nice about it though, and said alot of kids like to go barefoot but she needed to enforce the rule. So I complied.
Mom and dad were like, "We told you so!" and I was like, "ok... ok..."
At the Pirates of the Caribbean I took off my slippers as I was seated on the boat. It was dark and there was no staff member around, so I figured it would be ok. I felt the floor of the boat was kinda wet and thought it must have been from some little splashes along the ride. But as we rode along, more water got into the boat somehow until my feet were totally submerged. The water was quite cold.
The others also realized that they're shoes got wet all of a sudden and had to lift up they're feet. They weren't too happy about it and dad mentioned it to the staff member as we got off. Kevin had it worst as his shoes and socks were totally soaked, so we went into a gift shop and bought him a pair of flip flops to change into. As for me, I was quite happy to get a free foot wash! :)
Btw, Kevin loved his new flip flops as they had Mickey Mouse (his favorite Disney character) on them that he decided to wear them instead of shoes for the remaining time in Florida. Ha!
The travel back home was quite uneventful for the most part with one exception which I'll tell you about in a sec. Once again I packed my slippers in my suitcase. Mom didn't ask about it this time :) I dressed casually again - jeans shorts and a purple tank top.
We checked in our luggage at the Orlando airport and went through security. One nice thing about flying barefoot is that you don't have to take you're shoes off at the security check point. But something unexpected happened that day. Seeing me barefoot, one of the TSA agents told me I didn't need to take my shoes off since I was under 12, and should put them back on.
I was a bit astounded and felt my heart skip a beat. Then I sheepishly told him I wasn't wearing shoes.
Now it was his turn to be shocked. He raised his eyebrows and was like, "Oh really? Wow... ok! hahaha!"
Phew! Now I could laugh. Mom, dad, and Kevin couldn't help laughing as well. Btw, my cold had gotten worse. My ears were really stuffed up and a little painful during take-off and landing, so we had to buy some decongestant at the airport in Houston.
Needless to say, my soles were really filthy again by the time we got home. It was a fantastic experience traveling barefoot although I didn't get to do it full time and came home with a full-blown cold.
From paradise Hawaii this is Sharleen reminding you that life is magical. So...
Aloha, and let's make it a magical day!
Traveling Barefoot Part 1
The Storyteller (read about my experience the following year while traveling for my 11th birthday - this is part fiction).
Also read the story about when I went back to Houston as a college student: Barefoot Thanksgiving break
Enjoy going barefoot? Check out this book!
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