Nakations

To many, the mention of nude recreation conjures up images of isolated beach scenes or hippie-style gatherings in a secluded, rustic campground or R.V. park tucked away in the woods. While those kinds of offerings do exist the real boom in nude vacations is coming at the high end of the travel industry, as upscale hotels and resorts, and even some luxury cruise lines, have begun to see the economic potential of the clothing optional crowd, particularly with respect to those who want to shed their clothes but not their pampered lifestyles.

The $300-per-person all-inclusive Hidden Beach Resort, a nude-only luxury hotel that opened in 2003 along Mexico’s popular Mayan Riviera, greets guests with Champagne upon arrival. Beach butlers hand out towels and reading materials to guests relaxing in the nude, while they themselves walk around in discreet uniforms of buttoned-down shirts and khaki pants.

Closer to home for US residents is The Terra Cotta Inn, a luxurious yet affordable clothing optional resort and spa located in Palm Springs, CA, with room rates ranging from $149 to $189 per night, double occupancy. The Terra Cotta Inn which pampers and spoils guests with such amenities as al fresco breakfasts, catered lunches, afternoon hors d'oeuvres, spa services and wonderful mountain views, has been named a favorite couples getaway by Los Angeles Magazine and one of the top four resorts in Palm Springs by the San Diego ABC television affiliate. In addition to clothing optional specific resorts like The Terra Cotta Inn, several mainstream hotels, including Caesar’s Palace and the Mirage in Las Vegas, have introduced topless pools in the past couple of years.

In 2008, a New York Times article estimated that nude recreation represented a $440 million a year industry, up from $400 million in 2001 and $200 million in 1992 and it’s still growing, says the American Association for Nude Recreation, which promotes au natural vacations as “nakations.” AANR also publishes an annual, North American Guide to Nude Recreation, which offers information on more than 200 clothes-free and clothing-optional resorts, clubs and RV campgrounds throughout the United States and Canada.

The types of nude vacations available have expanded too. Vacationers can now roll out a mat at all-nude yoga retreats, share banana bread with other guests at clothes-free and clothing optional bed-and-breakfasts, gear up for nude mountain biking in California’s High Desert and saunter around the decks of cruise ships chartered specifically for nudists. In Germany, a travel operator has even arranged for an all-nude charter flights to nudist vacation destinations. The naturists take off and land fully clothed, but shed their clothes once airborne. The flight attendants and crew, however, keep their uniforms on.

A number of travel agencies have sprung up, like Bare Necessities Tour & Travel that specializes in booking nude travel. Most nude vacationers say that what they enjoy most is liberation from the typical pretenses of society. According to nudists, when a person doesn’t have any clothes on, you don’t know if someone is a judge or a doctor, a lawyer or a mechanic. People are simply who they are.

Nude recreation, of course, goes back at least to the ancient Greeks, who competed in the Olympics while nude but it wasn’t until the dawn of the 20th century when nudism became organized in America. Kurt Barthel, a German immigrant, the acknowledged founder of American nudism, on Labor Day in 1929 led a small group of individuals to picnic in the buff in upstate New York and organized the first official nudist club, the American League for Physical Culture (present day American Association for Nude Recreation), where nudists paid dues to gather to swim, socialize and relax in the nude.

The one problematic issue with nude vacationing as I see it, is that many of the upscale resorts available to those seeking clothes-free or clothing optional vacation venues, are couples oriented, meaning that single nudists are effectively excluded unless they can find someone to partner up with. This is due primarily to the desire on the part of many resorts to distance themselves from the hedonistic “adult alternative” resorts where it is recreational sex rather than mere nudity that is the focus. Still increasing numbers of locations can be found with a little due diligence on the part of singles who desire to avail themselves of the opportunities for nakationing.

Many speculate that American’s increasing interest in health and wellness may be one contributing factor to the rise in popularity of clothing-optional vacations. But it is also likely that many people are traveling to nudist destinations for simple ultraistic reasons such as the achievement of harmony with nature. Naturist travel is a form of self-expression that dates back to Walt Whitman and John Muir, as well as Thoreau, all of whom advocated being as true to yourself as possible and the truest you can be is taking off those clothes.