I’d been skinny dipping a couple of times in rivers near where I lived in Yorkshire and, more recently, in Wiltshire. I found this incredibly invigorating but couldn’t really enjoy the experience to the full because of the constant fear of being caught by a dog walker or a fisherman. Being caught by a dog walker would probably have been a bit embarrassing but being caught by a fisherman could have been downright painful!
So, in the wonderful, life changing month of May 2008, I found myself on Micro Amoudhi Beach in Southern Crete. I had decided before I left the UK that I was going to go to a nudist beach whilst on holiday and bear all. The waiting was unbearable. For some reason I felt as though I had suddenly become a naturist but couldn’t do anything about it in my home town so I became more and more excited as the trip approached.
A few weeks, a short haul flight and a long haul drive along Crete’s New National Road passed and the big day arrived. My research had told me exactly which beach to go to. I got into my little hired Hyundai and drove there. Would I be able to do it? How many other people would be there? Would they stare? Would I stare? I got quite nervous and stopped in a small village near to my destination for a coffee and to consider whether or not I could really go through with it. I gulped, got back in my car and looked forward to the moment that I would return to nature.
As I walked along the cliff top track I saw the beach, kissed by the mid morning sun. I could see no one else on it. What would I do if I was the first to strip off and it turned out that my guide book was wrong and the beach was no longer a nudist one? I got closer and closer and became more concerned about this. Then I turned a corner and the whole beach was in view, including the part that had been obscured by the cliffs, and I saw two couples and a man who were totally naked.
My heart raced. I was seconds away from realising my dream. I was shaking as I took off my clothes and folded them in a pile. I felt so conscious that I was standing there completely naked in full view of other people. ‘Who cares?’ I bravely thought to myself and strolled down to the water’s edge. I felt the warm sunshine on my body. Not a stitch to constrain me. I walked into the sea. I felt the waves splash against my body . . . against places they’d never splashed against before. I swam, completely naked in beautiful clear water, surrounded by beautiful scenery and bathed in beautiful sunshine. The feeling of liberation from the strains and stresses of my everyday life was absolutely incredible. It was one of the most beautiful moments of my life. Breathtaking!
As I returned to the beach from the water, one of the couples smiled at me and said hello. I smiled back. I smiled all day as the sun became hotter, my body changed colour, the beach got fuller and my fear of being naked in public became more and more of a distant memory.
Continued in next post . . .
If we were meant to be nude, we would have been born that way.
. . . continued from previous post
I spent most of my holiday without clothes on, trying as many different beaches as I could. A couple of beaches I tried did not permit nudism so I lay there in my soggy Speedos after my swim, feeling more uncomfortable than I ever had done in the past at the thought of baring all. I am a naturist now and I plan to be naked for as much of the rest of my life as I possibly can.
If we were meant to be nude, we would have been born that way.
I love reading about people's first naturist experiences, Turnce.
It doesn't matter which forums you visit...there's always a thread.
And what's quite delicious about them is that, although the locations change, the mixed or same sex company in which it was experienced changes, and the age of the participant(s) change, there's always a common theme.
Anxiety. Slight unease. Delight. 'Wish I'd done this years ago'.
I think that if we could take people in the UK out to a naturist location, one by one, on a sunny day, on full pay (what better start to a nude debut than the realisation you're getting paid to sit on a beach in the sun?) and gave them a couple of hours to acclimatise, they'd join in. Most people, when given the opportunity, do. I've met very few people who'd run a mile and refuse point blank to join in whenever they've been planked down in the middle of a crowded naturist beach.
Now...can we fit 60 million of us on Studland Beach? ::)
Now...can we fit 60 million of us on Studland Beach?
Oooooh . . . it would be fun trying! 😉
Seriously though, that very first time was such a wonderful experience of discovery. As much as I love taking my clothes off, I doubt if it will ever be quite as good as on that lovely sunny Sunday morning on Amoudhi Beach.
It's strange to think that until I was completely starkers I was in two minds about doing it. Now I just can't stop thinking about the next time I do it.
I'm sitting here taking my patient record cards out of my filing system in preparation for a day of home visits as a domiciliary chiropodist and it's going through my mind that there's a slight possibility that some of them may be happy to be treated with us both in the nude.
I daren't ask though. If I ask the wrong person I may lose business and my business pays for beach holidays. I'd rather be naked on a beach in Crete than in someone's front room in Devizes!
If we were meant to be nude, we would have been born that way.
Boy of I was nervous during my first tim!!!!
I remember it very clearly, like if it was 30 minutes ago.
It happened in Sitges -Spain - and I spent the whole day sith the front in the sand and the back side to the sun. I was grilled at the end of the day but I wanted to avoid to get a stiff among a lot of people. I am still very proud of myself for that.
And day by day I got used and finally I got also my belly tanned!!!!
Ciao ciao Alex