Escape to your beginning.

The following contains graphic nudity. It is intended only for mature audiences

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So...I went to a Nudist resort the other day...

I got the idea from the fact that I've always wanted to hike out in the woods in my birthday suit, but knew that would be not only illegal, but dangerous here in the real world. I google it thinking there would only be something like this in California. Well apparently Texas has them. 3, in fact. They are all over the country, in nearly all the states. They call them Naturist Resorts. A safe play where you can shed your outside layer that both binds you and constricts you from feeling free.

 

I fit right in right away. I have no trouble being in the buff. I'm comfortable and spend a lot of time this way, on my own alone in my house. When you live alone, it doesn't take you long to realize that you don't have to wear clothes if you have no roommates. Nothing's stopping you. After being buzzed in through the front gate off a private country road in the middle of nowhere and checking in to my little tiny one room cabin, I immediately with ease shed my clothes, grabbed a towel and sunscreen and headed for the pool. I picked a weekend where there weren't any events going on, nor was it a major holiday. At one end there was a pool full of people playing water volleyball. On the other end was a much quieter pool with just a couple people sunbathing around it. I would say 90% of the people are husband and wife couples in their late 50s-60s. So basically it was like hanging out with my parents. I'm kidding. I wasn't raised in a nudist home and I'm glad for that. I feel comfortable in my own body so it wasn't weird for me, but it was definitely jarring... ok one male in particular was jarring. I swear I panicked for a second because his monster snake scared me to death and he chose to stand there proudly by the pool, next to his sunbathing wife, for most of the day. Why? I have no idea. My guess is to show it off. I was not impressed. Terrified is more like it. I covered my face with my hat and floated into oblivion. So other than that, it was a very pleasant and comfortable experience. I would say everybody there knew each other, and many couples lived on the land, retired. They let me be but they also gradually introduced themselves here and there later on in the day. I was grateful to be left alone. I just wanted to relax, but they weren't overbearing when they did talk to me. They talked about how safe the place was, and I believed them. It felt very safe. There was a lot of land but it was closed off by a fence and no one can come through the gate without letting them know ahead of time you were coming, with a reservation. There are rules to sign and no flirtation is permitted. They will kick you out and the old grandmas that run the place won't put up with any shenanigans. I felt completely safe. I had no qualms about wandering in the woods all alone  It was the perfect weather day- 79 and cloudy and after my first stop, the pool, I put on tall socks and tennis shoes and sprayed myself down with bug spray and began walking the trails. There were gorgeous wildflowers everywhere and cacti with flowers on them. Pictures are not permitted for obvious reasons, but it didn't stop me from taking pictures out in the woods of  the beautiful nature all around me. Between repeat trips to the pool and the woods, my day was full. One of the things I noticed was that time moves slower out there. Usually a Saturday back at home goes by in a flash. I blink and it's over. But out in the country, out in freedom, I would check the time and see that no time at all had passed, in a good way of course. I had the most relaxing day ever. I even saw an owl fly by.

I went back to my room to rest and actually put on my pajama bottoms. Maybe I was a little chilly from the pool and the fact that it barely broke 80 that day and the sun wasn't really out much. Or maybe it was like overexposure. When you do something too much, you kind of need a break from it, even it's a good thing that you like. When 6:30 rolled around and I was invited to the pot luck dinner the people that live there were having, I wasn't sure I wanted to go... but the mac and cheese I had made in my room's microwave wasn't going to cut it for dinner, and my hunger won out. That was the first time it felt weird to take OFF my clothes that day. I had been wearing pajama bottoms in my room and felt like I "had" to take them off when I went to dinner, because it's not "clothing optional" here, it's truly a nudist resort and required, well except in the case of the weather. I carried my pants with me to the meeting room up where the office and pools are. I immediately saw some women in long shirts and promptly put my pants back on, saying I was "cold" but in my defense it was chilly in there. Standing in line for food behind naked butts, is not as fun as it sounds. I hadn't been this close to people all day and I was pretty uncomfortable, but again I was starving and the food was delicious. One of the ladies took my bag and forced me to sit with them at their table. All couples, all born in the 50s, one of them told me. "Great," I thought, "I'm sitting at a table with nude people my parents age." But like anything in my life, I quickly adapt and adjust. I've had to work with so many different types of people and all kinds of challenging personalities, that a few nice naked older people isn't going to scare me away. I felt good in my pajama bottoms and was glad I made that choice to wear them. Like I said everyone is very easy going and comfortable. This is their lifestyle, for the majority of the people there, and I was just in their world. So they never looked at me weird or even looked at me other than at my face if they were talking to me. I was really lucky to have been with the kind of people that were there. It's different depending on the place... from what I hear. (Oh and people are required to sit on towels everywhere, just in case you were wondering). I made it through dinner and after a little more hiking and pool time, oh and hot tub time, I retired to my room. Despite the fact that I was invited to sit on the porch of some of the people that live there. Like I said, super friendly, but I was exhausted... in a good way. Damn it I forgot to look at the stars. I had the chance. I was in the country with no lights, but The Big Bang Theory was on TV and I let myself be lulled into a trance of which I couldn't break out of. And after the ghost in the room stopped controlling my electric toothbrush, making it go off and on randomly (true story, I have NO idea why it was doing that. It had never done it before and it didn't when I got back home, but whatever), I fell asleep... hoping I wouldn't be haunted in my dreams by that guy's monster snake. Thankfully I was not. (Hey I did warn you this post had graphic nudity).

The next morning, comfortable once again, I take a hike in the woods, ditching my pants along the trail. It was only 69 (haha 69) but hiking and the imbedding humidity was making me warm up fast. I thought to myself- "this is what hiking was missing all along...nudity. Just don't forget the bug spray and apply it liberally." I cooled off in pool, reaching maximum relaxation. I'm talking 2 massages in a row, relaxation. And then your mom texts you: "What are you doing today haven't heard from you."
Sounds like a normal enough text right? Well not if your mom literally has never texted you that before in your life, and now it feels like she knows... and I didn't tell her where I was going because I knew she wouldn't understand. And because even at almost 35, a child never stops wanting their parents approval. And they never want to disappoint then. Granted, I had voluntarily put myself on her "Find Friends" APP, so technically she could know where I am all on her own. (I did it in the extremely rare case I was ever kidnapped, or lying in a ditch with my phone in working condition). But she might not know what "Naturist Resort" means. I text her that I was out in the country in a cabin and that I'd see her next weekend. She seems satisfied with this response. Whether I tell her all about it, or leave out one very important detail... well, that's still to be decided. Between that text and one from a highly educated, higher socioeconomic status, Mother of a baby that moved out of my area and was texting me about why she hadn't heard from the other program...ON A FREAKING SUNDAY MORNING!!! I took a deep breath, swam under the water froggy style, enjoying the pool all to myself and letting everything go, for good, before I had to leave this wonderful, magical place.
I left feeling refreshed and renewed. I left feeling a little sad that I didn't meet anyone special... or anyone near my own age...despite not going in expecting that and fully expecting everyone to be a lot older, and married (I was exactly correct in that thinking). But I left feeling good nonetheless. I will definitely be returning to this bubble out in the country, where you can return to the state you entered the world in... and I don't just mean in physical form. I also mean in a state where the troubles of the world are not yours... not yet... not at this moment. You are just you. You are just nature. You are just the earth, the water, the land, the trees, the flowers and the stars. Nothing defines you out there. I love that place. I couldn't live there like those people do, but it's a fantastic place to visit. It's an amazing place to get away from it all and strip down to the very basics. To remember who you are and why you are and how incredibly amazing you are. Because not only were you brave enough to go be in this place where you return to the beginning... but you also had the intuition to know that you needed to be here in the first place.