Through a Naturist Lens

We have been in Costa Rica a couple of weeks. We have a small condo in a gated community. We are very close to the beach, just two blocks away. We have a small private space behind the condo where typically one would hang clothing out to dry. I have taken to using this space for nude meditation and sunbathing with the blessing of my wife. After all, no one can see over the eight-foot high walls of this small space.

I took this photo above in hopes of somehow turning it into a version of the Vitruvian Man. It is the first full frontal photo I have taken, something that I wouldn’t have thought of in the past. Something is shifting within me. I am becoming more obsessed with finding time to be nude. That obsession is psychological. This is the second year of my retirement and I am still trying to carve out a new way of being and living.

This blog site is part of that new way of being. I realise that by putting this into the world, others whom I don’t know will be seeing it. But more important to me is the fact that I can look at the post as an observer. My psychological nature is always searching for ways to understand myself and others. Daring to see myself “fully” is daunting and revealing. I truly wonder what I will learn and if it even matters. Oh, and by the way, here is the version of the Vitruvian Man that I ended up with using a photo editing program, I call it “The Man in the Moon.”

This is my first “selfie” taken on the southern shore of the Gulf of Mexico. When I went for a solo walk this morning, I was feeling antsy. Our place along the shore is not very private , so other than in the Casa, nudity is a rare event. Even in this instance, because I just didn’t know if I would be seen, I kept my shirt on when I emerged from behind a dune to approach the sea.

Still, I do find time to sit nude in the sunshine, out of view, usually to meditate. I just don’t take photos of these events. One of my special times that has become quite regular, going for walks in the mangrove swamps not far from the casa. Like in the above photo, I walked only wearing a shirt when walking through the laguna. At times, I could have been seen by passing motorists on the one road that led to the small city of Progreso, Yucatan.

Will I become more adventurous and risk being seen without any clothing in the future? I have no problem going without clothing, in fact it is my preferred way of being. I just have issues with feeling safe.

We both got contracts to teach at a university in China following my retirement for the second time this past summer. We have finished the first term of exams and are enjoying a six-week break until the second term starts. The terms have sixteen weeks of classes and the second term always starts after the Chinese New Year. Because I had managed to connect with a Chinese woman called Jenny from Shanghai through an expat group. Jenny is her English business name, not her Chinese name. We were able to rent a condo from her for most of the term break, a condo in the city of Sanya. Now Sanya is considered to be China’s version of Hawaii. And the place is living up to that claim in our opinion.

My time for being nude is limited by me, to time spent on the balcony. There weren’t any nude photos taken by my wife [I don’t take them of myself] so I am only bringing a photo taken where I am nude beneath the dressing gown. I did get to do an evening skinny dip in the South China Sea thus keeping my record for skinny dipping in every suitable location possible. I did, however, get a photo of three youths doing this during the day time.

I took the photo a week ago along with many other beach photos of Chinese people. The strangest thing is that most people were dressed as if it was winter, which technically it is. While my wife and I were strolling the beach in bathing suits, many of the locals were wearing winter jackets. It didn’t make any sense to us since not everyone was dressed for winter.

Once we return to Changzhou and the university, there will be no time or opportunity for nude time. We have a busy schedule with teaching, social interactions, and exploring a whole new world.

This image was taken by my wife, not the first image she has taken of me while I was nude in Cuba during this two week Christmas vacation at an all-inclusive resort in Veradero. My face betrays my mood. I had just been informed that my services as a principal was no longer required as of the end of the current school year. I have more than thirty years service, so it is a signal that it is time for me to retire. Somehow, I don’t feel like retiring.

Cuba. We aren’t staying at a nude resort or a clothing optional resort. However, it is an adults only resort. Almost every evening for the first few days we went skinny dipping into the ocean. And when we were in our small suite, I rarely wore any clothes. This was our first out-of-country holiday on our own not counting a trip to Tampa, Florida in 2001. In 2001 it was all about a trip to Disney World which we had won in a “calendar travel draw.” That trip had no skinny dipping activity.

We had been to Europe five times with school trips. Skinny dipping in the Mediterranean Sea happened in each of those trips in Nice, France once darkness had fallen. Skinny dipping had been a family affair for us as we raised our children. There was rarely a trip to any lake during warm weather than didn’t include swimming nude in the dark. At times, even some of our children’s friends would join in.

Back to this trip to Cuba. This trip is different. There are photos. It was her fault as she took the first photo. I got my revenge and have more photos of her than she has of me. Despite our mutual disappointment about my future, we are making the best of our time here in the Caribbean, including snorkelling and golfing. Yes, we brought our golf clubs with us. We needed this trip.

In case you are wondering, no I am not going to post photos of my wife. This is my story, not hers.