On the day hundreds, or even thousands, of people are preparing to cycle through the streets of major cities, including London, naked for the World Naked Bike Ride, we also want to throw a light on a development in the world of naturism.
Our Real Naturists of the Year 2017, Belgian couple Nick and Lins, are already famous for their blog Naked Wanderings, relating their naturist trips around the world, which recently also hit Thailand.
While moving around California and Mexico, they still found time to launch a new initiative: NUDE, or the Nudist's Ultimate Destination Explorer.
Both owners of naturist 'areas' - could be hotels, B&Bs, campgrounds, anything that once used to be known by the oddly historical term of 'colonies' - and their visitors can register and offer suggestions, descriptions, comments on one website - https://nudexplorer.com.
The aim looks like being a kind of online version of world naturism guides - a list of naturist accomodations and areas around the world including relevant details, about location and transportation, whether "clothing optional" is allowed, and other useful information for a potential visitor.
In my personal experience, there are always surprises: at some naturist resorts, the restaurant is textile - which means you have to go back to your room and dress or undress before and after each meal - in my humble opinion, an annoying waste of time. Some naturist hotels also allow visitors from outside to live as a naturist during the day for a fee, which is useful if say, you already have your own place in the neighborhood but no official naturist beaches, which can happen in places like Thailand.
All in all, any initiative like NUDE deserves our encouragement.
If you are cycling today in one of the many World Naked Bike Rides, good luck to you, but you can also think one step further - and plan a total nakation, a weekend, or a week, or two, when you don't have to be concerned about wearing clothes at all.

Paper and Oil

Paper and oil broke the Internet.
That was the intention anyway. Until last week, most of the world, including myself, had probably never heard of Paper. The magazine, anyway. No idea what kind of content it offered, and still do only vaguely.
Everything changed however when Kim Kardashian had a picture of her naked behind, all oily, go on its cover and around the world. Paper might not have been famous, but Kim Kardashian certainly is. Celebrities used to be singers or actors, people who had become famous because they had a certain talent that helped them sell records and movies. Kim K. does have TV shows, though I never saw any of them, not just because I don't live in the US, but because it's probably not the kind of show I would want to watch.
Anyway, Kim is world famous for being a celebrity, for having married hiphop star Kanye West, and now for having posed naked for Paper, the magazine.
After the picture where the champagne lands in a glass put on her behind, and after the picture with the full behind as it were bursting out of her dress, she also did a nude picture full-frontal.
And it's that addition which landed her on this blog. Many stars, models, entertainers, singers have posed in various stages of nudity, but most have preferred to put their hands or other objects in the way of their strategic places, the 'three points' as the Chinese call them.
Kim Kardashian did not. For that, she deserves our praise. I am not so naive as to believe that Kim K. is interested in promoting the naturist lifestyle, she's not, she's mostly interested in promoting herself, the brand Kim Kardashian. But putting up the courage to have herself pictured fully/frontally naked in a magazine, that's what I call a positive step. It doesn't need to push other celebrities to do the same, but it can persuade more women to value their body and to accept all body types.
As to the pictures themselves, I would have preferred something more natural. A walk along the beach, sitting by the swimming pool. The pictures in Paper are too obviously posed, and she has more oil dripping off her than a naturist would put suntan lotion on the beach.
Sorry, Kim. But for posing naked at all, thank you, Kim.
I shall be picking my Celebrity Naturist of the Year 2014 at the end of December. Let's see if Kim Kardashian will be one of the contenders.