My First Time
Probably my first foray into public nudity was on a family holiday in the mid-1990s. I must have been about twelve or thirteen at the time. While looking for a rock for my sandcastle I started to wonder how it would feel if I was naked, so once I was out of sight of my family (which doesn't take long on a beach dominated by breakwaters) I just stripped. Simple as that. There might have been a few nerves at first, but apart from that I couldn't have cared less.
I got dressed again before rejoining my family, but a little later I went into the sea by myself and tried it again. I immediately felt that much-cliché'd sense of freedom, and even stayed nude when my mum and (older) sister joined me. Incredibly, neither of them realised there was nothing but water (and their own swimming costumes, of course) between them and me, and they only found out about it after reading this page.
Since then I've often spent time nude when alone at home, both in the house and very occasionally outside in the garden – where I'm sure I must have been spotted by a neighbour or two – but never again in such a crowded public place as a beach. And I still had no idea I was a naturist! That all came about when I found myself on a naturist website one day while surfing the Internet, and after my initial amazement at all the nude pictures (typical teenage reaction...) I followed some links and did some reading. And THAT was when I decided I was a naturist.
Revealing all
I thought it might be useful to include here the way in which I told my family and friends that I was a naturist. To be honest, I took the coward's way out of telling my dad and sister – I sent them an email – though I did tell my mum face-to-face. As for my friends, I left them a bit longer. After not seeing them for eight weeks, the first evening I finally rejoined them in the local pub I was in a great mood and announced that I had something to tell them. However, I didn't have to say much after that, as one of my friends jokingly asked, "What – are you a naturist or something?" so I simply replied, "Yes".
I realise it may be hard to believe, but they honestly had no idea. It was merely a throw-away comment, and just the sort of thing that particular friend would say. What followed was a short stunned silence, then the predictable laughter and silly questions (such as, "Why aren't you naked now?" – remember, we were in a pub). A few of my friends did ask some sensible questions though, and I answered them as honestly as I could. Now, I doubt it would be that easy for everyone to tell their friends, but you'll never know until you try.
I have to admit that the prospect of telling someone new that I was a naturist used to scare me a little, which seems somewhat silly when you consider that I'd been telling the whole world here on my website. But I've since come to accept naturism as just another facet of my personality and I now have little trouble talking to people about my chosen lifestyle.