June: A Month for Nude Weekends

The past weekend(s) was quite a high time for naturist and non-naturist nude activities.
As the logo above shows, the Naturist Association of Thailand held its 4th International Naturist Conference. I attended the previous conference last year, but unfortunately, due to other commitments, I could not travel to Thailand this June. NATCON is a true naturist event in one of the few Asian countries which has real naturist hotels. Even though, just like in most other Asian countries, public nudity is banned and there are no official clothesfree beaches, Thailand does allow naturist hotels with swimming pools as long as the activities are isolated from the outside world. The Bangkok area, Pattaya and Chiang Mai all have true naturist hotels.
In other news, last weekend also marked World Naked Bike Ride day in many parts of the world, including London and Manchester in Great Britain. While not real naturism, the activity does increase acceptance for non-sexual public nudity, as it allows men and women to ride bicycles naked through city centers. The original aim is to decry the lack of respect and support for environmentally friendly bicycles and to call for a reduction in the use of fossil fuels, but the event has grown into a worldwide nude festival, in the style of Spencer Tunick's photography marathons.
A third recent event related to nudity was the Free the Nipple gathering on a Los Angeles beach, calling for "topfree equality," the right of women to go without top there where men are allowed to do the same. After the movie "Free the Nipple," the movement has expanded to take root in places as different as Iceland and Taiwan, where a group of young women has been printing and distributing stickers. More about that in a later post.
While some of those events have made the media, it is also important to note that even when nothing is going on, the press can still put naturism in a positive light. The British newspaper The Daily Telegraph is generally regarded as conservative, and it does support the Conservative Party, but on naturism it has been taking a mature line, often featuring positive reports. The latest was a list of seven nude beaches in the UK itself: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/uk/11675401/Britains-best-nudist-or-naturist-beaches.html
While I still haven't made any plans for my summer holidays and I don't know whether they will include naturism, I wish my fellow naturists a glorious nude summer.

Skinny Dipping

British newspaper The Daily Telegraph had a list of the 10 best places to go skinny dipping yesterday. Each one illustrated by one picture.
If you judged the places by the pictures, then some of them I would definitely stay away from. Any of them having ice in the same place as a nude swimmer for example. I am much too afraid of the cold to even consider taking off my clothes in such a polar environment.
Then there is Paradise and Super Paradise Beach on the Greek island of Mykonos. Famous the world over for its nude beach. But that is just the problem. When you achieve that kind of fame, the emphasis changes from enjoying nude sunbathing to viewing nude sunbathing. In other words, you get more and more gawkers and voyeurs, and the real naturists start leaving in droves. The picture on the site showed a very crowded beach with more men in shorts than naked people. That's always the sign of a problem.
So I would go for the opposite. The first picture is the most beautiful. A quiet beach on the Spanish Balearic island of Formentera, no crowds, just real naturists. Exactly my kind of place. Or maybe just add to that a naturist hotel where I can sit on the balcony naked and write on my laptop at the same time. Gorgeous. I want to start packing my bags right now.
The 10 best spots to go skinny dipping are on view at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/picturegalleries/6645265/Top-ten-places-to-go-skinny-dipping.html