Brent

This coming weekend the weather looks good considering we are entering into winter. So after some careful planning we are going to do the Striptease Walk in Tsitsikamma but we will be combining it with Geocaching.

Yep, I got permission to place caches along the walk so with my father in law possibly tagging along we are going to place some geocaches.

For those who don't know what Geocaching is about the best description I came across is: Using multi million satellite to find a plastic container hidden in the woods.

I believe that this is the only clothing optional geocache series in South Africa. and naturally I'm going to hide them in the nude as well.

I'm so excited that I am able to combine my 2 favourite past times into one.

Over the past months my dear wife has made it abundantly clear that there is no way that she is willing to attend any social event where she would have to stand around and chat to naked people let alone be naked herself.

Then last week I noticed an event where they are advertising a combined 52 walks to choose from over a period of 5 days as part of South Africa’s first Walking Festival. I noticed that one of the walks taking place is a Naked Walk to a secret pool.

I then joked with my wife that we could do that, expecting a negative response. However she surprised me by saying that we need to get more information. She may consider doing the walk if not organised by a naturist group and if she would do it clothed. So I’ve sent the organizers an email and now I’m waiting to hear from them. Maybe just maybe this could be the start of something new . . . and together we may attend some more events, even if she still prefers to remain clothed.

As they say the best way to enjoy Valentine’s Day is to be in the buff. And for this year we planned for the family to celebrate it by doing a hike called the Striptease Trail. The only snag was that I invited my Mom to join us . . . . how did this happen?

Well, I was giving her a rundown on what the plans were for the two weeks ahead and then went one to tell her about the walk we plan to do on Valentine’s Day, which I said you would not be interested in as I walk and my daughter walk this route in the nude. But she was keen to tag along and even provide the food but stated that she will not undress.

So here we were in the parking area of the Hike with my mom very excited and I’m a bit nervous as I was last in the nude in front of my mom when I was about 6 or 7. But as we got to start of the trail I took off my clothes put them away and did not look back. My mom did not bat a eyelid, even when I had to pull her up a rock with everything dangling in front of her.

It was a great walk we got to explain to her our views on nudity and how I felt more comfortable being clothes free. She mentioned to me that in the almost 50 years of marriage to my dad that my dad has never left the bathroom without having a pair of jocks and a pair of shorts on with a vest.

So I ended up spending close on 9 hours completely nude with my mom and she had no issues. I must admit one thing though I got sun-burnt on the top of my legs which makes sitting uncomfortable but as it’s the folds between my legs and stomach and putting on trousers for work is painful. But I would not change it for anything else.

As for my mom she is still talking of what a fabulous day she had hiking and she can’t wait to go again, but maybe on an easier walk.

Today I had an opportunity to talk to my Pastor with regards to me enjoying being nude. His reaction was twofold and he advised me:
1. As long as my wife and I are in agreement and
2. I need to be aware of my kids especially as they are close to puberty.

We did not discuss the social side of things as I know that my wife is not in agreement with that issue.

Two scripture issues that he brought up was Adam and Eve covering themselves because of shame of nakedness and the fact that two of Noah’s sons walked in with their back to Noah. I tried to explain that as a kid if you stole a cookie from the cookie jar and you were caught, you felt shame not because you stole but the fact you were caught. He laughed about that. And secondly I explained that some scholars believe that something was done to Noah ie raped or castrated.

In the end it was a good talk and as far as I can figure out he does not see anything wrong with nudity in the family and at the same time he also seemed interested in finding out more. So that he can look more into the subject more in depth. I told him about http://thebiblicalnaturist.blogspot.co.za/ but I would like to know if there are other sites he could go and look at that has also got a strong Biblical Foundation.

I enjoying living clothing free. I have been doing so full time at home for the past few years. Last year I went hiking with my father in law, it was during this time that I revealed to him that I prefer being clothes free and ended up hiking clothing free with him not taking offense.

Now we found a walk/hiking trail called the Striptease Trail, about 160km away from our house. We did this hike early this year and I was able to be clothing free without worrying about textiles. Now my wife who is currently against social nudity is happy to go to do this trail with me and the kids every now and again, but as long as I don't invite others or plan a event.

So we plan to do it next week Sunday, 14 Feb. Now she was thinking of inviting her dad along but he has duties to attend at Church, which he cannot get out of. So whilst chatting to my mom, I mentioned to her that we are planing to go hiking but she would probably not be interested. I explained that I walked the route clothes free and so did my daughter and at a few pools my son also joined us skinny dipping. My wife also joined us in skinny dipping only at the last pool. But I did explain that to hike and swim clothing free was optional.

My mom reaction was that she is prepared to prepare a picnic basket, she will wear her costume and will not "look" at me. My response – Yep you need to look at my face!! She says she will not undress or skinny dip but is looking forward to the trip.

So I'm slowly stating to be me with my family as now my Father-in-law and mother-in-law, my sister and by next week my mom will know that I prefer a clothing free lifestyle and none of them seem upset about it. Only thing is when they visit me they have requested that I am clothed.

Just a quick update. My in-laws popped in the other night and I chose to remain nude. Afterwards whilst my wife was chatting to her mom, she told my wife that she was not offended but felt a bit uncomfortable and would like me to put on shorts if she is there. I have no problem with this and out of respect for other I will comply. At least now she knows she may encounter me being nude and I know with 100% confidence where I stand on the issue of nudity with my in-laws.

Also with yesterday being Nude Gardening Day, I took this oppurtunity to joke with my mom, sister and brother in law. My brother in law said that he was getting worried as I've joked about being the naked chef and have my kitchen windows spary painted "frosted" and now talking about gardening naked – is there something I'm not saying? So I told him I'm a home nudist. Well he has volentered to assist in putting proper glass in the kitchen as the " spray painted frosted glass" is peeling.

Both my sister and my brother in law now knows for definate and neither seem to mind. So slowly but surely I'm having the strength to declare my freedom from clothes with those closest to me.

Today, 27 April, South Africa celebrates as Freedom day. It was this date in 1994 that we had our first democratic election. Well we decided to go hiking again as a family but this time invite my Father in law. I was undecided if I should use this opportunity to chat to him or drop my kit and go nude and see his reaction or to walk the route fully clothed.

Well after walking for about 2 hours I turned to my wife hinting to her "What should I do?" as I wanted to walk in freedom. She asked me if she must ask her Dad. I said no I will. So after a few more minutes and gathering my thoughts I took a deep breath and asked him what he thought of nudity both within the home and within social environment.

His response was interesting, the only thing he felt was that in a social setting he felt guys had a harder time as everyone would see when they keep excited whilst no-one can see with a woman. But in the end there is nothing morally or spiritually wrong with nudity based on motives and actions. (If you are nude to shock people with wrong motives or nude for sexual purposes).

I then told him that I felt more comfortable in the nude within the home environment whilst my wife did not. His reply was that he noticed that about a month ago when we went away together that the kids had no issues coming into my bedroom whilst I lay there in the nude. So with this I asked if he would object if I dropped my kit and carried on walking. He had no problem with it. So I dropped my kit and ended up walking for about 6 hours in total in the nude.

The only time I had to cover up was when someone from a group of 7 noticed me, before I noticed him. When I noticed him I quickly put on my shorts. He asked is I was covered as there were ladies in their group. Other than that we had no other hikers on the route. It was sheer magic to have experienced that freedom today.

Freedom to discuss my clothing optional choice with my father in law and the freedom of hiking 5 hours in our beautiful country in the nude. I did ask my wife to take a picture of me even if it was only me from behind and my white butt showing, but she refused. Maybe one day . . .

Next week over the Easter Weekend my wife, kids and I are going away for the weekend. My in laws are joining us on the trip. Now I get along with my in laws very well and really don't have any issues with travelling with them or staying with them whilst we are all on holiday. But what do I do with wanting to be nude?

The first thing I do when I get home after work is remove them and stay that way until we either go out or go to work the next day. Now we spending 4 nights together.

So what do I do? Stay nude in bedroom and wear clothing the rest of the time or do I take the liberty of walking around the apartment we renting, regardless the fact that my in laws are there?

Any advice would be appreciated.

No I'm not talking about the video game, I'm actually refering to the clash of differences we have with family.

My first poll centered around whether parents allow their kids to be naturist at home and/or social gatherings. I have also read a few blogs that spoke about kids and nudity. These also includes the comments of that it is natural for the kid to the aspect that we need to be careful.

One thing I've noticed is that there are no comments on try full blown nudity in the home only when your kids are pre teen. (10 – 12 years old).

This is the situation that we found ourselves in or should I say myself. Let me give some background info and then explain some more.

Before I got married, I always slept in the nude and enjoyed being in the nude when home alone. Then after marriage I still mantained these pleasures until the kids arrived. Now we were not prudes that felt that kids were not allowed to see us nude, in fact to this day our bathroom door is never closed whilst we are in the bath and the kids can come and go as they please.

However, I was encouraged to keep my nudity to the bedroom and bathroom. Middle of last year after much discussion between my wife and I we decided that I would have a two week test run with being completly nude at home with the kids and monitor their reaction.

Well at their pre-teen age they did not think much about it and every now and again they actually join me. Especially when we are in the splash pool that I have placed carefully out of site.

As for the rest of the clan, my mom in law knows that I'm often nude at home but has not said anything negative to me about that. My folks don't know. As for our siblings . . . They don't know either and not sure what their reaction will be. But at this point of time, they don't need to know!

So for those who are considering embarking on a clothes free life for the first time, and have pre teen kids or older, take the time to chat to them and explain your reasoning, you may be pleasantly surprised.

I've written a few blogs explaining my past and my thoughts of my journey so far. So I thought I'll share a light hearted experience I had earlier this year.

At the start of this year we decided to go for a day hike. We arrived at the hiking spot and realized that we were the only people there. After hiking for a while, I removed my shirt as it was getting hot. As we got closer to the river, we could that it was flowing strongly.

When we got down to the river, the kids immediately got in for a swim. I removed my shorts and joined them in the river, nude. I really enjoyed it. After spending a while swimming, we decided to continue our hike. I took this opportunity to continue in the nude. I had my shorts tucked in my backpack straps.

With the rest of the river crossings the kids took every opportunity to swim. When we got to the last pool for the day, we had lunch and spent time swimming here. My son quickly joined me in swimming naked and after some persuasion my wife joined US also in the nude. Only my daughter did not join us in the nude swim.

With time marching on we decided to head back to the parking lot. I remained nude. Along the route back, I thought I heard my wife say something so I turned and answered her. She said that she said nothing, that is when I turned around and noticed some hikers in front of us. I quickly walked towards my wife and at the same time slip back into my shorts. Thereafter we continued to walk towards the hiking party in front of us.

We greeted each other as nothing happened and parted ways. According to my daughter when the one lady spotted me and walked away, she shouted "never mind me". That was what I could have heard. I have no idea what they saw or what they thought, but once they passed we had a good laugh about it.

I did remove my shorts again until we got to the next pool and realised that there was another family there, so on came my shorts again. My wife then suggested that I remained clothed for the rest of the hike.

I really enjoyed the morning of hiking nude and can't wait to do it again. I don't know if anyone else has a similar experience of a non naturist encountering you when you were nude. If it has I would love to read about it.

My poll "As a Christian who have you told at your Church that you are a nudist/naturist?", received some very valued comments. One of the comments asked what does it matter what religion you belong to, as to why you would be willing to remove your clothing. A reply was offered "I get the sense this poll is more about grappling with a personal dilemma. . ." That is correct, I am grappling with the issue of nudity and social nudity.

This struggle is based on two aspects, my past experience and what I was taught. And then I guess it also has to with trying to understand myself, reasons why I enjoy being nude and what the Word of the Lord has to say on this matter. If you look at those two sentences there is a broad topic that can be covered. In this blog I will attempt to share everything, so that you can understand what my issues better.

But before I continue, I just want to make it clear, I'm not looking for anyone to feel sorry for me. I have worked through these issues, I am at peace about them and what happened, happened.

Let me start with my upbringing first. I grew up in a Christian home and nudity was never accepted, even between my brother and I. In fact even the topic of puberty was never discussed with me when I hit my teen years. I don't think that would have helped though, as by my teen years I already knew quite a bit, even if I did not understand.

You see when I was about eight a four year sexual "relation" was started with me. I use the word relation because for the better part of my life I never considered it as abuse. When this ended I turned to pornography and masturbation, even thought at one stage that I was homosexual. I also enjoyed being nude, due to this nudity I was asked to leave scouting as I encourage youngsters to be nude with me.

Anyway I sought counselling, committed my life to the Lord, forgave my abuser to the point that I played a role in them turning to the Lord themselves. Pornography and masturbation still played a roll in my life even after I married and had 2 kids. Before the kids arrived though I would often be in the nude, after they arrived I was persuaded to only be nude in bedroom. About 5 years ago my wife found the porn stash on my pc and was furious but at the same time committed to our marriage. We received counselling and been working hard on understanding each others needs. I can say I've been free from pornography and masturbation since then. But inside I still long to be clothing free at home.

So last year we discussed this concept and agreed that I could be nude whenever I wanted throughout the house, unless the kids have a problem with it. It was during this time that I started searching the scriptures to try and find a biblical principle on nudity, as we know that there is nowhere written: "Thou may not be nude" or anything similar. This search also led me to a greater understanding of naturist and social nudity. I would love to try social nudity, but due to various factors my wife is not interested and I don't want to attend any social gathering without her.

And thus to be nude or not to be nudist more of understanding myself and thus I'm continually processing my thoughts and understanding. The number one reason is that I do not want anything I do to be contrary to the Word of the Lord.

I've shared a fair amount of information in this blog and I want to thank those who have commented on my previous blogs and polls. I will continue to grapple with various issues but my hope is that I will better understand myself, my motives and principles to be nude and together with my wife, one day, enjoy social nudity as well.

With pasting my first blog "To be or not to be . . ." a few days ago. I came across this comment on another blog

"If you don't understand your underlying motives and principals toward it, you're not going to be able to explain why you think and feel the way you do to others. I don't personally think, "it feels good" cuts it. Sex feels good, but that's not a sound reason for participating in sex publicly."

So this has left with thinking of my reasons to be nude. I know that there is a number of comments and study's that praise the virtues of being in the nude such as how good it is for stress, a good way to get Vitamin D ect, but with the comment above does this really cut it? Is it a good excuse to be nude?

I believe my first reason is that I'm hot! (I'm not talking about my body – even though it would be that I have a good self image, but rather body temperature.) During the year we average with a min of 8 – 20 degrees Celsius in winter and 18 – 25 degrees Celsius during summer. In summer I almost die because I find it too hot whilst in winter I'm often asked where my jacket as I'm wearing shorts and t-shirts.

Another reason is that I wonder if I don't suffer from a sensory disorder as there are certain type of clothes that I just don't enjoy wearing. I only buy one particular make of jeans, I prefer the dri fit material for my t-shirts and golf shirts and I find that I chafe less with a nylon dri fit type of underwear. I prefer a silk sheet during winter and normally don't use anything during summer. My son has just been diagnosed as having sensory processing disorder. Maybe I have it too.

My final reason is that I just feel comfortable being in the nude in my home, if my backyard was more private I guess I would also enjoy getting a all round time.

As for my principles I fully agree that there is nothing inherently wrong with a natural body and that nudity does not equate to sex. Being nude actually boost body acceptance.

So as I continue to process my thoughts and figure out my motives and principles I would like to hear from you . . .

What are your motives and principles to being nude?

One of the most famous quotes from Hamlet, where Prince Hamlet debates with himself on the virtues of death and suicide. Now I'm not debating on this but rather to be clothed or not . . . .

I'm a home naturist, never been to a social gathering or been to nude public area. I would love to try out social nudity but as I have a wife who frowns upon the aspect of social nudity, I will most probably never get to go. But the question remains and if I take a deeper look at myself another questions pop into my mind . . . Why???? Why be nude? Why be nude in public?

I never had the privileged of growing up where nudity was accepted. In fact my folks are dead against it. And even our society frowns upon it. There are not many places to go to and late in 2014 the first official nude beach for South Africa was declared. So where did the desire come from to be nude? I don't know. I just feel more comfortable being nude than with clothes on. I don't have a 1 point thesis let alone a 10 point thesis on why being nude is more comfortable, it just is for me.

I'm blessed in the sense that my wife allows me to be nude in and around the house. So won't join me but at the same time she does not try to persuade me to put on clothes. My kids are also fine with me being nude and from time to time they even join me.

Why do I want to experience social? It is basically the fellowship of meeting with other naturist in a naturist setting that I’m really intrigued about. In the end I would much prefer going to a private resort or something than go to a public beach. Some resorts though are clothing free and not clothing optional and I also think this is one reason why wife does not want to go.

Then we must not even start on the religious viewpoint of nudity, this in itself can be another topic.

And so in conclusion to be nude or not to be nude . . . . I chose to be nude!