The Naturist Talks: Will 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.

What you find here will be a series of interviews called The Naturist Talks, which will last as long as we find people who want to talk about their experiences with naturism. We will try to bring you a variety of people, men and women, young and a little bit less young from all over the world who told us what naturism means to them, how they got into it and how it works out for them.

So please sit back and get inspired!

Meanwhile we already published a couple of interviews, you can find them in the The Naturist Talks section.

Today we’ll be talking with Will, 30 years from the USA.

Hello Will, tell us something about yourself

Hello, I’m Will. I’ve always liked nature and to be outside. I like to be active and explore the world around me, which also means a lot of museums and local history. I recently moved to the southern part of the US and looking to find out what this area has to offer.

I would say that I became a naturist when I was about 27 or so, it was the time that I ran a nude 5k. Running is a hobby of mine and I’d read about naked races through running magazines, so it’s always been on my list. It took place at a nudist resort. I planned to leave right after, but I saw they had an outdoor pool and I was already naked so I decided to take a dip. It felt really nice and I ended up talking to people at the pool for the good part of the afternoon. I realized I really like being naked outside.

I’m not sure how naturism exists in the United States besides the naturist resort or the rare nude beach. In the United States people are very prudish towards being nude, yet I think everyone is curious about it. People have a very complicated relationship to their own bodies and to those of others. I don’t have many opportunities to be nude outside, which is a big bummer for me.

I would consider myself an occasional nudist, but on my way to becoming a nudist. Honestly there are a lot of occasions where clothes are helpful like cooking or running, however there are also different situations where I would like to have the opportunity to be naked. For instance, I wish I didn’t have to deal with bathing suits most of the time. I feel like it’s unnecessary. Maybe if I had more time to explore nudism or naturism, I might spend more time nude.

I find it very difficult to make nudist friends, especially here in the southern part of the US. The naked body is a big taboo to many religious people, but really it should be the opposite. I try to find nudist friends through groups on the internet, but there are very few, especially younger nudists.

The best advice I have is to try it. After five minutes of taking off your clothes, you forget the reason why you felt like you needed to wear them.

We get so many images from TV and the internet of people who look so perfect. I think what holds people back is the feeling that they don’t have the perfect body and therefore shouldn’t be nude in public. Once you start to look around you realize that people really come in all shapes and sizes. It’s refreshing to see. You don’t have to be perfect, you can just be natural.