Hi, I am John Mark, and I made this website with big ideas about why to include flip flops, or to include more flip flops, in your life. I lay out for you the thinking behind wearing flip flops, which flip flops are the best, and an exploration into the history, the purposes, and styles, and the environmental impact today of the flip flop choice.
MY STORY
I’m from rural United States. I grew up in the extremes of cold and hot, and in-between weathers. We wore tennis shoes or boots. That was it. We had tennis shoes to play sports, to attend school, and to run around. We had work boots for different outdoor jobs. (My brothers and I each had a pair of dress shoes for church service.) Only before bed, did we take off our tennis shoes or boots.
In our town, there was one exception: In the late spring and hot summer, Mom loudly pronounced her hatred for shoes and any chance she got around the home and out-and-about–hanging out the clothes to dry, cooking in the kitchen, driving the pickup, playing a summer game of pickup basketball in the driveway, or walking down the street to visit a friend–her shoes were off. She loved to go barefoot.
She hid our shoes, and told us to toughen up our soles and run down the gravel road. Go, enjoy your summer. Get out of the house.
There weren’t many flip flops in rural US in those years.
Times change. Footwear options change, too, and there are now in fact incredible choices for tennis shoes and boots, and barefoot shoes, slides, and flip flops!
It is perhaps best of all to go barefoot, but there are some alternative options, too.
HOW I HELP
I have moved years ago to many different places in the U.S. and in other countries. In new places and with new experiences, whether I lived on or near the beach, in a city, or in the countryside, friends and I wore a lot flip flops a lot of the time. I have learned that flip flops are much a worldwide phenomenon, and to me and friends, a mainstay of daily life, and even of special occasions. I would like you to consider the flip flops a mainstay, even essential, if you haven’t yet. I would like to help you find the best flip flops in the world, and I hope you will find incredible flip flops to be a great addition to your life of functional needs and play.
The flip flop can make you and your feet happier and lay a good foundation for your head and spirit when wearing them. It is a lifestyle, in a way. It is a lifestyle choice. If you wear flip flops to the grocery store, to a friend’s house, to the sidewalk for a walk with the dog, or to the parking lot on the way to the beach–it sets the tone for the outing, for you and for those around you.
MY GOAL WITH THIS WEBSITE
Flip flops are a very happy meeting spot between being barefoot and needing some foot protection. Flip flops are the sweet middle ground, where you can free your feet from shoes and still have some foot protection as needed. This is the world of flip flops. Welcome. I hope this website is helpful for you to feel the good energy of flip flops.
If you ever have any questions, and if you have interesting insights into flip flop experiences, please share them below. I would like to respond.
All the best,
John Mark
Founder of Incredible Flip Flops