Do you have to be a naturist to visit a naturist resort?

We imagine that you're shouting "YES, of course", after you've just read the title question of this blog post. If you're not a naturist, why would you want to visit a naturist resort in the first place? There's nothing for you there, unless you have very un-naturist intentions which make you even less welcome.

Our answer is a bit more complicated, as you probably imagine since we're about to spend a whole blog post on this topic. It all comes from the fact that we keep meeting people on nude beaches who don't see themselves as naturists (or nudists for that sake). Going naked on a nude beach is just something they do, something that doesn't need further explanation, something that doesn't necessarily have to put them in a certain category.

Three women go to the naturist resort

In one of our previous videos, we interviewed a number of visitors at a naturist resort in Belgium. Among the interviewees was a group of three young women in their early twenties for whom it was the first time that they came to a naturist place. They had been visiting nude beaches together for years, but a holiday at a naturist resort had always seemed like quite a big step.

The reason for that was that they didn't consider themselves naturists and that they thought that naturists are expected to be always naked. An idea that seemed rather daunting than pleasant. They appreciated the joys of swimming and sunbathing naked, but being naked all the time? Maybe that was a bridge too far. Interestingly, they actually were always naked whenever we saw them around the resort.

This makes us wonder. They had been brave enough to give the naturist resort a try. But how many others are out there who also visit nude beaches but might never go to naturist places because they don't feel like naturists. Or better, because they don't feel like what they think naturism is all about.

What is naturism all about?

Some time ago, we saw a tweet in which somebody explained why the woke movement is very much connected to naturism. We don't remember the specific arguments, but it surprised us how easily people add aspects to or remove them from naturism, according to their own principles and philosophies.

This isn't something new, by the way. Early naturism was very health-centred, and the consumption of drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and meat was banned in the first naturist movements. How many naturist clubs or resorts still exist today where you can't enjoy a beer or a steak?

Truth be said, this early naturism still exists today. There are people who say that we are not naturists or even call us hedonists because we regularly appear in our pictures with an alcoholic beverage and because we obviously take planes or other polluting ways of transportation to get to all the naturist places that we visit.

If back in the day when we set our first footsteps on a nude beach, one of those people had been our point of reference, we'd probably never considered visiting a naturist resort. We'd figured that we could never become naturists because even though we enjoyed being nude, we thought it was even better with a drink.

Who defines naturism?

Today, given the popularity of our blog, we imagine that for some aspiring naturists, we are the first point of contact. Well, we hope so, because one of the main reasons why we started this blog was because we disagreed with how naturism was often pictured and we wanted to show the world our own perception. We wanted people to see naturism how we saw it, as something liberating and fun instead of a movement with strict rules and lots of dos and don'ts.

Maybe this makes us part of the problem. Naturism today, means so many different things. For some, it's all about body freedom. For others, it's all about being one with nature. Someone else will tell you that the empowering effect of putting yourself in a vulnerable situation is the most important. That person on Twitter said that being woke is important in naturism, and we keep saying how enjoyable and comfortable it all is.

If you listen to all of these people, the chance that you will identify as a naturist is very small. If you only listen to one of them, naturism might either sound very attractive to you or just not. It's not surprising that some people are reluctant to visit a naturist resort just because they didn't get all the right information.

Has naturism become obsolete?

We often feel that all these different perceptions of naturism obstruct its growth. On many late evenings, we have been musing about whether we couldn't use another term, one that is more inclusive and doesn't carry that heavy historical baggage. Nudism obviously comes to mind, but this term has a similar history of moving in many different directions.

Years ago, we tried to introduce the term "nudie" on this blog. A "nudie resort" does sound more welcoming than a "naturist resort". Or maybe "nude resort", which sounds a bit less childish. It was not a very successful idea, mostly because this confused people. So what are these nudie resorts about then? Is it just about being naked? Is it about sex? Can you swing there?

That's when we realised that the advantage of using the term naturism is that everyone immediately knows that it's about non-sexual nudity and about treating each other with respect. The main pillars, so to speak.

The resorts set the rules

This is how we see naturism. The main pillars are universally recognised and should be respected by every venue that calls itself naturist. The blanks are free to be filled in according to what you think is important. But naturism should never be promoted with the blanks already filled out as the one and only form. We think that naturism is fun. If you think that it's dead serious, that is totally fine. We imagine that some will agree with us and others with you.

We are writing this blog post during our last days in South Africa. This morning we left a resort called Kiepersolkloof and this afternoon we arrived at another resort, SunEden. Both resorts make an excellent example in this case. Kiepersolkloof is the kind of place where you go for rest and silence and for being indulged in endless nature. SunEden, on the other hand, is a much more social place, where people like to get together and with a bar with weekly parties.

Although these resorts are just a couple of hours' drive away from each other, they filled out their blanks quite differently. Some people like the Kiepersolkloof naturism more than the SunEden naturism. And vice versa. Some people like both, depending on their mood. And we imagine that many people who don't like to call themselves naturists could have a perfect time in one or the other.