When I was a little kid, I loved being naked all of the time and didn't care who saw my body or who knew we were nudists. When I got to middle school, I started to worry what others would think and that people would tease me, but I still enjoyed being a nudist. It wasn't until PE that my nudist "secret” was exposed. While many of the other boys were embarrassed to shower, I strolled in without a second thought. It was then that the other boys noticed I had no tan lines, and someone asked, "What are you a nudist?"

I answered honestly, and to my surprise, other than a few affirmative comments, that was all that was ever said.

As the year went by, I'd get asked about nudism from time to time, but I learned to roll with it. Sure, there are a few jerks out there who try to make it something to tease me about, but if it wasn't nudism, they'd try and pick something else.

While I don't want to be known as "the nudist," I actually like that I don't have to hide it like I thought I would.

Thomas, 13 – Lifelong Nudist

I’ve been a nudist my whole life, so to me, it’s just part of who I am. It’s not a big deal at home or at resorts, but I don’t really talk about it at school unless someone brings it up. Sometimes some of the boys will find out I'm a nudist and try to make crude jokes about it, but I'm actually pretty good about holding my own when it comes to responding.

I've made more than one boy walk away knowing he picked a fight with the wrong girl.

But really, the novelty for most of my friends wore off in middle school and people are so worried about their own self image they don't have time to think of me being naked with my family.

I will say I feel bad for the kids who didn’t get to experience nudism. To me the best part of growing up a nudist is that I’ve never felt ashamed of my body, and I think that’s pretty rare for girls my age. Being around all kinds of people without clothes taught me early that every body is different and that’s okay. My body has gone through a lot of changes the last few years and I’ve never felt like it was something to feel awkward about. It’s my body and I love it and am don’t feel a need to hide it!

Sophia, 16 – Lifelong Nudist

When people hear that I come from a nudist family, they assume all I do is think about being naked and doing naked things. But, their perception is the opposite of reality. When you are a nudist, nakedness crosses your mind about as often as wearing clothes crosses everyone else’s mind. Other than the actual decision of what to wear (or not wear), it’s just not something you think about. For example, if I’m doing my homework or eating dinner, I don’t think about if I’m dressed or nude unless something prompts me to notice, such as getting food on a favorite shirt or someone wanting to FaceTime to do homework together. Otherwise I don’t think about if I’m naked or fully dressed.

It’s really that simple. There is nothing more to nudism than a greater comfort with your own body, and to hear the jokes and insinuations of inappropriate behaviors can be tiring.

I want people to know as a nudist I am not one-dimensonal. I play guitar. I’m on the swim team. I argue with my little brother. I binge-watch sci-fi shows, get nervous before big tests, and get my heartbroken just like everyone else. None of those things have anything to do with whether I’m wearing pants or not.

I’m not trying to convince everyone to strip down with your family. Nudism isn’t for everyone, and that’s totally fine. But I do wish more people understood that nudists aren’t some strange stereotype. We’re families. We’re people with real lives, real thoughts, real feelings — who just are comfortable in our humanness.

If you are pondering nudism, I can tell you it’s fantastic. I love it. But some of the people you run into along the way may exhaust you with their assumptions and closed mindedness. Noah, 18 – Lifelong Nudist

The first time I visited a nudist resort (14), I was super nervous, so to hide my nakedness, I jumped in the pool and planted myself in an isolated corner, away from the old people.

I felt a bit out of place as the only kid, but that isolation was short-lived as another family came into the pool. I’d only noticed the two younger kids and not the daughter who was my age who swam up from behind and started talking to me like she’d known me all of my life. I immediately began to panic because I was naked around a cute girl for the first time in my life. Another reason was due to the fact that although I was the right height for my age, I was a late bloomer when it came to everything else.

Despite my stammering and stuttering, she kept talking to me until I forgot why I was nervous. We ended up splashing around in the pool with her younger siblings and spending a lot of time hanging out while my family was there. What was cool was that I became more comfortable in my own skin the more time we spent together.

We've been friends for a few years now, and when I asked her about that first time, she laughs and says she thought I was cute and that my late-blooming didn't matter. Adding, “I was the first real girl you’d ever seen naked and all you could worry about was what I would think of your penis? Typical boy.”

I guess she was right. When I think of our first visit, I can only remember her smile and how comfortable she made me feel.

Quinton, 17 – Newer to Nudism

My family didn’t start doing nudist stuff until I was already a teenager, so it was super awkward at first. I didn’t know how to act, or what to look at—or not look at.

Now I love it. I feel way more confident than I used to, and I’ve made some really close friends through the family nudist group we belong to.

I don't really share the fact we are nudists with anyone because I still struggle to bridge the gap between the two worlds. I just don't have that confidence yet to announce that I am a nudist. But then again, there aren't a lot of situations where the question "Are you a nudist?" comes up so it's not that difficult a "secret" to keep.

The one person who does know is my neighbor/friend and she discovered when she came into our house one day to find my little brother and I had the music up full blast and we were singing & dancing while doing our chores, with no clothes on.

I was nervous, but she smiled and said, “Not exactly how Mary Poppins did it."

Still a little tense, my brother piped up, “What? We’re nudists!” And continued to dance. She chuckled at his boldness and that was that.

I imagine most people don’t freak out as much as I think they would, but I'm still going to play it safe for now.

Mackenzie, 15 – Newer to Nudism

I remember my first time going to a nude beach with my family. I was nervous and excited at the same time. When we got there it was actually very chill and just like at a normal beach everyone was kind of keeping to themselves.

The biggest differences between the nude beach and a clothing beach is how much more relaxing it is. Swimming in the warm water of the ocean without wearing any clothes is the best feeling in the world. It's such a fun experience that even my older brother was nice to me!

When I think back on it now I'm not sure what was more difficult for me to adjust to seeing naked people or being seen fully naked. All I know is by the time I left neither idea bothered me.

Chloe, 15 – Newer to Nudism