I have always liked to be nude. When I was a teenager I would tan in our back yard in the nude. After I graduated from University I would occasionally go to a deserted beach to sun and swim nude. My first experience with being nude in public was at a nude beach.
Wreck Beach
My wife and I were on a trip to the west coast and decided to “check out” Wreck Beach a well known nude beach we had heard about. Neither of us had ever done anything like this before and I was a bit surprised my wife was going along with it. I wasn’t sure where the beach access was but as I was driving along the road looking for it I saw a sign so we pulled off to the side of the road and took a path down the cliff to the beach. It was pretty well deserted but we saw a man walking along the shore and asked him where the nude beach was. He pointed up the beach and said most of the people are down there. We could see in the distance some sign of activity so my wife agreed to walk in that direction while I went up and moved the car back. I would then come down and join her. On the way up I met a young couple with a toddler coming down to the beach. They were dressed but I was left with the impression it was not for long.
I moved the car back what I thought was the correct distance and climbed down the cliff again through the bush. My wife was not in sight. I decided to try the nude bit since there was no one around, and after all I was on a nude beach. I walked back the way I had come looking for my wife. When I was part way back to the stating point I saw the family I had met earlier. Sure enough they were all nude at the waters edge. I was nervous about approaching them nude but decided it was “now or never”. I described what my wife was wearing and asked if they had seen her. They said they had not, so I headed back in the direction of the main beach safe in the assumption that she was somewhere ahead of me.
When I came to the main beach I found lots of people sunning and swimming in the nude. The amazing thing is they behaved no differently than if they had swimming suits. I found my wife sitting on a log in the middle of the beach talking to a young lady about 19 or so. Both were clothed. The surprising thing was I felt less conspicuous on the beach naked than if I was clothed among all the nudists. The young lady talking to my wife was a university student. She regularly came to the beach to relax and while not wanting to be naked herself, was not uncomfortable with the others who were. Unfortunately, with her example, my wife had an excuse not to participate and a great opportunity was lost.
We did walk along the beach later, I was nude and she was dressed. At one point we came across two couples sitting on the beach. We stopped to talk to them for a moment, asking where they were from etc. and telling them where we were from. My wife was carrying our movie camera so I asked them if they would mind if she took our picture because the people back home would never believe this. They agreed without hesitation so we still have the movie with naked “Willy” visiting on the nude beach. Not surprisingly, very few people have seen it! My only regret is my wife was too inhibited to participate and has never shown any inclination to since.
I realized that day that I was a natural for the nude beach and that I loved being naked in an environment where people were not offended by nudity. I enjoyed the freedom of being nude with other people around.
Little Beach – Maui
Later, while vacationing in Maui with another couple, we learned of Little Beach, which was near our condo. I visited Little Beach several times. None of the others came with me, but now it was clear I was a nudist. The other couple showed no disapproval, even though they didn’t join me. That really helped convince me that real friendship goes deeper than clothes. By that I mean true friends will not let differing views over nudity affect the friendship. Since then, I have let other friends know about my being a nudist so that I don’t have to hide the fact. They all accept it but for the most part I don’t practice it in front of them. If they come to my house and I am nude, they stay, and I put something on.
Recently we had the opportunity to vacation in Europe. We attended a bath in one famous spa town and I was surprised and delighted to find they allow and even expect people to use the facilities in the nude. I quickly followed the trend and discarded my swimsuit. I found it very relaxing and somewhat enjoyed the reversal of roles where the nudists were properly attired and the people in swimsuits were not.
Great story, Dennis, indicating the power of self-awareness and composure. Thanks adding it as a comment on Jim's (also good) story!
Jim, this is a great story on "testing the waters" and it is really important to share stories like this as examples of hesitancy or uncertainty some people are likely to face when visiting clothing-optional venues for the first time.
I was camping with a group in Arizona that I had not met before and arrived at a rather remote campground very late in the evening. The campground had two areas, or so I was told, one that would be mostly Naturists and the other ordinary campers. I felt certain I knew which area was which when I pulled in under cover of darkness, setup my tent and went to sleep.
The next morning I was awake early despite the late-night drive, so I decided to exit the tent sans clothing. I knew this was going to be a GREAT weekend with like-minded folk, but I had not seen anyone yet. So, I backed out of my tent and stood up in the early morning sunshine and started looking around. Almost immediately I see a woman in a purple bikini standing at the water's edge, possibly testing to see how cold it was and she says to me, "SIR, you are NAKED!" Wait, what.
I was not phased though, I was already an experienced nudist and thought myself to be "professional" in my conduct regardless of attire, so I replied in a level tone of voice: "Why yes I am." About fifteen seconds passed before she stuck out her hand and introduced herself, and this was when I knew that I was on the right side of the campground!
True story.
I remember when I was 9 or 10, our family was supposed to go visiting, but I convinced my mother to let me stay home. She said that as long as I did not go outside it would be O.K! When they left, off went my clothes. I had the whole house to myself and pure freedom!