How it began for me...

[bare-belly]

Years ago, I was watching a program on and off as my parents switched channels, and I heard someone say "STRIP HIM!" as two men on either side of another completely tear the center man's shirt off.

I didn't see anymore, but I heard a man's narraration of seeing him and others stripped NAKED (he made sure to emphasize it), and then he told what happened to them next.

I don't recall it, but I recalled the image and the early narration, and later I got into watching shows about African tribes on public television. Not long after, I began to ponder what it would feel like to be deprived of my clothes, or how it would feel to live every day completely nude.

I never told anyone, since I was very modest as a child. I did not even like sitting in the doctor's office in my underwear. But on pure impulse, I snuck into the bathroom one humid night and after doing my business, slipped off my shirt and shorts. It was only for a minute, but I ran my hands over every inch of my body. That night hooked me, and I soon learned how wonderful a sensation it is to be naked!

More later, but I will say from then on I took every chance I had when I was all alone to get my clothes off and enjoy some nude time. And whenever my next checkup is, whether the doctor is a man or a woman, I will strip bare with no hesitation, but there better be a gown, particularly if the exam room is cold! Otherwise, I have grown out of my modesty.

So, how did this all begin for you?

Bare-Belly

[NudonyII]

I think it kinda starts the same way for people who weren't raised in a nudist home: small sources of inspiration here and there, leading to curiosity about nudity.

For me it really all began at 4, when my Dad took us to a lake in Germany; which as it turned out, was actually a nudist area. I remember seeing a mother and her children, and it struck me as full of life, beauty, innocence and radiance. But I was too shy to disrobe myself.

And then, over the years, there were small encounters while growing up. A home-nudist friend in middle school, running into nudists at the lake in France, nude tribe documentaries on TV...all these lead to me developping a nudist ideology; but with no personal practice behind it. I was just too shy. That changed with a nude beach trip right after college; I was finally able to relive my experience at 4, but this time as a practioner.

[naturistoftheyear]

For me it began by seeing other people living the naturist lifestyle and enjoying it.

When 14, I took an organized trip to Croatia - then Yugoslavia.
The bus back to the airport at the end of my holiday drove through a naturist resort to pick up passengers there. That's how I first saw naturists.

On my next trip to Croatia, I looked for a naturist beach myself and found one on an island. Since then, I've been an enthusiastic naturist, though living in either cold or naturist-unfriendly places has severely limited my 'naturist time,' mostly to a couple of days a year.

[bare-belly]

Nudony, please tell us about your home-nudist mate in school. What did you see or hear about them doing, and were you ever invited to join in?

Bare-Belly

[NudonyII]

Nudony, please tell us about your home-nudist mate in school. What did you see or hear about them doing, and were you ever invited to join in?

Bare-Belly

Okay...
Firstly, you have to place this within the context of a nudity-friendly France, back in the 80's. I'm not saying this could not happen today, in the US; but it is much less likely.

Before I even knew her, her reputation as a free-spirit preceded her. We became good friends via her ex-boyfriend, who was a friend of mine. We started hanging out, going to the pool or lake; and she would always unhesitantly go topfree. At some point, she shared with me her "early" years, growing up on a farm and sharing that she often played nude outside. When she moved to the city, she confined her nudity to her home. I didn't take her too seriously at that point. Over time, her home nudism was evidenced on several occasions: paying her an unnanounced visit and finding her sunbathing nude on her balcony; having dinner with her parents and seeing her walk nude from her shower to her bedroom to get ready for dinner. When I showed up, she would typically throw on a t-shirt or a bathrobe; but usually in a haphazard way that woudn't really cover much of anything. I think she was mindful of my comfort rather than exhibiting some sense of embarrassment. I was one day musing with her parents about her daughter's habit, and they shared with me that is was not unusual for her to have dinner with them completely nude. They just accepted the fact that her daughter preferred nudity at home, and did not bat an eye about it. That was long before I became a nudist; so it never occurred to me to try to share those moments with her. Besides, we were 14-15, and I was not quite mature enough to recognize the benefit of social nudity.

But there is no doubt she was instrumental in my forging of my nudist identity. My early attempts at home nudism certainly were inspired directly by her. I wrote her about it one day, after I moved to the US; and she was definitely "tickled' by the fact that I was one of the few people she knew that "got it". Our friendship has endured over the many years, and I hope I can get to see her when I go to France next year.