Yes, according to an article recently published in the Chicago Tribune about nude recreation.

The article makes it seems that nudism is really popular. Imagine that.

"One in 10 Americans ranks staying at a resort that offers nude recreation as extremely/very desirable, according to a 2008 survey by Ypartnership/Yankelovich National Leisure Travel MONITOR." (Chicago tribune)

If that statistic is true, one out of ten of your closest neighbors and coworkers think nude recreation is extremely/very desirable.

The article talks about other trends in nude recreation. The article was overwhelmingly positive and talks about nude recreation growing. At a time when everything in the news is so negative, this article is shocking.

People are interested in nude recreation. More and more people are trying it for the first time and enjoying the experience of freedom from clothes and being at one with nature.

But there are a few hurdles to overcome for nude recreation as the article mentions. For example, the incorrect association of nude recreation as being a lifestyle/swinger activity. The two are separate but some nudist resorts are catering to both, a challenging line to walk. Nude recreation is not about sex and true nudist resorts are family-safe (at least the ones affiliated with the American Association for Nude Recreation are supposed to be).

In contrast, lifestyle activities are about sharing partners, a unique lifestyle decision based on sex. Certainly, lifestylers are just people with a different belief than me and I respect that. But in my opinion, too many lifestylers are not respectful to others who do not share their beliefs. That I do not like. It's a small subset of these lifestylers who are ruining it for everyone. While most nudists and lifestylers are generally very tolerant people, except when their rights are encroached upon, a few rotten apples need to be controlled so that nude recreation can continue to have a bright future.

Read the full article on the Chicago Tribune website free.

With winter making most of the United States and Europe too cold for outdoor nude recreation, many nudist travelers are longing for warmer weather.

If going south is not an option,  here are 8 alternative ways to enjoy nude recreation indoors without traveling.

All of these nude recreation activities can be done inside your home relatively cheap.

1. Exercise in front of the TV with work-out tapes but without clothes
2. Naked yoga:  More and more people are realizing the advantages of yoga without clothing
3. Ping pong:  Get a ping pong table and play ping pong in the buff
   
4. Billiards:  Get a pool table and play billiards without clothes
5. Table tops games:  Better yet, get one of those gaming tables that converts from a pool table to a ping pong table to a tabletop foosball game.
6. Air hockey:  Air hockey tables can be had cheap and are another way to do indoor nude recreation
7. Board games:  Play Scrabble, nude, but with double points for nude recreation words
8. Reverse Strip Poker:  Start out nude but put on clothing if you lose

Have fun!

Looking at the laws of most US towns, it seems that the laws for wearing clothing are determined by 2 simple factors:

1. The category of room you are in
   
2. Who can see you
   

If you think about it, nudity is permitted in many common situations:

1. Undress in a locker room
2. Shower without clothes at home or in a locker room
   
3. Undress and do all sorts of naked posturing for a doctor
   
4. Be clothesfree, wearing just in a towel, at a spa
5. Get undressed at a dressing room in a clothing store
   
6. Be naked inside your house as long as the windows are closed
7. Be naked in your garage as long as the windows are closed
8. Possibly be naked in your yard if it is fully enclosed are you are concealed
9. Be naked all of the time if you are a non-human animal
   

In contrast, there are places in the US to be naked 100% of the time. Nudist resorts offer this comfort as do a handful of beaches.

Swimming without a soggy bathing suit is the way to relax.

Nudist resorts allow you to do a lot of the activities not allowed elsewhere.

For example, we've now dined several times in nudist resort restaurants while in the nude. Fun as long as you don't spill anything hot!

Play nude volleyball. Hike nude. Bike nude. Camp nude. Many nudist resorts offer these types of activities.

Europe has even more opportunities to go without restrictive clothing. Topless bathing is the norm and many places are clothing optional.

Then there's the naturist village of Cap d'Agde, France. That place is cool. Shop in the nude, dine in the nude, swim at the beach in the nude. I've mentioned Cap d'Agde here a few times.

Sun Ridge Nudist Resort in 43 words:

Sun Ridge is like being at a family picnic at your new neighbor’s house. You don’t know anyone, but everyone is friendly. You have a good time. However, unlike your neighbor’s house, the people at Sun Ridge have a distinct absence of clothing.

The more complete story:

The fun of nude recreation is going new places that you know very few people in the world get to visit.

Located in Sterling, CT on the Rhode Island border, Sun Ridge Nudist Resort is a simple place to spend the day clothes free.

Sun Ridge lacks the elaborate architecture, fancy dining and entertainment facilities of other nudist destinations. Still, the nudist campground makes for a fun day trip or a good, laid back weekend in a rented trailer. Some people even spend the whole summer there every year, while others make this their first-time experience with nude recreation.

Sometimes all you need is a well kept but rustic nudist campground with a friendly atmosphere. That’s what Sun Ridge provides.

Trip report:

We visited on a June weekend on a day when the weather forecast was not so favorable. This also meant a lot less day guests. Luckily, the forecasted afternoon thunderstorms never materialized and we had a good day of nude recreation.

As day guests, we arrived knowing that Sun Ridge does not have any dining options except for special events. This was just an average weekend so we brought lunch with us.

You can sit down with your picnic lunch by the pool area where there’s a rec hall with picnic tables inside and outside. There are a few picnic tables by the tennis courts too, a short walk from the pool area.

We ate inside the recreation hall, a rustic structure that houses a billiards table and the aforementioned picnic tables. Some Saturday nights the place transforms into a dance area. And for some events, the rec hall has a kitchen area where food is prepared.

Afterwards we played at the billiards table for a while. Then, we spent a few hours in the pool area with trips from the cool pool to the heated conversation pool.

A little later we wandered to the tennis courts. If we had wanted to play tennis, the courts were open and well maintained.

We got dressed and left around dinnertime and headed to a casino for dinner. About 45 minutes away are 2 of the world’s largest casinos, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun. Both places have many dining options to choose from.

While pretty laid back places compared to Vegas, going to a casino after relaxing all day at Sun Ridge is a contrasting experience. It’s at the casino where you start to reminisce about the friendly and respectful people at Sun Ridge.

Sun Ridge is within a few hours of anywhere in Southern New England. Give it a try!

Recent nude runs at nudist resorts have had a positive turn-out from participants of all ages. Lake Como had over 100 participants and Paradise Lakes about 80. Many more nude runs are planned this year at various AANR-affiliated nudist resorts in the United States. Streaking is in.

According to the Fitness Buff Radio Show (nude radio show) e-Newsletter:

"More than 100 runners turned out for the 15th annual "Dare to Go Bare 5K" at the Lake Como Resort on Sunday, May 6. Fitness Buff host Pete Williams finished in 22:06. Co-host Sabrina Vizzari, who lives nearby and created the race in 1993, did not get out of bed in time."

I'll bet Pete now makes fun of Sabrina regularly on the Fitness Buff radio show they do together.


The inaugural Cotton Tail 5K Fun Run at Paradise Lakes was held a few weeks before on April 21st. The race results show almost 80 participants. Not bad for the inaugural event. According to the Paradise Lakes website:

"The inaugural Cotton Tail 5K Fun Run was a BLAST. And, it appears Streaking may have improved some runners times! See how clothes can weigh you down? Thank you for everyone who helped make this fun event happen. We had lots of positive comments and the participants are looking forward to the Sneaker Streaker 5k September 22 at 8:00 a.m."

Upcoming nude runs:

On June 2, Turtle Lake Resort, a nudist resort in Union City, Michigan, will be hosting the annual 2007 Turtle Lake Resort 5K. According to their website:

"If you love to run or walk, the Annual TLR 5K is a must. For those of you who have never participated in this event before, Turtle Lake offers you the new experience of a Run/Walk in the nude. This is, however, a clothing optional event, so nudity is not required for the Run/Walk. All participants will receive a 5K Run T-shirt. Prizes will also be available to the winners. There are several categories in which prizes are given, so there are many opportunities to take home an award."

The event will be followed by a nude minigolf tournament, horseshoe tournament and DJ dance, making for a fun-filled day of activities. Learn more on Turtle Lake's calendar.

For a list of other nude fun runs, there's a good list here.


Try nude running out. I will someday. It's still on my "nude TO DO" list.

Pictures of Wreck Beach, Vancouver's famous clothing optional beach, are hard to find. Like every nudist destination I know of, photos are not allowed of nudists. Correction: After recently visiting, I did not notice any signs prohibiting cameras, though the regulars would probably toss a camera in the water if they saw someone trying to take pictures of others without getting the consent of the subjects first. So no need to worry. This preserves the privacy rights of clothes free beach goers.

Fortunately, travelers have taken photos of Wreck Beach taken during the off-season and when the weather is too cool for naked people to be around.




On a warm summer weekend afternoon, the place is surely packed and much nicer to look at.

Leaving the beach:

“Who are the people in the nudist resort neighborhood? The people that you meet, walking down the street, each day…” (Sing like Mr Rogers)

You may see FedEx and UPS making deliveries to nudist resort residences.

Pictured (via MS maps) is a FedEx truck stopped in front of residences within the Paradise Lakes nudist resort complex. Can you see the truck?


Yes, the person answering the door could have been naked, though may have covered up out of courtesy to the FedEx delivery person.

Especially at larger nudist destinations, here’s other people you may see:

- Restaurant workers
- Clerks
- Cable companies and utilities workers
- Electricians and plumbers
- Emergency and police services
- And many more.

In France at Cap d’Agde naturist village, lots of people do business within the gated naked city. Some were nudists wearing clothes because of the job. Others were accepting of nudists and chose to work in this environment.

The most uncomfortable part for me being naked and buying groceries in a Cap d'Agde store is that the clothed clerk does not speak English very well and I am equally bad with French.

After recently staying at Paradise Lakes Resort and Caliente Resort in Florida, I became more comfortable.

As my wife and I casually walked naked from the pool area to our room at Paradise Lakes Nudist Resort, we were passed by a man driving a garbage truck.

"Hey, did you realize a garbage truck just passed us and we are completely naked?", I asked.

During our first year of nudism we would have been embarrassed. Now, after some years, we understand that the garbage man is just doing his job. He’s probably been to the place many times and has acclimated. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. We are free to enjoy nudism.

I'll bet the man driving the truck wishes he was off from work that day so he could swim in the pool with the nudists.

Later, we saw construction workers building a new house at Caliente. They did not even pay attention to us.

Yes, a nudist resort is the one place where even the “plumber’s butt crack” is not noticeable. Everyone can do there own thing, whatever that is.