How old were you when you became a nudist?

As a teenager of about sixteen, I went for a swim in the English Lake District on my own. With no one else around to see me, I stood naked on the river bank to dry off in the breeze. It wasn't for long because I was worried someone might walk by. Nevertheless, a seed was planted in my mind.

During the hot summer of 1976, I was still in my final year at university. Every day at a lake in the university grounds, there many naked students sunbathing and swimming. The experience of joining them in the nude with my then girlfriend clinched it.

From then on we often got naked on beaches both here in the UK and abroad. That all stopped in my thirties because my second partner didn't like people seeing her naked, although she did have the occasional cheeky skinny dip in the sea with her kids. At the age of 44, I was reintroduced to nude beaches by my future wife. It was fun while it lasted. Kids got in the way. Now we're older, she says that her nude beach days are over.

 

It’s a shame she is not willing to go along as I know it is far more enjoyable when done with a partner or even a friend.

I first attended very young with a buddy, then with a few girlfriends, but my wife was not interested so I primarily went solo for about 25 years with the occasional company of a lovely cousin.

I have returned to the practice since my divorce, but now live further from any “official” nude gathering spots so it’s more often a secluded beach or river (plenty of those) or in my garden .

I do wish there were far more open legally designated venues for nude bathing.
With the many initiatives and great milestones achieved toward acceptance of others no matter their personal paths, beliefs, back-grounds or Origen, naturists seem to have been overlooked… and isn’t it the fundamental beginning of “body acceptance”, yet I believe we have “2” officially designated naturist beaches in Canada.
That’s 1 for every 5 million square kilometres…

With over 240,000 km of coastline and umpteen thousand lakes - it doesn’t seem proportionate. One would think you could squeeze in a few more.