I want to share an experience that I had last week. I made my first visit to a resort.

I was in Washington D.C. for a series of meetings and needed a place to stay. With my wife's (supportive non-participant) consent and blessing, I stayed at the Maryland Health Society (MAHESO) resort. I stayed there Wednesday evening in a little rustic cabin and left early Thursday morning. It was my first formal experience in social nudity. It was amazing.

When I arrived, it was approximately 5:00 p.m. and in accordance with the request that I had made. I was met by a young man in his mid-twenties who was totally nude. I just kept thinking to myself, look at him in the eyes. I successfully did so and managed to keep my semblance of normalcy in an alien environment. He led me to the office where I was checked in by a woman, in her late twenties to early thirties. I was told that there were few people there because it was mid-week and that there were only three other guests than myself. The others there were mostly retired full-time residents. As I surveyed the complex, I was struck by the beauty of it and by its rustic nature. Aside from a swimming pool and clubhouse, one might believe that you were in the 1940-50s. I was also struck by how calm that I was. Very little anxiety.

I was showed to my cabin and had to immediately leave the resort to find a place to purchase food and some towels. They had neither on the premise. Upon returning, I unpacked my car and prepared myself for the upcoming adventure. When I readied by surroundings, I disrobed and found my way to the pool. There were a couple of other men there and we exchanged pleasantries. We talked for a while and I was again struck by how natural it all felt and how non-anxious that I was. I was at peace inside and out. The three of us chatted for a while and they later excused themselves. I was left alone to contemplate my surroundings.

It was when I was left alone that the reality of my situation came to me the greatest. I had the greatest desire for my wife to share this experience with me. I can't explain just how alone it felt. While still at peace, I longed for her to be there with me. It was like seeing the most gorgeous sunrise and having no one to share it with. While still a beautiful experience, it lost some of its luster. I found my way to the pool and took a long swim. The water while cool, felt wonderful on my body. The rush of the water brought back to mind images of skinny dipping with my brothers and friends during my childhood and adolescence. I was truly in my element. The air temperature was in the mid-70's and so toweled off rather than air dry. I then lay out under a cloudy sky and soaked in the environment.

People came and went during the early evening and I tried not to lose any of the moment. I later put on shoes and went for a short hike on one of their trails. The land was virtually flat but trees were everywhere. The ability to commune with God, naked and without pretense was amazing. I felt so alive. I did this regularly during the 18 or so hours that I spent there. As evening drew on, the air cooled and I needed to put on a shirt because my shoulders were cold and it had started to sprinkle. I was still unclothed from the waist down but felt no inhibitions about it. I was invited to an older gentleman's cabin for conversation and I did so readily. We had chatted earlier in the evening and quickly became engaged again. He lives in Las Vegas during the winter and we spoke of our joint love of Southern Utah and the national parks there.

After a while, I heard people at the pool again. The lights had been turned on as it was after dark. I found my way to the pool and to my surprise, there was a family of five there. Actually, it turned out to be three girls and their grandparents. I had talked with Mike, the grandfather earlier and it was through him that I arranged the visit. I joined them in the pool and Mike and I chatted for some time. I watched the family interact and again I missed my own family. I wanted them to be there sharing this amazing experience with me. The water was cooler than earlier in the evening and so I cooled quickly. I was invited by the family to join them in one of the member's hot tub. Mike and I chatted for another 45 minutes. We were joined later by another gentleman after the girls left. The three of us talked a bit longer and I had sufficiently pruned. I was utterly exhausted.

I went to bed that evening and slept deeply, utterly relaxed. I awoke earlier than I had expected. I got up and went for a morning walk, not wanting to waste my time there. Afterwards, I grabbed my toiletries and headed for the clubhouse and the shower. I showered and dried but waited to clothe until I absolutely had to. I packed my car and finally managed to get myself dressed. The thought of sitting through an entire day with tie and coat was not appealing, especially after that experience. The whole day, I thought of going back but had to catch a flight home.

When I left MAHESO, my thoughts kept returning to the short time that I spent there. I was constantly reminded throughout the day of how wonderful it felt. I was reminded every time my tie felt confining, my feet hurt from my shoes, and when I was roasting in the summer heat. I had a hard time keeping my mind on the tasks at hand. The members and everyone that I met at MAHESO did their best to make me feel at home and for that, I will be eternally grateful.

I personally would highly recommend it. It may not have all of the bells and whistles that other resorts do, but I had a wonderful first-time experience there. Delta

I got interested in nudity after I researched the nudity websites like NetNude, Naturist-Christians.org, and Clothesfree.com. I was pleased to learn that it was not dirty or sexual.

I became a home nudist last July and loved it. Since I live with my foster cat, why wear clothes when no one is around? I started sleeping in the nude and found it very comfortable. I had always wanted to try social nudity since last July. After I joined Nude Friends Network, I got many replies! I was invited by a new friend to a social swim event (Southern CA non-landed club) on October 12. I accepted his invitation, but I was very nervous about it. I was told that once people shed their clothes, they became comfortable quickly. I was still fearful, but it didn't stop me from going ahead with the invitation.

The big day came! I packed my two big towels and sunscreen. I was waiting nervously for the friend to come to pick me up. We arrived at the house where the social swim was held. I changed my clothes to a birthday suit in the bathroom and put sunscreen all over my body. I wrapped a big towel around my body and walked to the backyard.

I saw many naked people sunbathing, swimming, and just sitting. As I grew up, I was always shameful of my body due to weight problems. I saw several overweight women who didn't show any self-conciousness about being heavy. People of all shapes & ages enjoyed themselves there without worry. Then I took my towel off and covered my chair with it. I could feel that my anxiety and nervousness did a vanishing act! I just sat enjoying the warm sun and cool wind. I did some sunbathing for a few minutes.

I decided it was time for me to swim - as I put my foot in the swimming pool, it was cold! BRRRR! I braved the cold water as I waded into the pool. After my body got used to the cold temperature, I felt so goooood and comfortable! I loved feeling the soothing action of water on my body without my stupid swimsuit that didn't fit me anymore! It was time for my friend and me to go. I got dressed in the open without being embarrassed! I felt so relaxed and worry-free during that time.

My first time experience was really a pleasant one! My friend and I went to another social swim & Halloween party on October 26. It was wonderful, too! I want to thank NetNude and other nude sites for your support and encouragement! Regards, Liberty :o)

I'm a 41 year old divorced male and I decided to write this out before I forgot all of the details. They say that your memory is the first to go. I'm not entirely convinced of that though...lol. Anyway, here it goes. I suppose that I should start by giving a little background. My brother and I were raised pretty much by just our mother and a couple of stepfathers that passed through our lives at different times. It was basically (as far as my mother was concerned) a traditionally religious upbringing with what I know and realize now as a moderately open, if not quiet, respect for nudity. As I think back now I can recall several times walking in on my mother taking a bath or shower and remembering that she didn't freak out. She would just ask what I needed. I started sleeping nude at a very young age and I actually thought I was getting away with something taboo until my mother brought it up one morning. Much to her credit we discussed sleeping nude in a very easy, mature way. I'm glad she didn't prohibit it but she did set up a few ground rules. Now that I'm older and wiser I realize that there wasn't much my mother didn't know about me or my brother. Go mom..lol.

I was first introduced to skinny-dipping at about 11 or 12 years old when some friends and I went down to the river close to our subdivision one hot summer day to go swimming. As we were rope swinging out and jumping into the river a couple of female friends of ours showed up to swim with us. Of course they didn't realize that we were nude and we hadn't heard them walk up. They stood there a few minutes and we all got real quiet when we saw them. A big smile crossed both girls faces and they also stripped. We guys were in shock, for about 10 seconds, and when the girls jumped in we continued having a great time. After awhile it seemed only natural for all of us to be together naked. That tradition was continued for the next several years, unbeknown to our parents. Most of them would probably have not understood.

As I grew older I became more aware of my body as well as others around me. Due to the fact that nudity wasn't exactly practiced (openly enough) in my house, I was placed in the mind frame that nudity wasn't necessarily a bad thing, just not practiced as a rule. Here is where I see the puritan values of an uneducated society kicking in. When I moved away from home after high school graduation, I got an apartment and nudity was the rule. I had a male cousin visit every once in a while and we would sit around naked on weekends and watch TV. He dated a girl that he brought over several times and I believe that was my first exposure to social nudity even if it was in my apartment. Again, it felt only natural. I joined the military at 22 years old and my naturistic character started to diminish somewhat though taking 5 minute group showers in boot camp didn't phase me in the least. It is probably in the last 5 or 6 years that I have rediscovered my lost freedom of nudity.

As I've traveled throughout the US for one purpose or another I would find one way or another to express my nudism. Unless I was expecting company, motel rooms rarely saw me with clothes on. I dated one woman that was a swim coach for a YMCA in Alabama that had a key to the indoor Olympic size pool and we would go late at night and skinny-dip. It was a freedom that I thought I had lost forever. I would also go camping in a textile camp grounds and late at night I would strip and sit outside my tent just for a short time to enjoy the feel. OK, I should also say that I would ALWAYS find one of the most secluded spots available (as well as one of the darkest) and would normally keep a pair of shorts within arms reach. I wanted to express my nudism but I wasn't being stupid about it. I also had a lot of conflict between my religious beliefs and my nudism. I wasn't sure whether or not I was violating God's will. The church would have said yes but now I'm convinced otherwise and I'm 10 times the Christian now than I was then.

Then one day just recently I discovered a few things that would forever change my life. One was naturist websites showing me where family oriented naturist resorts were relatively close to where I live (very important due to my wanting my daughter and two grand-babies involved) and another discovery was websites that discuss religious beliefs verses nudism. I am now (and most always considered myself) a Christian nudist and God had answered my prayers. I prayed about it for awhile and then decided that if God had not wanted me naked, he would NOT have delivered the websites to me. By the way, I actually stumbled onto them by accident while researching another issue. I looked through several sites and the one I choose was Serendipity Park in the North Georgia Mountains and it was (only) three hours away (relatively close, I thought).

As I was traveling the three hours I had a lot of time to think, and a lot of time to turn around. I decided that this was going to be like jumping into cold water. I could tip toe and take forever to get naked or I would just have to strip all at once and "just do it"...lol. I was shaking as I drove up to the speaker box outside of the gate but I used my calmest voice and pushed the button. Paul came over the speaker and let me in after the introduction. Since I am a single male I had called ahead and he was expecting me. I deliberately wore only a pair of shorts and nothing else. I figured it would make striping that much easier which it did. I drove around the dirt road to the office which circled around the pool. I had never been to a place like this and I nearly drove off the road looking around to familiarize myself with my surroundings as quickly as possible.

I was greeted at the office by Paul as well as several others that I found out later were permanent residence. All were completely naked at this point. OK, I thought, so far everyone seems friendly enough. I got the check-in preliminaries out of the way as well as the abbreviated guided tour and headed back to my SUV to unload and set up my camping site. I took a deep breath and stripped out of my shorts. There I stood in all of my naked glory in a place full of naked people and God himself and I suddenly felt a rush of freedom like I had never felt in my entire life. It was incredible. I even felt like God was smiling down on me nodding his head in approval.

Well, to finish up my story, I set up my camp and started meeting other people almost immediately. The thing that occurred to me that was most curious was the fact that I had no problem at all talking to other nudes and even found it easier talking to them without clothes as opposed to with clothes (mine or theirs). All pre-conceived notions that clothes cause were stripped away and I was then able to get to know the real person. All the things that I had read about acceptance among the nudist community were true. My own body acceptance and self-worth were elevated to a higher level and I also realized that I was just how God intended me to be. Nothing covered and nothing to hide.

If you are thinking about the naturist lifestyle but just not sure, believe me, God wants us to be happy and live by faith and it takes a real leap of faith to take this step. Just be self-confident, self-assured, and come to realize that nobody is perfect on the outside. It's what is on the inside the truly counts.

Brian

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