As a nudist backpacker and canoe
camper, a constant goal is to lighten the load.
After each trip my wife and I would go through our gear to determine if anything
which didn't get used was even needed. Over the years our packs have lost 30 to
40% of their weight. After one particularly tough trek through the Ha-De-Ron-De
Wilderness area, where we had seen no one else for three days, out went the
bathing suits. Since then we have grown fond of skinny-dipping and sunbathing,
although in the privacy of wilderness. One other couple with whom we backpack
had also given up on wet bathing suits and after sharing a few refreshing dips
with us confessed to being naturists.
For two years our friends promised to take us to a
nudist park, but it never happened. Finally late in 1996, my wife Peggy, and I
decided to make it to a park in 1997 on our own. Not knowing where to go
resulted in a letter to the AANR, which put us in contact with SunFun and got a
copy of the North American Guide.
On a May vacation trip to
Florida, we took the plunge into our first social nude experience. Near
Pensacola, we visited the Riviera Naturist Resort. It is a small place managed
by a retired couple. The wife , dressed in a tee shirt that hung to to her
knees, checked us in, then told us to drive the motorcycle to the back of the
volleyball court where her husband was working. He will tell us where to pitch
our tent. On the way back we saw a nude man mowing his lawn, this was a minor
shock, but upon encountering the park manager painting a fence in the buff all
seamed normal. As we set up our tent, we discarded our clothing piece by piece,
mostly due to the heat of the day. By the time the camp was set up, we were
naked.
As we headed to the pool,
I asked Peg if she felt funny? She answered "no", My reply was "me neither".
Since then we have been enjoying the sun and fun of naturism at every chance we
get.
Wife's Perspective:
John and I have been together for 33
years, so our feelings about things run quite close, but I feel my first time
was on a canoe trip in the Adirondaks. Our tent was set up on an island in a
remote lake. John was getting the rest of our site settled, so I decided to get
comfortable. I don't know what came over me but I took off all my clothes and
walked down to the beach where John was working. John was very surprised for
this was completely out of form for me. But, in doing this it led to four days
of communing with nature. I'm not a prude, but I would have never considered
running around without clothes outside but it felt so good having sun and fresh
air on parts that never felt it before. It took a couple of backpacking trips
with our friends to get use to skinnydipping in mixed company, but it got a
little easier each time. Since these trips, we've sunbathed nude in our back
yard, but our first nature resort finally happened on our motorcycle trip to
Florida this past may
We drove through the gates
of Riviera and into a new phase in our lives. One thing I learned from friends
at our first resort, was don't forget your sunscreen or hat!
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