The telephonic story of the customer with hobbit's feet

I was talking to Claudio on the phone the other day.

A nice conversation with a passionate person.

He asked me about the features of the Vivobarefoot Primus Trail FG and told me why he is minimalist.

Curious. I never would have imagined it.

He's very messy.

Just like he told me. Later, he tried to justify it.

So far you'll think I'm talking about minimalism shoes.

But no, Claudio is minimalist in the broad sense of the word.

For example, in his house he has no paintings and he always wears jeans and T-shirts.

He continues talking.

Because the most curious thing is that despite being minimalist he has a lot of sneakers.

He loves them.

It would make sense if those shoes were minimalist. But they're not.

Claudio has only been minimalist/barefoot shoes for a short time, so all the ones he has are not minimalist.

What a mess!

We had a good time talking.

He told me that he loved to go running across the mountains with the FiveFingers V-Train.

The same that he used them to do crossfit. By the way, in his box, everyone's looking at him like he's a freak.

At this point, there are still people who are surprised to see him wearing gloves on his feet.

If we wear mittens (here conventional shoes) they are not surprised.

With gloves, yes. The opposite for the hands. The weird thing is the mittens.

Things of life..

Then we talk about their brother-in-law.

Oh, brothers-in-law! "They are for everything".

They went for a run across the mountains. Claudio and his brother-in-law.

Each one with his sport shoes.

The minimalist Claudio with his Five Fingers V-Train.

And his Brother-in-law.....you won't believe this.....

with Maximalist shoes!

With his shoes with stilts. A Hoka shoes.

Minimalism has an overwhelming logic. You may wear minimalist shoes or not, but the logic is irrefutable.

But maximalism, what the hell is it?

I don't find any sense in walking, running or whatever is done with a "boat" with a 3 cm high sole.

To dress up in drag queen style yes, for the rest no.

Another curiosity of Claudio's is his foot.

The width of his foot.

I have an alias for that.

We, the townspeople, have a lot of nicknames. No offense, just kidding around.

Hobbit's feet.

Frodo and his foot. He lost the ring in a volcano.

This is because of the width of his foot, his thumb is losing its linearity.

Why does Claudio have a Hobbit's foot?

Because when he was a kid he wore custom-made shoes.

This custom-made shoes respected the contour of his foot. And it only had a thin leather sole.

Claudio says that's why his foot is healthy today. Strong and robust.

Not like his brother-in-law's.

Who has claw toes and more of a foot bridge than the "Tajo Ronda".

He also told me his feelings about walking with the Fivefingers.

How his foot felt the ground.

How his toes spread looking the stability.

He even noticed that the deviation of his thumb could be corrected, because each toe has its own independent space inside the Fivefingers.

Despite not being exclusive to the mountains, they grip a lot, he said.

And this is so, because the foot is the basis of the body's stability.

Not the shoes. The foot.

That's why minimalist shoes are important, because they let the foot do the work.

To finish the pleasant conversation he transmitted to me his passion for minimalism.

And it awakened mine. I remember when I discovered minimalism, when he conquered me with its simplicity.

And like two friends who have just met after a long time, we didn't stop talking.

Each one telling his experiences.

Each one more excited than the other.