Not For Everyone

By Brian Langlois

As long ago as my childhood, I can still remember traveling north on Route 125 in southern New Hampshire. I was always fascinated by the sign just north of Lee, NH, advertising a nudist camp. Note that I didn't know the actual name of the camp, just that it was "nudist".

Even then, I knew that social nudity was not sexual in nature. I was mildly curious, though, because I wondered what would it be like to wander around out in the open wearing nothing. The curiosity would always subside after a few miles beyond the road that led to the camp.

The only other time it would arise would be if a situation comedy television show used a nudist setting as part of its scene or if there were some type of documentary on nudism. Again, my curiosity would leave when the show was over.

A few years after losing my sight, I was working in a local Community college. My supervisor was a counselor who organized para-counseling training groups. As part of the program, the students had the option to visit that same nudist camp. Married couples could spend the night in a tent or cabin, while single men and women could spend the day.

My supervisor answered all the typical questions regarding social nudity. Besides stating that men need not worry about becoming sexually aroused in public, and women feeling uncomfortable about other physical characteristics, he explained that they were all ordinary people.

Individuals ranging in age from newborn, to elder members in their late 80s, of all shapes and sizes, were all quite comfortable and friendly toward new visitors to the camp and the lifestyle. He also added that visitors were expected to sit on towels.

In 1978, I delicately approached my wife with the idea that we visit the Cedar Waters Nudist Village. She was opposed to the idea at that time and said that she couldn't understand how and why people could be nude in front of strangers. I didn't pressure her as I wanted to maintain an escape in case I "chickened out" myself.

For the next few years, I would mention the idea and she would be more receptive each time. At this particular camp, it is necessary that men attend with their wives... no "singles". Therefore, I couldn't go alone to check it out.

We Make the Leap

Finally, in July of 1982, looking at a summer with no plans, we both agreed to go and try out the nudist lifestyle. The camp itself is located twenty-six miles north of where we lived. It's in a rural setting and no public transportation was available. In order to get to and from the camp, we thumbed. To this day, my wife doesn't like people to know that we hitchhiked. Well...we were in our 20's then and didn't have the resources that we have now.

In time, we found various ways of getting back and forth to camp. In fact, for several seasons, we employed the Dial-A-Ride service in our community. Eventually, we found other members in our area to ride up with occasionally and have paid privately as well.

At the beginning of the 1986 season, we opened our used trailer we bought during the previous winter and parked there. We've been using it ever since. In fact, we have had other friends (blind and sighted) come as guests. Some of these friends have adopted the lifestyle themselves and have invited us to nudist parks in other locales.

Mobility has always been a factor. At our home camp in New Hampshire, there are no paved roads. After many years, some very stylish sidewalks have been built in the center of the beach area, making travel more convenient.

Activities such as swimming, sailing, volleyball, horseshoe tournaments, and shuffleboard were among the many activities that happen throughout the summer season. It has been a few years, but when the board game Trivial Pursuit was popular, we would both participate on competitive teams.

Once, I remember, the owner of the camp decided to organize a different game, Win, Lose, or Draw. My understanding was that the game was rather visual, so we excused ourselves from the group. Since that time, I don't believe that game was ever played as a camp activity.

Of course, there were sedentary activities such as sitting in the sauna and hot tubs. These are my favorites as I enjoy the social aspects as well as taking advantage of the opportunity to be lazy for the weekend.

Occasionally, a sighted non-nudist will ask us what we get out of social nudism, as we are both totally blind. I guess it proves that such a lifestyle does not require sight to be enjoyed.

The Negative Side

There is a negative side perceived by us as being the only totally blind nudists at camp. We are keenly aware that our blindness sets us apart from the other members. One of the older members who was helping me with some of the maintenance issues with the trailer, openly referred to us as "the camp project", despite the fact that this gentleman routinely assisted members with mechanical problems.

Another time, while we were standing in the buffet line (neither of us care for buffets), an elder member scolded some disruptive children saying that "It was difficult enough to assist those 'helpless people' than to worry about the mischief of the children". Despite the sting we both felt from this expression of attitude, we continued to participate.

During all of our years at camp, my wife and I have seen many folks come and go. We've always been quite friendly to everyone, but the majority of members seem to cluster into cliques which we are not included in. This year in particular, we have made an observation.

The membership is predominantly couples and families. When a member is widowed or is no longer married, he/she is not required to give up membership. We have noticed that such individuals will often gravitate toward us, engaging us in conversation, etc. However, if, or when that same individual is united with someone new, they have a tendency to lessen their contact with us and become more involved in other cliques within the membership.

In fact, quite often we have been present while couples have invited each other to their respective cabins and trailers for dinner, coffee, etc. We are never invited to such gatherings. Therefore, I believe that there is a definite correlation between sighted and blind members.

In fact, I have a hypothesis. I believe that, if one of us were sighted/non-disabled, we would be more accepted and would be included in more circles within the camp, such as dining out and other activities. That's just my theory which I will not have the opportunity to test.

One might think that, if this is typical behavior among members, why do we continue to stay? We both feel that our desire to preserve our nudist lifestyle outweighs any perceived feelings of rejection.

Winter Time

As nudists, we do not look forward to the cold New England winters. During the winter months, a small sign is placed on the larger CWV sign stating "Clothed for the winter".

In order to maintain the nudist lifestyle throughout the winter, the local AANR chapter called the Sherwood Forest Club organizes nudist activities at private motels. For the most part, these indoor activities have been held in Maine at motor lodges that have a hot tub, swimming pool, and maybe a sauna.

Not surprisingly, many owners of such establishments reject the club's offer to book the accommodations for a given weekend. I remember hearing of one such owner say, "we're a family oriented business". In such cases, we usually end up at a nearby competitor's place, just down the road!

We, as a couple, have lessened our activities with the club during the winter due to a lack of transportation resources. The couple who originally organized the chapter used to live in a nearby town and would give us rides. Since then, they have moved away.

The succeeding officer suggested to us that "if I were you, I would let my membership lapse" because of the unavailability of transportation. While it's true that there are members of the club who live in our area. (one such couple lives three units away in our condo complex), they can never tell us in advance if they will be attending the event or not.

Despite this, we are still able to enjoy a New Year's Day gathering at Cedar Waters. It has become a tradition to have a sauna party to kick off the New Year. While clothed at the potluck luncheon in the clubhouse, we will make our way to the sauna where we can practice our nudism. A few brave (if not crazy) souls will chop a hole in the ice on the lake and will immerse themselves. Some will go for a quick roll in the snow and run back into the sauna.

Other Places

I have visited other nudist parks in various states and, in addition, visited a resort in St. Martin in the French West Indies. This particular facility, called Club Orient, had many visitors from the United States, as well as some European countries. One of the most memorable activities was our ride on a catamaran.

Looking back, I remember signing up for the excursion on the day before the event. The skipper dropped by our place to ask us a few questions about our participation on the cruise. He seemed like a nice guy, but it appeared that he was subtly trying to talk us out of going.

Well, we did go and had a great time. There were about twelve of us on the cruise. We sailed to a deserted island and spent the afternoon there. Although many of the guests were drinking a bit, we still had a great time.

At one point, we noticed another vessel of non-nudists coming ashore about 100 yards up the beach from us. I couldn't get anyone to accompany me to visit the guests and welcome them to the island, though. I still remember some of our more vocal passengers shouting to them as we were leaving "bathing suits are for wimps!"

The staff at Club Orient was quite nice. Without realizing it, I had reserved a small condo which was off the beaten path. Therefore, it would have taken me some time to learn my way from the dwelling we were staying in to the beach area. The management, without being asked, offered us a beachfront unit at the same price. Indeed, it was well worth it.

One of my favorite activities is cooking on the grill. I requested a grill from the management and they readily provided it. Unfortunately, it was charcoal, not propane, and I have a more difficult time with those. I'm used to the convenience of lighting the gas. When it got to be dinner time one of the staff appeared from around the corner (what a coincidence!). He offered to get the coals burning, and I accepted his assistance quite happily.

Someday we will return to St. Martin. It's a great place for nudists to get away to during the winter months.

Although we don't advertise the fact that we are nudists, we are not ashamed. It's a way of life that we both enjoy and realize that such a lifestyle is not for everyone. If anybody would like to know more, contact the American Association for Nude Recreation (AANR) at  http://www.aanr.com for more information.

Brian Langlois is a 45-year-old native of Massachusetts. He had a choroidal hemorrhage in 1975 that resulted in complete and sudden vision loss. His background is in Human Services, and he has worked as a Program Director, Disabilities/ADA Coordinator and Tech Support at various agencies. You can email him at blanglois@delphi.com.