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Issue Date: December 28, 2003
TRAVEL
Three things you can learn from nude vacationers
By Candyce H. Stapen
Is nudism for you?
Try these steps to see if you're ready to go naked:
1. Sleep in the nude.
2. Sunbathe in the nude in your back yard, if it's screened from prying eyes.
3. Become a "closet nudist" by walking around your house nude.
If you are comfortable with those activities, then ...
4. Spend a day at a clothing-optional resort in your area.
5. Book a vacation at a clothing-optional resort.
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It's resolution time, so we decided to turn to an unusual source for some advice for 2004: nude travelers. Their free-spirited ideals can be taken to heart even by those of us who like to keep our clothes on.
After all, the nude recreation industry has grown from a $200 million-a-year operation in 1992 to a $400 million one, says Carolyn Hawkins, of the American Association for Nude Recreation. As the numbers increase, so do nudists' options. The swimsuit-less no longer need confine themselves to rustic camp sites on tucked-away beaches; nudists now can sign up for upscale resorts and cruises. Here are their tips for travel -- and life:
1. Pack less, travel more. Nudism frees up your budget. "You do not need to spend lots of money on dressy outfits," Hawkins says. "Women find they don't need makeup. No pantyhose, no jewelry." (Items nudists never travel without: a towel to sit on, sunscreen, a hat and a cover-up for cool evenings.)
2. Be easygoing, and leave the psychological baggage behind. To get the most from travel, you have to be flexible. "Travel is an adventure, and being nude is an adventure. It brings you back to the sense of freedom you had as a child," says Donna Daniels, owner of Castaways Travel in Houston, a clothing-optional travel agency. "Nudism is a state of mind, not a state of body. A lot of women think they cannot be nude because they're not a Bo Derek '10.' Then they go nude and find out they are much more beautiful because of their inner self. They find this so freeing that they wonder why they waited so long."
Tess and Bob Hannaford of New Orleans first tried a nudist resort six years ago. Co-owners of a conventions event-planning company, they felt typically nervous at first. "We wore our swimsuits at the pool, but nobody else did," Tess says. "There were flat-chested women and overweight people. No one was ashamed of their body. So after about five minutes, we took our suits off, too."
3. Make friends, not fashion statements. It turns out clothes really don't make the person. "Travel without clothes is the great equalizer; without the trappings of textiles, people are more open," says Amanda Poston, a vice president of Bare Necessities, an Austin, Texas, clothing-optional cruise agency. That's a big plus for Bob Hannaford: "We've been to conventional resorts, and maybe another couple says 'hi' to us in the lobby, but at a nudist place you meet a couple on the beach, and the barriers break down fast. You're literally not hiding anything."
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