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My guess is to put the bar lines where aesthetically a phrase ends and another begins, but it seems completely abstract and I want to be precise.
The phrases of the piece that I'm writing are of variable length so I think the most proper is to write free time rather than changing time signatures in every measure.
Any thoughts are welcomed
A piece that is truly in free time — where there is no regular ("metered") pulse — either omits bar lines or uses them to indicate phrasing. Dotted or partial bar lines are sometimes used to help circumvent a regular bar line's association with meter and downbeats.
In a piece that has a regular pulse but irregular pattern of emphasis, then it's okay to omit the time signature and use bar lines to delineate the phrases/emphasis points. Again, dotted or partial bar lines can be used if there are lesser emphases within the larger phrase/bar. This is especially helpful for long phrases. Elaine Gould in Behind Bars offers the example of a measure with 21 beats, subdivided by dotted bar lines to assist with placement of emphases and to help to eye keep track of where one is in the score (p. 178).
Another possibility is to include time signatures that are just a single numbers indicating the beats in the particular unit. This can be a useful cue when reading.
Aaron's answer pretty much says exactly what I was going to (but I had my dinner instead...) So, I won't add any more info. But I did want to provide an example. This is something I wrote back in the dim, distant past which is also in free time, and for solo guitar (just the first few bars here...) Although the phrases vary in length, there's no real need for time-signatures, but dotted bar-lines help to make the music clear, and are useful for rehearsal and practice purposes.
If I can share my initial instructors viewpoint regarding reading music. The symbols and tempo and meter were equivalent to signs that are used when driving. His explanation for the situation you're describing would be determined by the eqivocation to the top number in the time signature. Regardless of how the amount of measure was parsed out be it quarter notes, eighths, rests etc. Once that capacity was attained a bar was placed. There are symbols that indicate a continuance in the music as if the bar isnt there.
