I wish I could go barefoot hassle free year round. I would if it was not such a hassle and so confrontational. I still do it during the warm months and just deal with people. I give up in winter.
NR - I know what you mean. On a visit to my mother in law I brought my boots (just carrying them) just so she wouldn't comment on me not wearig them. She didn't notice that I was not wearing them, I think she thought I had just taken them off. Problem solved
I have to say that I have stayed barefoot MUCH more so this winter than I did last winter, and so far we're shaping up to have a colder winter than we did last year. I took my flip flops into the house at my wife's grandparents when we visited for Christmas, but didn't use them, and they didn't notice. With my family (parents, grandmother) I just don't wear them at all. My grandmother might ask me but I just blow it off. Her daughter (my mom) went BF a lot as a child so she doesn't really care.