Two Years
ago I started my journey into the world of Naturism and it’s amazing how far I have come. What was once a taboo world to me is now my
day to day lifestyle to the point I am even introducing it to some of my closer
friends. I’ll go more into that and some
updates on what has become a very nude summer in my next blog. For now however, August is my "nudiversary" month, marking two years since my first trip to a public place that nudity is permitted. To mark the occasion and the recent re-opening of Hanlans Point beach after a summer of flooding, I wanted to re-post a combination of my
first three blogs that detailed that first trip to the clothing optional beach that feels like way
more than two short years ago. My whole
world has change in those two years and Naturism/Nudism has been a driving
force of good behind those changes.
Hope you
enjoy, and stay naked!
Newbie
Nudist = Newdist? (First Published Aug 25, 2015)
I'm in what
I think/hope is not an uncommon situation.
I discovered some time ago I like being nude, shocking I know. Now I did the whole skinny dipping thing a
few times in high school and college, but in my 20's I felt I was too mature
for kid stuff like that anymore, either that or the opportunities simply
stopped presenting themselves. Add in a romantic hotel stay here in there and
you have my full nudist experience to this point. But as an adult in his 30's I began to do
some travelling for work. When you are
alone in a new city on a week night, you don't have many options but to hang
out in your hotel room, watch t.v., surf the net, read a book etc. You also learn to pack light and sleeping
alone in a hotel room, pyjamas are an easy item to ditch to save space which is
what led to shocking discovery, I actually really enjoyed walking around those
hotel rooms in the buff, it felt natural and liberating.
It didn't take
long for me to wonder why I didn't do this at home, keep the blinds shut, and
be free in the comfort of my own home.
And for some time, that was it, I was happy in my own private nudist
world. A few years have passed and I
never even had a thought of going beyond this, however that changed not long
after I recently took a new job right in downtown Toronto. Due to the proximity of my office to the
Toronto Island ferry port, the annual
departmental picnic is always held at the
parks on the island. Anyone from Toronto
knows where this is leading. It was not
long into the ferry ride over someone started to make the jokes. Toronto Island is home to plenty of public
parks, several beaches, a children's theme park, even a regional
Airport.....and one of only two officially sanctioned clothing optional beaches
in Canada. I have known of its existence
for several years but never gave it much thought until now. On the day of the picnic, we were nowhere
near the clothing optional beach, with this being a work event that was likely
for the best, but that didn't stop the all too predictable jokes and
comments. And now there was this idea in
my head, should I? Could I? Why would I?
But then something in the local news gave me the push I needed.
Three young women in small town not too far from Toronto were stopped by police for riding their bikes in public topless,
however since the mid 1990's it is very much legal in Ontario for women to be
topless anywhere a man is permitted. For
many reasons I won’t dare dive
into, it still remains uncommon for women to take advantage of their right to go
topless. Many people likely didn't even
realise it was perfectly legal (including the police officer that stopped them)
so it became a fairly large local news story for some time and even led to a
topless march in several cities. It was
these three brave women who made me realise what a chicken I was being. They stuck their nose up at outdated conservative
cultural pressures which should not be difficult in this day and age but in
reality remains so even with law on their side.
But me, a mid-30's man, who just happens to enjoy walking around his
home with the blinds closed and no clothes on, was unable to take the same
brave step, that I very much knew I wanted to take but was too timid to do.
So I
decided, the very next chance I got, I was going to walk onto that beach and
let the sun see my birthday suit.
Nothing was going to get in my way.......well except I wanted to do some
research first, and there was the weather to factor in, and most importantly I
wanted to pick a day it was not too busy as I was sure a large crowd would
impact my courage.....but other than that, nothing was going to stop me. Sadly it was the first hurdle that proved to
be the most difficult for me which is what led me to start this blog. While there are no shortage of nudist (or
naturists as I learned they call themselves, errr ourselves????) sites out
there, most deal with the do's and do nots and even the where, but I couldn't
find many first hand experiences to help reassure me along my journey. Oh and you can imagine the sites Google fired
back at me when I typed in "nudist blog" and the like. So here I am, never having written a blog
before, or anything other than an email frankly, sharing my experiences as I
delve into the "taboo" world of nudism. I don't expect many, if any, people to read
this, but worst case it gives me an outlet to express what I've experienced,
this is not exactly the kind of topic you bring up at dinner parties or when
watching the game with friends. Best
case someone finds a little support along the way that I was unable to find
myself.
Tearing off
the band aid (First published Aug 30, 2015)
So here I
am, a stay at home nudist as it were, finally ready to take advantage of the
all to easily accessible clothing optional beach a short trip from my place of
work. The first step is never the easiest.
Being fully inexperienced in this area I turned to the internet. Google let me down on this one, while there
are plenty of sites out there with info, hell I even looked up Toronto Island's
Hanlan's Point beach on Trip Advisor. Other than plan to be surrounded by more
men than women, more gay than straight, and being a clothing optional beach,
plan for fewer people to take that option than do, I didn't have any idea how
this experience was going to feel or impact me. I was looking for the
experience side and I never did find it really.
Eventually
the cards were played for me. The boss tells our whole team we get a half day
off work on Friday, which is so rare for me, as a reward for performance
results. It also happened to be a
perfect day according to the forecast, very warm but not hot, lots of sun, zero
chance of rain. So while the department made plans with family, reservations at
the local pub, I prepared some sun screen.
All my failed research was behind me now, I had decided to just go for
it and packed a bag.
The morning
was a giant blur, most people were going on about their plans for the early
weekend, I told some lie about visiting my sisters family for a picnic, mid-day
came before I knew it, so off I went. I
had a change of clothes with me, used a local coffee shop restroom to change
into a pair of shorts and a tank top, otherwise I am walking on to a clothing
optional beach in a suit and tie, how silly would that be.
Before I
know it, I am at the Island ferry terminal, waiting to the next trip to
Hanlan's Point, a stark variance in demographics from those waiting at the
Centre Island ferry where the children's village is. It’s not a long ride over to the
island, maybe 10 or 15 minutes max, then you have about a 15 minute walk along
the path to the well-marked "Clothing Optional"
I picked my
spot, an equal distance from anyone in any direction, still in my shorts and
tank top. How does one undress in
public? I had no idea, top first,
bottoms first, standing up or discretely sitting down on my towel? Am I putting too much thought into this? Likely. Having no point of reference I
decided to go the bold route, stood up, quickly dropped my shorts, shed my top
and allowed the sun for the first time in many years to hit the full glory of
my far less than perfect body. That last
moment I thought was going to be the hardest was a lot easier than ripping off
a band aid, I felt really good about it actually, a huge sense of accomplishment.
But it didn't take long for reality to set in, I was standing on a public
clothing optional beach, having taken the option, and was standing there
looking out on the water, and not doing much else........
Not wanting
to stand out or look weird, I quickly grabbed the sun screen, gave myself a
healthy coat, especially in the areas that I can no longer refer to as those “where the sun don't shine”, and started to lay down on my
towel, but wait, do I lay down on my stomach or back first? Overthinking again
no doubt, but I don't want to look like a newbie………… too late.
You always
remember your first (First published Sept 9, 2015)
Once you
are laying out in your birthday suit on a public beach, you end up doing a lot
of thinking. Some thoughts not too
surprising, is the naked woman staring at me, does she think I am staring at
her? Why are there so many clothed people on a clothing optional beach when the
clothing mandatory one is not far away? Should I care? And now what do I do? I had been over thinking everything all day
so I decided to grab my book and try and be as if it were any other day on the
beach, just with a slight increase in exposed skin.
I was
actually feeling very proud of myself. I've always considered myself rather
liberal and open for anything, this fit that bill 100% for me. I was very quickly comfortable and being
naked was no longer a concern, perhaps still a novelty though. It’s hard to describe the feeling of being naked in public and truly
enjoying it. I went for a short dip in
the lake, which was really cold, walked along the shore for a small
distance. I didn't really notice the
people around me any more than I would any other day, nor did they seem to pay
any notice to me. It felt like any other
day at the beach and I was loving it.
Being a
Friday afternoon it started to become a bit more crowded as the afternoon
progressed. The demographics did not change much, though the clothed people who
must really like being surrounded by naked people seemed to be increasing
faster than those who went in the buff.
I was trying not to let this distract me too much but it was hard not to
think about it. Maybe they are working
themselves up to taking their swim suits off, which some eventually did, maybe
they can't afford to go to a strip club and really like to see naked people in
the flesh as it were. I almost packed up
and left early but I was determined that I was there to be naked and free, not
worry about those who were not.
Thankfully I was able immerse myself in my book and ignore those around
me, clothed or not. My time at Hanlan's
Point was overall an amazing first time at a clothing optional beach but sadly
I was forced to keep it short, I had plans with friends that night and only had
time for a little over an hour on the actual beach. I was determined to be nude as long as
possible though so I picked up my things, walked as far as I could along the
beach until I got to the "Clothing is Mandatory beyond this point"
sign and that was it, I was once again clothed and on my way home.
I didn't go
far before I started to plan my next visit though, I was on the boat back to
the mainland already checking the forecast and trying to figure out what day
next week I could use a spare vacation day.
I was determined to try this again but I still wanted to stick with
weekdays where there would be fewer crowds.
The whole time I was smiling though.
It’s hard to
explain the feeling of accomplishment, that you did this thing so many people
may judge you for even considering. You
very quickly realise that you feel proud, not ashamed, you feel free, not
exposed. Although I felt awkward at
first, that changed to comfort very quickly, and I could not wait to have that
feeling again
_____________________________________
Hope you enjoyed this flashback post. Feel free to provide feedback or comments here or on twitter (https://twitter.com/NudeInCanada) and if you are in Canada and looking for a place to be naked, check out the Naturist Canada map I created and continue to update based on your feedback and suggestions
No comments:
Post a Comment