Naked Staycation = Staynakation??? (Part 3)

I recently had a weeks vacation and not currently looking to spend a lot of money at the moment, I planned out a rather wonderful Staycation / Nakacation……or a StayNakakation for Tara and I. We visited my “greatest hits” of Naturism in the Toronto area and the only time we were clothed was for the brief travel time between destinations (and even then there was an exception). I originally planned this out at as a single blog post but decided I would split it up once I realized how long it was becoming. 

The conclusion is below and you can find Part 1 - here,  and Part 2 here

Part 3 (This is the conclusion I promise):

Thursday / Day 4:

It would not be a true naturist vacation without at least a day trip to Bare Oaks. We initially planned on camping there however it was not in the cards. We were invited to see a movie with textile friends that evening and were unable to think of an excuse to get out of it.  Textiles are people too, it would be wrong to shun them entirely.  We made the most of our naturism time as best we could. Making an early start to beat some of the traffic on the highway, we headed towards Bare Oaks. Unsure how early the Bare Bistro

My favourite swimming hole

served breakfast on a weekday we decided to play it safe and stopped at a Coras north of Toronto before heading to the park.  I have already blogged about visiting Bare Oaks and the Bare Bistro a couple times so I wont go over it in too much detail again. We spent most of the day swimming in the pond which I still find by far my favorite naturist activity. If all they had at Bare Oaks was that pond,it would be enough.  We did a fair amount of sunbathing, reading, and socializing. And of course we had lunch at the Bare Bistro which has yet to let us down. All good things must end they say, and we were back in clothes for dinner and a movie night out which I admit was a lot of fun even with the dress code.

Day 4 time without clothes: 16 hours, 30 minutes - 69%

Friday, Saturday & Sunday - Day 5/6/7:

When planning trips to Port Burwell from the Toronto area, you generally have to plan for an early start. Even from our home well west of the city it is almost a two hour drive. Not letting another late night get in the way we began with yet another early start at seven o'clock and made the typically Canadian decision to grab Tim Horton's Coffee and breakfast on the way. Another thing you have to plan for with Port Burwell Provincial Park as a naturist is the 15-20 minute walk from the parking lot to the park boundary where you can finally be free of those pesky clothes. You don't want to forget anything in the car (much less at home). Planning is therefore key and I feel like an old pro at this now. We packed a couple large water bottles, frozen the night before to keep them cold as long as you can and they double as ice in our cooler/backpack. In the cooler we had sandwiches for lunch, several beers and hotdogs in case we stay late and decide to have a fire. Food that does not necessarily need to be kept cool is always handy as well. Wanting to stay at least until night fall, we packed plenty of carrots, sliced peppers, and some granola bars to ensure we were not tempted to put clothes on before we had our fill. We have also been investing in ultra lightweight and compact or collapsible beach umbrella, chairs and so on. Sadly these things are way more expensive but we totally feel its been worth the expense with at least two trips to Port Burwell each month during the summer.

It was past 10:30AM before we were actually setup and relaxing at the beach. It was another scorcher with the afternoon high hitting 29C and that is not factoring in the humidity which made it feel almost 40C. We were fortunate enough that Lake Erie was very calm that day as we had every intention of being fish for most of the day.  We spent the day swimming, tanning, reading, walking along the shore and even wandered inland to the forest a little bit.  I am not actually sure if you are allowed to hike inland, and if you are, how far it is safe to go, so we didn't venture too far. Overall another typical day at the beach.  Soon after sunset and the stars began to come out, it was still hot enough that it felt great going for a moonlight swim in the lake. It is hard to find a down side to swimming at night. The lake was still calm so you could easily hear the crickets or an occasional owl over the gentle waves hitting the shore. It was so wonderful we completely lost track of time.  We had been in the lake so long we were clearly now the only ones still on the beach. It was actually almost 11PM by the time we thought to look at a clock. The Provincial park was already very much closed, we were unsure if my car had been ticketed or worse towed. And even if not ticketed or towed, we were unsure if the gate would still be open to let us out. Our original intention was to stay late and do some stargazing but our poor time keeping had very much gone beyond that plan forcing us to make a decision. Do we pack up, hope our car had not been towed, and hope we could still exit the parking lot? Or did we make the best of it, spend the night, and hope the car was still there when the park reopened the next morning? Originally I thought bringing blankets to keep warm while stargazing was excessive given all the other baggage we had for a full day and evening at the beach, however Tara had insisted and I was now very thankful for it. It was this that really helped us decide we could survive the night and hope for the best in the morning. 

At first we were a little distressed with the situation. We had been enjoying ourselves so much that we had lost track of time, putting a wet blanket on an otherwise perfect day. Once we decided to stay the night however the stress was lifted and we were back to just enjoying ourselves. As naturism goes, this was about as wonderful a predicament as one could ask for. We spent an entire day at the beach with nothing touching our skin but sun, sand, water and some SPF 35 lotion. Followed by an equally blissful moonlight swim, only to find ourselves completely alone on a beach, naked as the day we were born.  We collected some wood and built a small fire, cuddled together between the blankets and spent the night together under the stars. I will admit that sleeping on a blanket in the sand is not the most comfortable bed I have had in my life, and we both woke up with a few noticeable bug bites.  But it was worth the price of admission when we woke up to the sun rising over Lake Erie and the Port Burwell Lighthouse. We were so relaxed even our granola bar breakfast felt like a 5 star experience.  It was right about then we made another decision. We would not pack up our things and head home. Instead we put some thought into what we needed to do to spend another day.  First we had to put our clothes on for the first time in almost 24 hours, walk back to the parking lot with the hope we still had a car. I am happy to report that not only was my car not towed, it was not ticketed either! I did sadly lose a game of rock paper scissors, which meant while Tara walked back to the nude beach and carried on with our naturist weekend, I remained clothed and drove into town to retrieve supplies for another full day at the beach. 

Our second day was more of the same as the first only this time we were by far the first people on the beach. Another hot day with a brief but welcome sun shower around lunch time. Not risking the same mistake from the night before, when we saw the sun was low, we packed up our things before enjoying another sunset. Only then did we make our way back to the car. Normally we get dressed before heading back towards the park boundary, but after spending the majority of the last two days without clothes, we decided to delay that as long as we could and began our walk with our clothes being carried, not worn. We made it almost the entire way back to the parking lot before we saw in the distance some people at the textile beach who had stayed for the sunset as well. We both put our shorts on to avoid getting in trouble but being as warm and humid as it still was, we were more than a bit sweaty from the hike with all our beach gear, neither I nor Tara put our tops on. This was the second time this week she had gone topless in public though I was less 

I "borrowed" this photo from Google

surprised this time. It was very dark at this point, and we never got close enough to other people that they could possibly notice. We even discussed if we should remain nude right until we got to the car but decided against it for fear a park ranger may be on patrol. As we drove past the park gate I was once again surprised by Tara's boldness.  She had decided she was already uncomfortable even wearing only a pair of shorts, and before I could sputter out the words "you must be joking" off they came.  Not one to be outdone, I pulled the car over and removed mine as well.  I would like to say before going forward that this is not something I recommend, nor can I speak with any authority of its legality in Ontario. I will also say that this had nothing to do with trying to be naturists, or promote naturism, or be any kind of activists if we were to be pulled over by the police. Any naturist will tell you one of the least comfortable times to be clothed is soon after you have been naked for a prolonged period so that definitely factored into our rash decision. To be fully honest though it was for the fun of it more than anything else. A little bit of thirty-something rebelliousness. My car does have tinted windows, and I pretty much drove under the speed limit the entire way home so there was not a lot of risk of being caught.  It was close to midnight when we got back to the house. We waited for the garage door to close fully behind us before we made our way inside, still only wearing our footwear. We shared a well deserved and much needed shower before finally calling it a night.

Sunday was nothing to blog home about. I stayed home until I was due at work that evening. The first day of any work week is never really something people look forward to. Less so for a naturist who not only has to go to work, but has to become a textile again too. Its borderline depressing.  I am ever an optimist though and the memories or our "staynakation", are more than enough to get me through the necessary evil of a textile work world for now. All told we had been without need for clothes privately or publicly, from about 1030AM on the Friday, with a brief intermission for a supply run and the last 5 minutes walk to the car, until I left for work Sunday evening.  Most of it fully in nature. Tara was even more fortunate and was able to continue all the way until Monday morning. An excellent finish to a wonderful Staynakation

Day 5 time without clothes: 18 hours, 35 minutes - 77%

Day 6 time without clothes: 22 hours - 92%

Day 7 time without clothes: 16 hours - 67%

That about wraps up everything I can think of to share from the week. I know there are people who spend days, weeks, and months without even thinking about clothes, that being said, I think as a couple of part time naturists or primarily home nudists, we managed an excellent week of nakedness in nature and new experiences. Next summer I think we will try to take it up level and actually spend a few days at a naturism resort but that stays on the to do list for now.

As always feedback and conversation is welcome, either in the comments below or on Twitter and Facebook.

You can follow me on Twitter here: @NudeInCanada
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You can find out where to be Naked in Canada here

Naked Staycation = Staynakation??? (Part 2)

I recently had a weeks vacation and not currently looking to spend a lot of money at the moment, I planned out a rather wonderful Staycation / Nakacation……or a StayNakakation for Tara and I. We visited my “greatest hits” of Naturism in the Toronto area and the only time we were clothed was for the brief travel time between destinations (and even then there was an exception). I originally planned this out at as a single blog post but decided I would split it up once I realized how long it was becoming. You can find Part 1 - Here, or part 2 below

Part 2:

Wednesday / Day 3:

As we dragged ourselves from bed at 7 AM, it is just over 36 hours since our staynakation began Monday evening. Days 3 was all Tara's idea and after some initial hesitation I agreed to go along with the plan. Tara never had any previous interest in visiting Hanlans Point. This is mostly my fault to be honest, I have not been kind in my reviews.  She decided though that if we were going to truly have a naturist staycation that even a short visit should be on the “to do” list.  Keeping an open mind and having a backup list of things to do in Toronto (clothed) just in case, we went for it. Being a weekday the trains are frequent and we joined the morning commute of the unfortunate folks who had to work making our way into the city. The ferry terminal is a short walk from the train station so it was not even 10 o’clock before we had our feet in the sand. The rest went very close to what I expected. 

On arrival, most people at the clothing optional beach were taking the option and perfecting their all over tans.  As soon as we picked a spot, Tara and I joined them. A typical morning at the beach, we lay out on our towels, enjoyed the heat of the sun while reading

our books and spent a significant time in the water as the temperature reached 28C. I was happily surprised to see a large mix of people and most of those around us were taking the naturist / nudist option. There was plenty of men on their own of course (that was me not too long ago), but there was a large mix from all walks of life as well, gay couples, straight couples, a few groups of men and/or women. Right next to us was a pair of women sunbathing topless. I am always a little surprised when I see women come to a nude or clothing optional beach and go topless. I am not judging them, but more so our society as it is legal for women to be topless in Ontario anywhere a man can be, and yet (I assume) they felt more comfortable and anticipated less chance of harassment going topless at a clothing optional beach than a textile one. It actually seems logical but sadly they were mistaken. It didn’t take long for a group of four young men to choose to setup their cooler and towels between the two ladies and where Tara and I were. The beach was busy but hardly crowded enough for their chosen location to be so close to three women, two topless and one nude. To no ones surprise the young men did

not go nude. At first they were not bothering anyone, drinking beer, talking loud like you would expect at a beach. However as I was cooling off in the water, which was suspicious timing, one of the young men approached the two ladies and had the audacity to ask for a selfie. At first his friends pulled him away, apologized "he is just drunk and stupid". Their intervention did not last long, he persisted and by the time I arrived on the scene I could overhear them encouraging the situation. "Just take the selfie and we promise to delete from his phone before he can do anything with it".  Then one pointed at Tara and said "She's nude, I bet she will join us if it makes you feel better".  All three ladies were letting their disapproval very well known and the four young men were now getting attention that had not intended. By the time I, and a very large, very intimidating, also very naked man (he looked like her could be a linebacker in the NFL), could step in, they had already seen the error of there ways, and packing up for the day.

Determined not to let that ruin the day. We moved further south on the beach where the ratio of textiles was far lower. The two ladies joined us for some time. It was nice to get to know them and tell them about what real naturism can be. It turns out that prior to the drunken idiots arrival, they had been debating going fully nude. Not blaming them for being discouraged by the events, we did our best to share with them how happy we were being naturists, just not at Hanlans Point.  I would love to tell you we sold them on it. I think it is probably unlikely though they did continue to be topless until they departed. I made sure to direct them to my blog (shameless self promotion), Bare Oaks and Ponderosa's websites.  Maybe they are reading about themselves here. (As promised, not even a fake name used).  Another hour later though they did move on.  Tara and I were not far behind them as the atmosphere became less peaceful and increasingly club like with competing groups with louder music. I think I may be getting to0 old for that scene?  As we made our way back to the ferry, Tara remained topless and only put her bikini top on once we got close to the terminal where it was more crowded.  Along the way she did get a couple stares, a few smiles, and one noticeable frown from a disapproving women. This was well outside her comfort zone and not something I expect her to repeat often, but she felt like making a point after our experience with the drunken idiots.

View from the ferry, it was great weather

Sadly the rest of our day was very textile.  A few hours at the Art Gallery of Ontario, and in a a very ironic twist, went clothes shopping at the Eaton Centre. We had dinner at a trendy place in Toronto, and back home for another naked night watching movies. In the end it was not a terrible day. I did focus on the drunken idiots but who has not been to the beach and had similar issues.  Tara has suggested she may even like to go back and give Hanlans another try. Winter is on the way so I hope she changes her mind before the spring, I much prefer Port Burwell for my naturist beach experiences.

Day 3 time without clothes: 14 hours - 58%

Note to self: I tend to type out my blog posts, leave it for a day or two, read it again to make sure I am happy with it and then publish. Lets me find grammar mistakes, of which I am sure I still miss plenty, and ensures I captured everything as best as I can. This time however in the few days between finishing my first draft and publishing I discovered something else.  Everything above is an accurate portrayal of the events. I always change or omit a few things here or there for privacy, both personally and those I may mention, but otherwise I lay out my experiences as I saw them. I would like to make a minor amendment, but not in the usual way.  I came across a post by one of my favourite Naturist bloggers (Naked Wanderings - check them out here) and after reading this I wished I could amend my actions slightly, or my reaction actually. Our issues with the drunken idiots motivated us to move further down the beach to be in an area with a better naturist to textile ratio. Even though the idiots had left, and we were well within the boundaries of the clothing optional area, we moved as it seemed less of a hassle than the potential to be bothered further by other still undeclared idiots.  I wish we had just stayed. No one else was bothering us. There is no reason naturists and textiles cannot share a clothing optional beach, its the whole point of the "optional".  Naturism will always been seen as taboo by those who don't understand it and it wont help if naturists are huddled away in corners, at least that is how I see it.

Will take this opportunity to pause again. I want to let the day at Hanlans Point be a post of its own. Being a first visit there for Tara, and the events that transpired I felt it deserved it. I will mash the keyboard some more this weekend and wrap this up finally, we spent a day at Bare Oaks and then the remainder of our "staynakation"TM was spent at Port Burwell which was just amazing.

You can follow me on Twitter here: @NudeInCanada
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Naked Staycation = Staynakation??? (Part 1)

I recently had a week of vacation and not currently looking to spend a lot of money, I planned out a rather wonderful Staycation / Nakation……or a Staynakation for Tara and I. We visited my “greatest hits” of Naturism in the Toronto area and the only time we were clothed was for the brief travel time between destinations (and even then there was an exception). I originally planned this out at as a single blog post but decided I would split it up once I realized how long it was becoming.

Part 1:

Monday / Day 1: Naked night in

Our plan was simple, no clothes except when absolutely necessary until Sunday evening when I had to be back at work. My work often keeps me on fluctuating hours/days so my vacation began at 5pm Monday night and there was still the subway and commuter train ride home meaning my nakation did not begin until 6:45pm.  When I arrived home Tara was well ahead of me, having picked up pizza on her way home, and the TV was primed for a mini-movie marathon. Add in a few cold beers, microwave popcorn, and you had the perfect night in to kick off our staycation. This is not really blog-worthy on its own really. Nights spent like this became a common hang out (pun intended) for us as friends who happen to be naturists, be it a movie, hockey game or what even was on TV that night, we would try and do this once a month or so. Since we became a couple and even more so since I moved in with her, it has became a regular thing most nights at home. No different than any couple who have been together for some time only with fewer loads of laundry required. A "normal" couple may slip into their comfortable sleep clothes for a night in, our comfortable sleep clothes just so happen to be no clothes at all.

Day 1 time without clothes (Since 6:45PM): 5 hours, 15 minutes - 100%

  

Tuesday / Day 2: Ponderosa Picnic

The forecast was mainly sunny with periods of rain. Being outside in the rain is actually refreshing and fun for a naturist in my opinion, however does not complement a day at the beach if it rains more than forecast. It made sense to pick a place where there is indoor and outdoor options and we decide to make our way to Ponderosa Nature Resort. “The Pond” has everything you need for a day of without clothes. This is not a sales pitch but they do have a huge outdoor pool, hot tub, lounge pool with “swim up” bar, a restaurant, indoor pool, indoor hot tub, sauna, a fair amount of hiking trails, and the added bonus of being only 25 minutes from where we live. We spent almost the whole day there making use of everything they

Not ours, no photos at the Pond!

had to offer other than the guest rooms really. Normally the large outdoor pool is the highlight of every visit, however this time we decided to pack an elaborate picnic lunch and it just made the whole day something special. Yes I have made use of the Ponds restaurant before and never had a complaint, and we usually pack a lunch when visiting Port Burwell but it’s a bit of a hike so we bring very little with us.  At Ponderosa its just a short walk from the parking lot to many ideal picnic spots so you can pack a full lunch with sandwiches, salads, and other difficult to carry in a backpack items and even make more than one trip if needed without being an inconvenience. I believe it is against the rules (sorry but not really sorry) we did sneak in a bottle of wine to round things out nicely. Picking a spot off on our own so as not to bother anyone, we really enjoyed our naked picnic, drinking our wine in coffee cups so as not to concern anyone who did walk by. We then just lay in the sun for at least another hour while reading. A phenomenal way to decompress, de-stress, and just be happy. When it did start to rain a little we just put our books away and enjoyed that feeling too. This was about as close to a perfect day as we could have asked for.  We didn't want it to end but had to tear ourselves away for more social nude activities planned for the evening. 

Tuesday / Evening 2: Naked Dinner

“Sam and Diane” who we celebrated Nude Years Eve with are not exactly naturists in the traditional sense.  We will socialize with them here and there as they share our distaste for clothes but they are unashamed to admit they are often on the lookout for something, more, as it were.  When the four of us get together, which has been more frequent since Tara and I began dating, they make very effort to keep things in line with our interpretation of naturism and nudism with no mention of the more “liberal” lifestyle they, as consenting adults, choose to live.  To help us get the most out of our staynakation they invited us to their home for dinner and drinks. We had a lovely steak dinner with all the fixings, and a few more bottles of wine. We played cards until midnight before a "late for a weeknight" Uber ride home brought the evening to a close. Not unlike a stay in movie night the evening before, this was very much a typical dinner with friends like any other. The only exception being the absence of clothes. We could not have asked for a more perfect evening to close out a perfect day.

Day 2 time without clothes: 22 hours 15 minutes - 93%

I am going to pause here and I will post more about or "Staynakation" as soon as I can find some time to type it out.  As a bit of a teaser I will say that on Day 3 we made Tara's first trip to Hanlans Point Clothing Optional beach on Toronto island and this could be a blog entry of its own.  I will try and post this within a week or so if I can find some time. As always comments and feedback is welcome and may encourage me to blog more frequently.
For now, Keep Calm and StayNakation!

Click here for Where to be naked in nature in Canada

Strange Things Happen When Naturists Put Their Clothes On

I know, it has been a while.  In my defense I don’t actually consider myself a “blogger” and the fact I have not posted since January would stand to support that position. That’s not to say I have not thought about updating recently, I have plenty of new naturist experiences to share, and many more opinions on Naturism to share. Time however has not been my friend. Between work, life, and enjoying Naturism, actually blogging about it was low on the to do list.

This past weekend a fellow naturist (thanks David), shared my blog saying “a blog to inspire” and what do you know, I got inspired. Today also happens to be the first day of a staycation that I plan on using as a full nakation. Aside from driving to/from my standard naturist go to locations (Bare Oaks, Ponderosa, Port Burwell) I don’t intend to wear clothes until I return to work on Sunday. So why not spend some naked time blogging.

Originally this blog was about my life as a single, 30 something guy, who suddenly realized clothes were overrated.  I focused mainly on the experience side of things as a single man in the naturist world as this was the kind of information I was looking for as a type of guidance when I was a newbie nudie but had a hard time finding. Hopefully those who have read my previous posts found them of use. Even if you were not a single 30 something newbie nudie.  While I was not always single during the last few years, however as a naturist I may as well have been. I dated one woman who I successfully introduced to naturism but sadly we were not “compatible” as it were. And then there is my long time platonic friend Tara whom I have mentioned many times however her personal life meant she was……lets say an occasional naturist. So on I went and there I blogged, as a single naturist 90 percent of the time.

Life has a funny way of surprising you though, and this post is more about life than naturism but it all ties together, please bear with me, or should it be bare with me????  Having known Tara since high school and been strictly platonic friends and happy in that status for the better part of two decades, it may shock some, that being a naturist and introducing someone of the opposite sex to naturism and nudism, didn’t have an impact on our friendship. It was never awkward, it never led to any lines crossed, not even at an alcohol fueled “Nude Years Eve”.  I believe it made us even better, closer friends, if that was even possible. I will admit our relationship did take a turn in a new direction this winter but Naturism was not a direct factor other than strengthening the bond we already shared. And while its taken a few paragraphs to get here, this is the main topic for this post.

Tara and I were both guests at destination wedding in the Caribbean this past winter. It was a typical wedding, a close nit group both in terms of the family and friends invited. So

you can imagine when people see the two close friends who both attend single, there are always lots of questions….

Have you ever?

Would you ever?

Why not?

We had been through this a couple of times over the years and it is no big deal. Some were genuinely curious how a man and a woman could be best friends and not a couple (usually the older people), some had their minds in the gutter (usually the younger people). One person asked “Seriously? You’ve never seen each other naked?” and I had to lie to avoid even more complicated questions.  I think we both handled ourselves well, and went on with our lives.

About a week later and back in Canada, we were having dinner with a group of friends for a birthday. Tara and I arrived earlier than anyone else and got talking about the wedding, and the silly questions we were asked. Somewhere along the way before others arrived, we came to the conclusion we needed to have a “talk”. I’d like to tell you where in this conversation the light came on, or what it was that steered us to our enlightenment, but I can't. Somewhere in the short conversation we had decided that maybe we were more than friends and were just to dumb to notice.

Later that night we had a brief “talk” and before we knew it, the next evening we went on our first “date”, dinner and a movie, just us. It was hardly a first date in the typical sense as we spent dinner plotting the baby steps we planned to take. It may seem strange to be so methodical but with so many ways this could have gone wrong, and we had a long established friendship on the line, we didn’t want to risk destroying that.  We took intimacy off the table for the first month at least, and we put our naturist activities together on hold until after that, just in case somehow that was confusing the issue (it was not). Being Canadian winter at the time, this was actually fairly easy. 

Fast forward and here we are, many months later, almost September now. I officially moved into Tara’s home recently, still being methodically cautious we agreed in advance to wait for a short time before renting out my house and will wait at least a year before we decide to put it up for sale. It is at this point I will address what I assume is a question anyone reading this may have. Why am I posting this, it has nothing to do with being a Naturist???? The strange thing about relationships is they should be easy, but they never are, and in a textile world so it is with naturism. Add those together and it can get muddy very fast. We have been friends for so long and never saw it as anything more.  For us, naturism was no different than sharing an interest in movies or sports. We are naturists but naturism alone does not define us. And even though I take credit for introducing Naturism to Tara, when we took the relationship plunge we wanted to keep it as uncomplicated as possible. So yes, we stopped being naturists (together) for a time just as we agreed to delay telling friends or family. I won’t tell you it was the right or wrong decision, it is just what made sense for us at the time. Thankfully it all seems to be working out, we had a great naturist summer together with more to come this week.

It may be that Naturism played some part in us eventually deciding to become a couple, but not directly. It was just another activity we found we both enjoyed. If this was not the case I would have thought we would have figured this out a few years ago as there have been plenty of opportunities rather than while reminiscing about a textile destination wedding to push us in this direction. 

When it comes to naturism, I’ll be honest I am not sure where to go with this blog. As mentioned a few times this started as the experiences from the perspective of a 30 something, single, male, who was new to naturism.  Aside from still being in my 30’s (just barely) none of that is true of me anymore.  There are plenty of blogs, Facebook pages, websites, Twitter feeds, and Instagramers covering naturism from a couples perspective, young and old.  “Naked Wanderings”,Felicity's Blog, and Naturist Living Show are great resources. Another blog may not add much to the conversation but I will try and keep at it for now and I will try not to go another 8 months between posts. As I type this I remember how therapeutic I find sharing here. Hopefully there are some out there that get something from reading this, and if not I am OK with it anyway.

Will O’Canada

@NudeInCanada on Twitter

Naturist Canada Map

Keep Calm and Stay Naked

It’s that time of year again when naturists/nudists go into a bit of hibernation of sorts. I have blogged previously about my experiences and tips for surviving as a naturist through the long Canadian winter (Check them out  here and here if you like) and have not yet thought of anything of value to add on the subject.

With nothing of value to add to the surviving the winter naked conversation, I decide to start a different post than my usual “naturist experience” based ones, with the topic of current state of naturism as I saw it and the underlying politics and problems holding us back. But ultimately if got a little depressing and I could not remember what I thought would be the benefit of my rambling complaints.

Rather than focus on the ridiculous state of affairs at the International NaturistFederation or the sad (but totally understandable) announcement from YoungNaturists/Nudists of America that they are winding down all YNA operations, and don’t get me started on the many so called Twitter naturists who are really just porno addicted, dick pic sending perverts. This paragraph alone should show you how sad that post would have been

Instead I wanted to talk about the positive things going on and in the world of Naturism. There is plenty going on that give me hope that being a naturist is getting better and easier than even a few years ago. 

Out of the Shadows

Many clubs are finally moving away from the secretive and isolationist tendencies that seemed to work 20 years ago but more recently has seen many of them, at least in my area, close or switch to being textile only. And for a change, in this area the marketing power of Social Media is actually playing a positive role, even with the 1950’s mentality on censorship used by Facebook, Twitter and the like.  Clubs turn to Social Media to promote more and more to promote their resorts and get the word out that casual, nonsexual, family friendly nudity is possible.  They are also organizing specific events that often gets local media attention which is a huge win for both the club, and naturism as a whole. Bare Oaks is especially good at this with both their Comedy shows  and The Naked State art expo, initially promoted mainly on their own website and social media pages, but ended up being covered by multiple media outlets.

Speaking of Traditional Media…

... getting the media on the side of Naturism is no easy task especially in North America where prudes with no idea what Naturism is about, seem to be pulling the strings.  In my local area (Toronto Canada) the media actually had a positive impact recently on what could have been a fully terrible situation.  Spring flooding left most of Toronto Island, including Hanlan’s Point Clothing Optional beach, inaccessible for most or the prime summer season. And rather than stating in some small footnote that one of only two official clothing optional beaches was closed for the summer, many outlets (The Toronto Star and Now Magazine for example) provided alternatives.  Bare Oaks, Ponderosa, GTA SkinnyDippers, Toronto Area Naturist Sports and Swims (TANS) all getting multiple mentions.  You would have to ask the clubs mentioned what impact this had on their attendance numbers but free advertisement like this can’t be a bad thing.

Unlike North America, in Europe a quick google search will show you how much different is really is there for Naturists.  It’s far more common to see an article on Naturism or the benefits of going naked in Europe than in America but based on what I am seeing in my area as shown above, at least its getting better.

We are not alone!

I am not one to follow the tabloids, and I really don’t care what Robert Downey Jr. had for lunch, or the new skirt Mila Kunis was seen wearing in Beverly Hills. But every once in a while you hear about some famous person admitting they are a naturist, even if some may just go naked at home, it grabs my attention. Not because of who they are, but for what it can do for naturism. The more people of influence that speak openly about naturism and natural nudity the better. It can have the opposite effect, i.e. Super Bowl Nip slips help nobody, but for the most part it helps normalize nudity for the masses and for those of us in the know, helps us feel a little less alone. Ones I can confirm are:

Heidi Klum      Kate Humble

Miley Cyrus     Helen Mirren

JustinTimberlake,      Billy Connelly, 

Kevin Bacon     Robbie Williams

Brad Pitt

And thats just the ones I found easy links to, Adam Levine, Alicia Silverstone, Eva Mendes, Orlando Bloom, Bruce Willis, Alanis Morrissette, Halley Berry, Miranda Kerr, Kira Knightly all are also reportedly naturists/nudists at some level. And yes some of the reactions they got for it were negative, but we have to keep moving forward.

Merchandising

And since most of this post is about positive things in naturism, I thought I would add an area for improvement. Who doesn’t like “Swag” am I right? My two local clubs, Bare Oaks and Ponderosa, both have merchandise to buy at their club stores.
   

On my first visit I got a Ponderosa “Beer cozie” as a souvenir and I use it at home often.  From Bare Oaks I got one of those pens when you tip it the little persons clothes come off.  I plan on using it to write Christmas letters this year, make writing them feel less tedious.  Imagine if those pens, and beer cozies were not just available at the club store, but online.  Facebook is making it easier to sell your merchandise these days, and there are plenty of alternatives like Etsy and eBay. Combine that with promoting the merchandise on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.  Selling club branded T-shirts (the irony, I know!) and so on could be incredibly valuable for promoting your club and increasing revenue.  Perhaps they have already tried this previously but I think the possibilities are incredible. T-shirts promoting naturism is a bit of an oxymoron as it were and to be honest I’m not likely to walk around in a basic club branded shirt, but a “I’d rather be naked”  with the club logo, or even better, “Keep Calm and Stay Naked” with the club logo replacing the crown, that would draw attention for sure......hmmmm, maybe I should start my own naturist clothing/merchandise line????

Well that is all I had for now, feel free to share your thoughts, positive/constructive feedback is always welcome.  Otherwise I hope you all survive the winter and can stay naked as much as possible.  Maybe I will even see some of you at a GTA SkinnyDippers outing.

The Summer of Nude / Naked With Friends Part 2

It’s been a busy summer, aside from the usual work, textile friends and family obligations, I was also very busy enjoying my naked self. I got a late start to my naked summer but I eventually accomplished more as a naturist this summer than I did in the two years since I truly found naturism and managed to knock a few items off my naked bucket list.  Naturist camping (2 nights at Bare Oaks!), nude bowling (see my previous blog on that here), I missed out on the Nude 5k but maybe next year.  Most importantly, Tara finally joined me at Ponderosa for a day which was amazing. In doing so I noticed some differences in visiting alone versus with a friend so please keep reading as I cover that further below.

My summer started with a couple solo trips to Port Burwell, which if you are looking to be a true Naturist in Nature, the nude beach in Port Burwell just beyond the park boundary is really hard to beat.  I have been many times this summer and I never regret it.  It is definitely off the beaten track as it were but that’s what makes it so great.  No crowds, no textiles or gawkers.  Just nature and naturists being natural.  AKA - Bliss. My good friend Tara also really likes it at Port Burwell.  Tara sees herself as being more of a home naturist/nudist, but has accompanied me to Port Burwell a few times now. At first just to be supportive of my journey, but she also has learned to love the idea of being naked in nature.  She still has some reservations each time we go as she experiences a sort of feeling of being “exposed” as she puts it.  This is not that much of an issue at Port Burwell as there is not often a large crowd there even on the weekend, and there are plenty of places you can find additional privacy if you want there. 

It was no small step for Tara to finally join me on a recent visit to Ponderosa.  Both of us live only about 20 to 30 minutes from resort so concern number one for her was the “what if?” I never really put too much thought to the possibility of running into someone I know at a naturist beach or resort.  But what if it were to happen? Just the thought of it for Tara was borderline terrifying and it took some long conversations to ease that fear. I remember worrying about this myself in my early days of naturism, it has yet to happen though and honestly I don’t think I would be bothered by it at this point. It might be a bit awkward at first but seeing as you would both be there for the same reason, what is there to worry about. In fact I almost want it to happen, the more friends to share naturism with the better really. Knowing this was still a concern for Tara I let her decide the timing of the visit.  She chose a Saturday where she hoped she could be lost in the crowd, and was it ever crowded.  The parking lot was full, and even though Ponderosa has a generous amount of lounge chairs by the pool, every single one was taken however this was not a problem as we were happy to spend most of our time in the pool or at the swim up bar.  And we certainly got lost in the crowd, it was so busy but Tara did wear a large sun hat and a pair of big dark Hollywood style sun glasses, just in case.  With time and a few cocktails, she was as relaxed as she would have been at any other textile resort, even chatting with other couples. A great time for both of us.

Back in May I started dating a woman whom I met through my cousin.  We have since split, and no I am not going into those details, but I wanted to share some of our experiences in Naturism while we were briefly together as well.  My ex is an avid camper and for our first overnight trip away together this is what she wanted to do. I booked us a couple nights at none other than Port Burwell Provincial Park, not that I was planning anything, I just know the park and the area.  At this point I had not mentioned naturism to her at all but I was encouraged while at the parks textile beach when she asked if I would mind if she sun bathed topless (which is fully legal in Ontario where we live).  Of course I didn’t mind and after a very brief hesitation I mentioned the nude beach a short walk away “if she really wanted to avoid the tan lines”.

I played it like I was trying to be funny and yet not only was she open to the idea, she was rather excited about it. With that I could now claim to introducing two new naturists to the lifestyle.  My ex took to it like a fish to water and soon after our trip to Port Burwell we were spending our rare days off together at Ponderosa. We were even due to camp at Bare Oaks together but sadly at the end of last month we decided to go our separate ways before that happened. We are still friends and while I doubt we will be going together again to a naturist beach or resort, at least not intentionally, just the other day she told me that while we didn’t work out, she would always be grateful that I had taken her to the Port Burwell nude beach that day.

It is here I want to take this in a bit of a different direction. When I write this blog I try to focus on the “experience” side of Naturism  and not to get too much into what I will call the activist or political side of things.  How others enjoy or promote Naturism, or compare nudist versus naturist, or if there is a difference at all, is something I try to avoid except when it directly impacted my personal experience (i.e. Gawkers at Hanlan’s Point).  This may blur those lines a little but I wanted to share some subtle differences, others less so, in the experiences I have had as a single male compared to visiting the same places with a partner, in one case with Tara, a platonic friend who is a bit shy and self-conscious about her appearance, the other a romantic friend (the Ex) who is very confident in her appearance. 

When visiting solo to Port Burwell, Ponderosa, or Bare Oaks, I tend to keep to myself, go for a swim, sleep or read in the sun etc. At both resorts I have always found the staff went above and beyond to make you feel comfortable and welcome and I even hung out with some staff at Bare Oaks after their shift was over, good times.  However I often found when I went solo the other guests tend to keep you at arm’s length. Not that they were unfriendly, they smile and say hello or good morning but that’s about it.  I can understand some women or families might have reservations about the single guy they know nothing about, it’s a sad reality of the world we live in though I do hope that Naturism is one of the vehicles of change in that area.  However on a few rare occasions I thought some people were watching me a little too closely considering I was as naked as they were, and not bothering anyone. I would either burry my face further in my book or go for a swim to avoid that feeling.  Maybe they have had issues and are justified in having their guards way up, but if you want to grow the naturist movement, and further normalize nudity as natural, you have to find balance for everyone. Or maybe it was nothing and I read too much into the whole thing.

When visiting with Tara the social experience was very different. Families and couples alike would chat and engage as you would expect at any public park.  People, both male and female, seemed to like talking about their first naturist experiences with Tara and encourage her to keep at it.  Not something I had ever really experienced nor did I ever feel we were under any of the guarded observation I felt when alone.

The difference when visiting with my Ex was even more obvious. It didn’t hurt that she really enjoyed how natural it felt to be nude around others, she is very fit so she would draw some additional attention, from both men and women, at any beach or resort be it naturist or textile and she didn’t mind admitting she loved it. She is very outgoing and social and she would not wait for others to engage in conversation, she would start them. When we arrived at Ponderosa we sat alone at one end of the “conversation pool” but soon after it was like that was where the party was. 

Visiting with both Tara and my Ex, I found it easier to be social than when I was alone and a lot more fun if I am honest. I am not sure how a single woman would feel or be treated in a similar set of circumstances. Perhaps it would be different for another single man as well, so I do not judge, blame or criticize anyone here. It was just impossible to not notice the difference between the solo experience and the couple experience.

I think I have gone on long enough for today.  As always I am open to positive discussion and feedback, even if its constructive feedback.

Stay Naked people!

Will O’Canada @NudeInCanada on Twitter
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