The Naturist Talks: Andy and Di from the USA

As you may have read in the very first post of this blog, one of the main reasons why we started this project is to show the world that naturists are not some strange dark commune but that actually everyone could be one… Or could enjoy being one if they took the first step.

Our main example of “everyone” is of course ourselves, we write posts about naturism in general but also about our own experiences. But some of you might be thinking “Yes sure, those two are probably just the strange kids in the block…” (nah, we know you’re not thinking that about us, but we’re trying to write an introduction here). So we decided to let other naturists have a word as well.

So please sit back and get inspired!

Meanwhile we already published several interviews with people from all over the world. You can find them in the The Naturist Talks section.

This week our guests are Andy and Di from the USA.

We are now both retired. I (Andy) was a firefighter for 32 years and my wife Di was a stay at home mom for many years before returning to school, eventually getting her Phd and becoming a College Professor for 25 years. We have two children and 7 grandchildren. We’ve been married for almost 44 years, been together for 48 years and have been nudists for almost 44 years.

I became a naturist earlier than my wife Di. I began experimenting with naturism soon after I had the urge to be naked all the time. At the age of 14, I was given my own room. Up until then, I’d been sharing a room with siblings. Once I had my own room, I would be naked in my room as much as possible. I made excuses to remain home alone so I could be naked throughout the day while my parents and siblings were gone on outings. I would spend as much time as possible outside lying in the sun or doing yard work. Any excuse I could use to be naked seemed to be my highest priority.

My girlfriend, now my wife, did not have these same cravings or feelings. She grew up in a fairly strict conservative home. It wasn’t until we were married almost 4 years after we began dating that my wife began to live as a naturist. Because I was in military service during our first two years of marriage, my wife would only be a weekend naturist or longer when I was home on leave (vacation). After our wedding night, we remained in our new home and were naked for 3 days straight and we didn’t want to leave because we would have to get dressed.

Naturism is allowed in our country. We are fortunate to have many legal naturist places near our home. Our club is only 30 mins away and there are several other places no further than 2 hours away. We used to have 2 nude beaches but we only have one now. Though the beach is not technically legal, it is tolerated and has been a known nude beach for over 40 years.

Public opinion varies, here in the USA. People seem to be fine with naturism as long as it’s away from everyone else. People here in the US are afraid to tell people that they are naturists, that they occasionally not wear clothes at home or that they visit naturist venues.

My wife and I have always felt opposite about letting people, family and friends, know about our lifestyle. I am more open but my wife feels that they do not need to know. My wife agrees that we are doing nothing wrong and there is nothing sexual about naturism but feels that family and friends, aside from our children and grandchildren, won’t understand it and think badly about us. My wife felt more strongly about this while she was working.

Now that we are retired my wife doesn’t worry about this as much. We still don’t pontificate our naturist lifestyle but we don’t shy away from it if someone questions us.

We hate to divide people into groups, but we’ll do it anyway…
Do you consider yourself a naturist, a nudist or an occasional nudist?

We consider ourselves nudists. We live nude as much as possible. But we also consider ourselves nudist naturists. We love being out in nature and being naked in nature. Beaches, woods, the desert, mountains, hiking … we love nature and love camping and outdoor activities and when possible, we are naked while enjoying nature. But when not in a nature setting, like at home on a day to day basis, we are naked, much like now.

Being naked is our normal way of life. It can sometimes interfere with our way of life because we put off doing things because we need to get dressed to accomplish these things. We don’t allow nudism to rule or run our lives but it is so much a part of who we are and how we live, it does interfere with our desire to be naked instead of dressed.

No, we don’t find it difficult to find naturist friends but we are very selective. Love, enjoyment or preference for being nude/naked can’t be the only thing that people have in common to become friends. Family, religion, politics, philosophies, upbringing, can play a large part on who you decide to become friends with. We once became friends with a very nice couple on our nude beach. Love of being naked and the beach were the only things we had in common. We tried to make that relationship work but it did not last.

I make friends easier than my wife. I’m a social person, an extrovert and my wife is the opposite. She’s very private but if she likes you and gets to know you and becomes a friend, she’s honest, loyal and supportive. This is changing slowly but changing nonetheless. We attended our first nude resort event, a theme dance. My wife has always shied away from these events but agreed to go because our close nudist friends wanted to attend as well. She had a very good time and met and greeted many of the other people that attended.

We have two circles of close personal friends, one textile and one nudist/naturist. They haven’t mixed as of yet but we keep thinking it will happen some day soon. Our nudist friends are no different than our textile friends, with the only exception, that we know of, that our nudist friends prefer being naked. We have many, many things in common with our nudist friends. Even though we may not agree politically, we agree to disagree and remain civil, friendly and always come away from any discussion with love, respect and support for one another.

Nudism/Naturism starts at home. Women have a harder time with nudism/naturism. I only have my experiences and those shared by our close nudist friends and those that we’ve spoken with at the beach, clubs and resorts, to base these opinions on.

The best tip is to begin being naked at home as much as you can or want to. If it’s only a short time a day, that’s great and you try and increase that time every day or every week. Try sleeping naked, remain naked after a shower, watch TV, do household chores, eat, read, rest … do most things you do dressed, just do them naked.

People always comment positively the first time they’ve swam naked or sat in a hot tub naked and how there’s such a feeling of complete freedom. Living nude/naked, being a nudist/naturist, is having that feeling everyday, all day. Those that we’ve spoken with and have gotten to try nudism/naturism, while at home, have reported that they love that feeling of freedom and the stresses of life seem to take a back seat, even if only for that time when they are nude/naked.

Nudism/Naturism begins at home. My advice is to not start by visiting a nude venue for your first time being naked. Be sure it’s right for you and being comfortable and confident at home and in your private backyard/garden/property first.

Our children were being raised as nudists from the beginning. They were comfortable with it and enjoyed being free as much as they liked. At the ages of 12 and 10, they moved away from nudism. After telling friends about their way of life and their friends making fun of them, they were embarrassed to continue. We did not push but we remained nude as much as possible around them and only covered when they asked us to.

20+ years after this period of time and after telling them about our social nudist lifestyle and answering the myriad of questions and concerns, our children began to take interest in nudism once again. Now in their 30’s and both married and having children of their own, they began to remember their youth. We showed them pictures and they remembered being nude and playing nude, swimming, doing all kinds of things. They knew that we visited a nude resort in the Caribbean and they asked us many questions about it. We showed them pictures of our friends there, what the place looked like and what we did.

We had always told them that if they ever wanted to join us, we’d take them. As luck would have it, our youngest asked to go first but then she told the oldest and she also wanted to go. Then, a week later they asked if their children could go and one son in law wanted to go. Only the one other son in law didn’t want to go nor has he ever embraced the thought of trying nudism.

We took our family to this nude beach resort in the Caribbean and they all loved it and talk about it fondly to this day. “It’s the best vacation we’ve ever been on!”, is always their response when asked about vacations they’ve taken.

Both our daughters dabble in nudism on their own terms and at their comfort level. Our grand kids love coming over to swim because they don’t have to wear suits at our pool. They all still see mom/dad, grandma/grandpa naked from time to time and they aren’t bothered in the least.