A naturist’s view on co-workers

Co-workers.

co-workers

You know them. You may actually have them. Those people in the workplace that keep interrupting your dreams work.

How well do you know them? Do you know if there are naturists among them? Have you told any of them you’re a naturist or nudist?

I’ve done so. I always let people know I am one of those people who don’t like going around in clothes. It’s best that they know.

Mixed reactions

Of course there will be mixed reactions. Not everyone is as open-minded about naturism as naturists and nudists. We’re all different people with different backgrounds.

If people want to make fun of your lifestyle, let them. Shrug it off. Be bigger than attacking them on their ways (which making fun can be). Remember that their making fun can also be a sign of their immaturity regarding the subject.

nude at office
Naked co-workers (not mine alas!)

Nudity is still a touchy subject, or perhaps even getting touchier as time goes on. The world seems to become more prudish, so speaking about being naked because it feels so good isn’t always going to sit right with everyone.

For people who feel the need to attack you on this revelation it pays to be prepared.

Questions you can anticipate.

The orgy. That’s an inevitable one because most unenlightened people connect nudism with sex. Stay calm, don’t overreact. Answer: “if you think that’s true, you’ve never visited a proper nudist beach. I don’t know where you got your knowledge but it certainly wasn’t among my crowd.”

Erections. The number one fear for men. Answer: ‘that hardly comes up’. (Yes, pun intended.) The entire nude environment is so non-sexual that erections hardly ever happen. And if ones does come up, they should keep a towel over it, sit down and wait for it to go away. It’s not a big deal unless they start pointing at it and scream everyone has to come and watch. That’s not appreciated at all.

The pretty body problem. Indeed, not everyone has a beautiful body. In fact, barely anyone has one, and yes, on a nude beach you can see that. But remind them that looking at others isn’t why you go to a nude beach or a naturist resort. You go there to be free, to have a good time with nice people while not being bogged down by fabric. If they want to stare at naked people, advise them to go to a strip joint.

Naturist, nudist and the difference. Nudist is more widely used in the United States. Naturist in parts of Canada and most of Europe. The general concept is the same, just the name differs. Of course there will always be people who argue there are huge differences but I’m not going into that here. If you want to describe the difference to a newbie or interested person, go ahead but don’t scare anyone off by going too much in-depth.

What when a woman has her period? All nudist camps, even those which are nudity-mandatory, permit women to wear shorts or bikini bottoms during menstruation. (Please note, however, that wearing only underwear is generally considered unacceptable.) This allows women to go through their period in the same manner they would choose in the textile world. Some women who use tampons will continue to go nude during their period.

I hope this helped

Nudist officeIf you haven’t told co-workers yet, that’s up to you.

Do remember though that you might miss out on a few surprises and some nice, nudist friends among them.

 

A naturist’s view on freehiking (notably in England)

What is Freehiking?

Let’s look at Wikipedia:

Freehiking refers to naked hiking as well as a form of hiking in which the participants intentionally avoid trails and predetermined destinations. This can also be referred to as “wander hiking.”

The most interesting part for us naturists is explained further as:

The term freehiking has been used by naturists for decades to describe the activity of naked hiking. It was adopted by hikers after the sport of freeskiing gained popularity in the 1990s.

Now we’ve cleared up what freehiking is…

had to write this post because my friend Robert mentioned freehiking a few times, and then I stumbled over this tweet:

warning signPlease note the explicit mention of the UK. This is not automatically applicable to any country. This is only applicable when you are in the UK.

If you don’t want to go through the whole twitter-clicking, here is a link to the file in question:

pdficonClick here

If that is too much for you, here are the two sections from the document which are most important for real naturists:

Police action naturists

I think this is a brilliant move on behalf of the police force in the UK. Every country should adopt this – well, every free-thinking country. I understand there will be plenty of less open-minded cultures that will never accept this, but that’s up to them. Unfortunately.

I’m really excited about this development, as will be many naturists in the UK, I’m certain of that. With a police directive like that I can envision an influx of naturists in the UK. It might even do something good for their tourism.

Now, back to freehiking itself.

Have you ever done it? Have you been in the lucky circumstance that you could drop all clothes and just go for a long walk without being afraid someone would see you and make things difficult?

Freehiking in the UK

I’m glad to say I had that opportunity plenty of times. I’ve been out for naked walks in Germany, where the laws are quite relaxed as well, in the UK (even before the police pdf was published) and plenty of times on the Canary Islands.

On Lanzarote I’ve done very long walks even, the longest around 13km (little over 8 miles). The great thing during that actual walk was that I encountered people (walking, cycling and in cars) who didn’t bat an eye. Some actually greeted me.

I’ve been freehiking in Scotland as well. The benefit of Scotland, I found, is that it’s very spacious with very few people. I had a great walk near Loch Lomond.

So what about the United States?

The US is a very large country. Still I keep hearing from many people that it USA Mapis hard to go for a naked walk. It’s something I find a bit difficult to comprehend but I am not from the US of A, so please enlighten me. I’m curious to know what makes it difficult to go freehiking. I understand you don’t do that in big cities. That isn’t accepted in most places. Is it so hard for people to go out into the open where there’s space? Is the US so built up that it’s cities and towns wall to wall, back to back? Or do most people have no car? (Which I find hard to believe, as America loves its cars.)

Do you have freehiking experiences over there? Where did you do them? Were you harassed? It would be great if you can share your opinions to help others.

Interview with Harmen Pordon

natupop

July 28th was the day it was going to happen. NatuPop at the naturist resort Flevonatuur, and the day I’d meet with Harmen and his family.

slecht weer

The drive to Flevonatuur wasn’t promising but everything turned out well in the end. Read on for the interview with Harmen.

Who is Harmen Pordon?

Just a simple,  hard working family man of 30 years from the Netherlands. Naturist since his 18th. Active promoter thereof since 2015/2016. I am married, have 2 children, 1 of whom from a previous relationship. Number 3 is expected at the end of September.

How did you end up in naturism?

After years of being bullied as a child, I asked myself how long I would let my life happen as it did. The answer was pretty simple: not long. I have gone into a self-invented process for years to accept myself more as the person I am and to love myself. When I finally reached my 18th birthday, I was looking for a way to express that. When I came across naturism by chance on the internet and as I read about what it was, my interest was triggered. My love for nature, after years in the Dutch scouting organisation, was unabated and when it turned out that you could experience this more intensely, my last missing piece of the puzzle fell into place.

Harmen and Paul

You have been maintaining a naturism blog for a long time. Unfortunately, you stopped because of your health. Do you want more about that?

When I got some pain in my lower back in the beginning of March (I also had chest pressure) I went to the doctor. After I had carefully detailed my complaints, I was immediately referred to the hospital. There they soon diagnosed thrombosis in both lungs and I was immediately stuck in the intensive care unit. That turned out to be no exaggerated luxury because all in all I spent more than one and a half week in the hospital. It was very critical. When you read my letter of resignation from the hospital, there is literally massive pulmonary embolism. My lungs were completely filled up. There was also an embolism in my kidneys. The thrombosis is not caused by my lifestyle (I am a truck driver and also smoked for years and eaten unhealthy), but because of a problem in my kidneys. I urinate certain proteins, so that my blood already solidifies in my body. The fact that I have been so close to death while I have a young family and a child on the way, was the reason that I already put my focus on it and stopped the blogs. Rather, living life, then recording and sharing life, was my thought at that moment.

How did your wife respond to that dramatic situation?

Pretty intense. Honesty makes me tell that she is in a depression right now. She slowly scrambles up, but because of all that we have experienced over the past 2 years, my recent illness was the straw that broke the camel’s back. She is living a fairly withdrawn life at the moment and focuses mainly on our family.

harmen and paul

How are you now?

Good. The thrombosis is under control due to medication and since mid-June I have been working again completely. Recently I got an infection on my leg, of which in the first instance was thought of hosiery. Since I do not have the corresponding effects, I suspect it is something else. I am currently taking antibiotics to treat the infection. That, too, is a good thing. Of course it was again scaring.

Do you have plans to start blogging again? I know you had a lot of followers on your blog.

My Dutch blog Open & Bloot will come back anyway. It calls to me. In what way that comes back and how Santana plays a role in that, I still have to decide. Also because with us both naturism at this moment still a bit on the back burner because of everything that has happened. The English blog “Bare Thoughts” does not come back. I have already discussed so much there that I feel there is barely any original content to add. It feels closed, while the Dutch do not yet give that feeling. However, the English blog remains online, so my message can still be shared. That is simply too important to remove, I think.

Harmen en Paul

Thank you, Harmen, for this interview!

Interview met Harmen Pordon

natupop

Op 28 juli 2018 was het zover. Natupop bij Flevonatuur. De dag dat ik Harmen Pordon en zijn gezin zou ontmoeten om over zijn leven en zeker over zijn gezondheid te praten.

slecht weer

De weg naar Flevonatuur beloofde niet veel goeds maar het kwam allemaal goed! Lees hier verder het interview met Harmen.

Wie is Harmen Pordon?

Een doodsimpele hardwerkende familie man van 30 jaar uit Nederland. Naturist sinds z’n 18e. Actief promoter daarvan sinds 2015/2016. Ik ben getrouwd, heb 2 kinderen, waarvan 1 uit een eerdere relatie. Nummer 3 word eind september verwacht.

Hoe ben je in het naturisme terecht gekomen?

Na jaren als kind gepest te zijn heb ik mezelf de vraag gesteld hoe lang ik mijn leven daardoor nog zou laten leiden. Het antwoord was vrij simpel: niet lang. Ik ben een jarenlang zelfbedacht traject in gegaan om mezelf meer te accepteren als de persoon die ik ben en van mezelf te houden. Toen ik dat uiteindelijk op m’n 18e bereikte zocht ik een manier om dat te uiten. Toen ik naturisme bij toeval op internet tegenkwam en ik me goed inlas in wat het was, was m’n interesse getriggered. M’n liefde voor de natuur was na jaren scouting al onverminderd en toen bleek dat je dit bloot nog veel intenser kon beleven, viel m’n laatste ontbrekende puzzelstukje op z’n plek.

Harmen en Paul

Je hebt heel lang een naturisme-blog onderhouden. Helaas ben je daarmee gestopt vanwege je gezondheid. Wil je daar meer over kwijt?

Toen ik begin maart wat pijn in m’n onderrug kreeg en ik ook druk op de borst erbij had ben ik naar de dokterswacht gegaan. Nadat ik m’n klachten zorgvuldig op tafel had gelegd werd ik meteen doorverwezen naar het ziekenhuis. Daar kwam al snel de diagnose trombose in beide longen en ik werd gelijk op de intensive care opgenomen. Dat bleek geen overbodige luxe want al met al heb ik ruim anderhalve week in het ziekenhuis gelegen. Het was zeer kritiek, als je m’n ontslagbrief van het ziekenhuis leest, dan staat er letterlijk massale longembolien. M’n longen zaten compleet vol. Ook zat er bij m’n nieren nog een embolie. De trombose word niet door m’n levensstijl veroorzaakt ( ik ben vrachtwagenchauffeur en heb ook jaren gerookt en ongezond gegeten ), maar door een probleem in m’n nieren. Ik plas eiwitten uit, waardoor m’n bloed al in m’n lichaam stolt. De reden dat ik zo dichtbij de dood heb gezeten terwijl ik een jong gezin heb en een kind onderweg, was de reden dat ik daar al m’n focus op heb gelegd en de blogs gestopt heb. Liever het leven leven, dan het leven vastleggen en delen, was op dat moment mijn gedachte.

Hoe reageerde je vrouw op die dramatische situatie?

Vrij heftig. Eerlijkheid gebied mij te zeggen dat ze op dit moment in een depressie zit. Ze krabbelt wel langzaam omhoog, maar door alles wat we de afgelopen 2 jaar hebben meegemaakt, was mijn recente ziektebeeld de druppel die de emmer deed overlopen. Ze leeft op dit moment een vrij teruggetrokken bestaan en focust zich met name op ons gezin.

harmen en paul

Hoe gaat het nu met je?

Goed. De trombose is dankzij medicatie onder controle en sinds halverwege juni werk ik ook weer volledig. Onlangs kreeg ik nog een infectie op mijn been, waarvan in eerste instantie aan wondroos werd gedacht. Aangezien ik niet de bijbehorende effecten daarvan heb vermoed ik dat het wat anders is. Wel slik ik op dit moment antibiotica om de infectie te behandelen. Ook dat slaat gelukkig goed aan. Uiteraard was het wel weer schrikken.

Heb je plannen om het bloggen weer op te pakken? Ik weet dat je heel wat volgers had op je blog.

M’n Nederlandse blog Open & Bloot komt sowieso weer terug. Het kriebelt te veel. In wat voor samenstelling dat terugkomt en hoe Santana daar een rol in speelt moet ik nog bekijken. Ook omdat bij ons beide door alles het naturisme op dit moment nog een beetje op een laag pitje staat. Het Engelse blog “Bare Thoughts” komt niet meer terug. Ik heb daar al zoveel besproken dat ik nog weinig originele toevoeging voel. Het voelt afgesloten, terwijl de Nederlandse dat gevoel nog niet geeft. Wel blijft het Engelse blog online staan, zodat m’n boodschap nog steeds kan worden gedeeld. Die is simpelweg te belangrijk om te verwijderen vind ik.

Harmen en Paul

Dank je voor dit interview, Harmen! Veel succes, we kijken uit naar je volgende blog op Open en Bloot!

 

Best Nudist Escapes Around the World

A guest post by Zack Davisson

Nudist travel
Nudist travel

For many people, a vacation is an opportunity to escape, unwind, and relax. But in a world increasingly perpetuated with an obsession to be “connected” at all times, the care-free holiday is disappearing. How many likes did my photo get? Do I have any work emails waiting? How do I look?

For those seeking a true getaway, sometimes turning to a naturist, or nudist, holiday is the breath of fresh air they were looking for. Surrounded by like-minded people, free of judgment, naturists enjoy the chance to leave the material world behind and embrace a trip consisting only of themselves and their destination. Nothing else. For those looking to throw their inhibitions to the wind, we, along with our friends at AllTheRooms, have arranged a list of ideas for around the world, clothing-free holidays.

Hidden Beach Resort

Hidden_Beach_Resort_By_SunshineIdeally located on the Mexican Mayan Riviera, the Hidden Beach Resort features luxury accommodations all within view of the Caribbean. As an adults-only hotel, Hidden Beach caters to both couples looking for a romantic retreat and nudists looking for a community. The highly-praised staff also host fun events nightly.

Sunland Holiday Village

Sunland_Holiday_Village_by_TripadvisorA nudist take on glamping, Sunland emphasizing everything “au naturel” with a focus not on full-service luxury but rather embracing the nude lifestyle in a peaceful, natural setting. Located on the relatively untouched Limestone Coast of Australia, don’t be surprised if you’re joined on the beach or in the bush by a kangaroo.

La Jenny

La_Jenny_by_Gold_AdvisorOne of the largest naturist destinations in Europe, La Jenny, found on the Atlantic Coast of France, has a family-friendly atmosphere where adults can enjoy a round of golf while the younger crowd enjoy the resort’s Kiddie Club. Outside of La Jenny, visitors take advantage of convenient access to the world-class vineyards of Bordeaux.

Caliente Tampa

Caliente_Tampa_by_CalienteResortsMuch of the United States seems to have notably stricter regulations around beach nudity, but there are some world-class nudists options in the country, many of which are either in Florida or the desert of California. The pick of Caliente Tampa is a nod to those who are potentially looking for a rowdy atmosphere, as the resort enjoys a rich nightlife schedule to go along with its many activities.

Lemon Tree Resort

Lemon_Tree_Resort_by_AgodaThe relatively new Lemon Tree Resort, opened in 2016, has been so successful the owners are currently working on opening another Phuket-based nudist resort in the near future, named Peace Blue. Guests at the Lemon Tree enjoy friendly BBQs, movie nights, numerous nude sporting activities, and day trips to a naturist island.

Vritomartis Naturist Resort

Vritomartis_Naturist_Resort_by_TripAdvisorVritomartis, on the historic and stunning Greek island of Crete, boasts an incredibly welcoming atmosphere. Potential guests are assisted through the booking process based on whether they are first-time naturists, occasional naturists, or naturists with years of experience. Once at the resort, visitors are greeted by ocean views, numerous leisure activities, and a location in proximity to multiple nude beaches.

Zack is a recovering technical recruiter who traded in his suit and tie in Silicon Valley for salsa music and a passion for writing in Medellin, Colombia. When not writing for AllTheRooms you can find Zack with his nose in a book, puttering around nature, or getting ultra-competitive while watching Jeopardy.

A naturist’s view on household

Yup. Household.

We all know it, know that we need it and most of us aren’t too impressed with it. But… it needs to be done. (I think it was John Wayne who first used that but I’m not sure.)

Do you do household chores? If so, do you do them naked? I do, as much as I can. Since I live on the top floor (5th for Americans, 4th for others) of a building, I have the liberty of being naked as often as I like. (And what’s not to like about it when the temperature’s right, right?)

The odd thing I’ve found is that some householdly things are much easier nude. The things where you have to bend down for, kneel for, or squat. Being naked means there is no fabric holding you back. No fabric is pressing up or down onto your genitals or other parts of your body that would otherwise get the stress.

And let’s be honest: doing things naked is just much more fun. More relaxing. Easier. Why drink vinegar when you can have orange juice, or tea, or coffee?

Cooking

Sunday Noon NudistCooking is also something you can easily do in the buff. It’s a matter of being sensible if you use hot butter, grease or other ingredients that can surprise you by jumping out of the pan to hit your skin.

Aprons have been invented for a reason, folks. Cooking nude is fun but being clever about it is just common sense. That is something most textiles seem to switch off whenever you speak with them about being nude around the house. For some reason many of them seem to think that you have to do everything in the nude. I have rules for that. If it’s not necessary to put something on: leave it off. In the few other cases: put something on. As to where the boundaries are for that is up to each of us personally. I for one don’t like boiling water splashing onto my skin but there are lovers of anything out there. 😉

Gardening

Another example of a great nude activity. I don’t have a garden but I enjoy the images and accounts of the yearly World Naked Gardening Day.

What is your preferred nude activity? I listed only a few, I’m sure there are many more!

 

A naturist’s view on the fashion industry

Fashion. Worse than you might know.

Let me tell you something. Second to oil, fashion and textiles is the most polluting industry in the world. Did you know that? I didn’t. I read about it here. I don’t know if you headed over to read the article. Here’s a summary of the facts:

  • It can take more than 20,000 litres of water to produce 1kg of cotton.
  • Up to 8,000 different chemicals are used to turn raw materials into clothes.
  • The clothing that doesn’t sell, falls apart or goes out of style usually ends up on landfills.

Clothes on landfill

Wow. Impressive, isn’t it? According to classiccotton.org 3/4 of all produced clothes end up on landfills. Now that is scary.

Naturism, a.k.a. common sense.

After these figures it’s even more evident that people who prefer nudity are on the smart side of the scale. I hope that all the clothes we don’t buy make a difference. Less water wasted, fewer chemicals all over the place, and less garbage and waste.

Of course there will always be garbage, but I almost fell out of my chair when I read how much junk is created by the manufacturing of clothes. But… did you see the number of chemicals used? Up to eight thousand! And that is used on stuff everyone happily puts on their skin. I’m convinced most of that stuff will be washed out with 20,000 litres (that is almost 5,200 gallons, for non-litre people) of water per kilo / 2 lbs. but still. All that stuff has to go somewhere. Do you trust the fashion industry enough to make sure that any remaining chemical is caught and discarded in a responsible manner? I wouldn’t put my money on that.

dirty secretsAfter digging into all this matter I am even more inclined not to wear clothes as much as I can. We hear about pollution and such every day, but the fashion industry is a market that goes on doing that without anyone batting an eye at it. If we talk about dirty secrets: new clothes have them!

The author nude

A naturist’s view on ‘telling the world’.

Telling the world.

Until a few days ago I didn’t shout my involvement with and love for naturism from the roofs. Okay, I still don’t but a while ago I simply felt I had to do something. That something turned into a blog post on one of the sites I own, a site I don’t use very often. If you want to see what I put up there, please follow this link (which will open in a new window/tab, so be warned). Note that just about everything in that post is stuff everyone of us already knows.

I did this because at times I hear so many bad, weird and wrong things about naturism (and this past week was one of them) that I felt the need to set things a bit more straight via a blog that gets a reasonable amount of attention and which hasn’t mentioned much in the light of naturism so far.

This blog is connected to the evil place called Facebook. That assured me that I would reach a lot of people. Faceborg doesn’t show everything to everyone so this was a long shot, but I think one that paid off. (The post was hardly touched on the big F, as in hardly any ‘likes’ and only a few comments) but the amount of views of the post was impressive.

Will I do more of those posts?

I don't know

I really don’t know. It felt good to do this one. The people who saw this now should be a little more educated about naturism and its benefits, and those who aren’t won’t ever be, so I doubt that hammering them with more is going to pay off.

But it felt good.

A naturist’s view on nipples.

Nipples. The dangerous body parts.

Karate

Nipples are difficult and dangerous, or so it seems. Even more so than skilled karate hands and tae-kwon-do feet.

blurred nipplesNipples – let me rephrase that – female nipples are so dangerous that they need to be blurred on ‘regular’ television and in most media.

What is wrong with them?

Recently I listened to a podcast of the Naturist Living Show about breasts and nipples. The things I heard there were astounding…

In that show Stéphane talked about a plastic surgeon that corrected breasts, either to enlarge them or to make them smaller, but also how a woman was changed into a man. The odd thing, he said, was that – when the patient was still a woman, her nipples were blurred. After the procedure of removing the male chestbreast tissue was completed (note that this was still the same person but now considered a man), the nipples were shown on television without any form of censorship. The very same nipples! Talk about hypocrisy…

Free the nipple.

It’s because of this idiocy (the only word that fits the bill) that I support movements like Free the Nipple.

Free the nipple

Everyone has a body. A body is natural. Why should specific, tiny parts of the female body be regarded as dangerous, illegal, immoral or otherwise be put in a bad light?

Free the nipple. Free the body. Every body.

A naturist’s view on Point Of View

Point Of View

Point of view? For naturism or nudism? How does this matter, you might ask? Well, for me there’s a big difference between points of view. I was struck by that again when I saw a tweet that pointed this out very clearly to me. Maybe, after reading this post, you’ll see my point.

The tweet

tweet about a nude dayThis is the text of the tweet and the image that came with it. You can find the original tweet here.

Well, you may ask, what’s wrong with this? Isn’t this what naturists and nudists stand for? To this I say yes and no. The answer depends on, you guessed it, the point of view.

Yes. Waking up naked is good. There are lots of studies all over the Internet that show how sleeping in the nude is healthy. It’s also most comfortable. The people who sleep naked know this. It’s a valiant attempt to convinced people who sleep all dressed up to try this.

No. And here we switch to another point of view.

The wording in this tweet depict nudity as something extraordinary. Wake up NAKED. Have coffee NUDE. Emphasis, emphasis. Be CLOTHESFREE for the rest of the day. More emphasis. This speaks as if the person creating the tweet also finds these things amazing and out of the ordinary. A mindset that leans towards textilism. (Is that actually a word; a person who thinks the way textiles think?)

My way of phrasing this would be:

  1. Wake up,
  2. have coffee,
  3. and remain #clothesfree for the rest of the day…

A changed point of view

Enjoying my morning coffee

Do you see the difference? My version, the one I’d love to live (especially the third one as that’s close to impossible), comes from the naked mind, the way of taking nude life as normal.

The first one, pointing out the naked awakening and the coffee in the nude, feels to me as if it originates from what I might call a ‘convert’, someone who is trying to live the nude life but still has his or her hooks and anchors in the dressed manner of being.

Challenging the mind

Of course, as you may have understood by now, this is a tournament of the mind. A way to think differently, to embrace the concept of nudity, naturism, the clothes-free life, or however you want to call it in another way.