RV LIFE Podcast
The RV LIFE Podcast, created by one of the premier companies in the RV industry, is for the RV Community with a mission to Educate, Entertain and Explore the RV Lifestyle. The Podcast will explore all things RV Life: living, working, exploring, learning. With host Patti Hunt, full time RVers, content creators, educators and explorers.
RV LIFE Podcast
Top Tips RVing at Clothing-Optional Campgrounds: What You Need to Know Before You Go
In this refreshingly candid episode I (Patti Hunt) sit down with Steve and Steph from the YouTube channel The Naked Nomads, a couple who decided clothing optional resorts was the best type of campground for them. Then 4 years ago they sold it all and started full time in their RV, staying in clothing optional campgrounds. Today they answer the questions people are wondering about the clothing optional lifestyle.
American Association for Nude recreation
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What happens when the campground dress code says none required. I'm Pettie Hunt and you're listening to the RV Life Podcast. Just a heads up this episode does include some adult content, so you may wanna have the little ones not around for this. A little bit about me. Four years ago, my husband, dan, decided that it would be a great idea to sell everything, get an RV and travel the country. After I laughed, I realized he was serious and decided what the heck? And I went along with it and we did just that. For over three years we traveled back and forth across the country three and a half times and it was an amazing experience.
Speaker 1:As a lot of people may know, he became ill a year ago, so it is now just me traveling by plane, by car I think I'm going to travel by train and maybe hop on a boat here and there to travel around. I'm going to try it all and then I stay in campgrounds and cabins and yurts and retro RVs. So I'm experiencing this RV life from a whole different perspective. Now, the other thing that I've added is a YouTube channel and it is called Inspired Travels with Patty, where you could see some of my guests or some of the podcast episodes. You could see my guests, today's guests. I will put on the YouTube channel so you could see them.
Speaker 1:But I do have to tell you that this particular episode there will be no videos at campgrounds that are clothing optional. So sorry about that, but that's not going to happen. Today I bear it all. Well, figuratively, my guest, the Naked Nomads, and I explore the world of clothing optional campgrounds. This has been something that I see often on social media. People talk often about because there's a lot of curiosity around it. So today I decided we need to talk about it. So, steve and Steph, why did you choose clothing optional campgrounds?
Speaker 2:To not have clothes on.
Speaker 1:There you go.
Speaker 2:Just put it like that I hate clothes. I don't like wearing clothes.
Speaker 3:You know how, when the kids grow up in your empty nest and you're like, wow, we can walk around the house naked, well, you get used to that feeling and think, wouldn't it be cool to do that outside? And we kind of happened on it on a whim. He had wanted to try it out for a while and I was a little skeptical about it, but we ended up, you know, diving in and we never looked back. It's the most liberating body positivity experience that you could hope for. It really is. You'll meet some of the most wonderful people, completely nonjudgmental. It's very different than probably most people expect it to be.
Speaker 1:And that's what we're going to dive in, because today we're going to demystify the world of clothing optional campgrounds. But before we do, I do want to share about these five incredible campgrounds. You do need to wear clothes at least when you're outside of your RV, but they are great campgrounds and they are the open road resorts. They have locations in Idaho, nebraska, new Mexico and two locations in Texas. All five of these campgrounds are highly favored parks and they're highly favored by you, the RVers. They're highly favored on the RV Life Campgrounds Review site and you could go check them all out on campgroundsrvlifecom or go to openroadresortscom to find out all about these five incredible parks.
Speaker 1:Today's guest, the Naked Nomads, a married couple on a one-of-a-kind journey across the country, exploring clothing optional resorts and sharing their experiences with a growing community of curious souls. In the four years they have been adventuring, they have met amazing people and helped hundreds of people explore the textile-free world. Through the Naked Nomads website and social media outlets, they offer real-world insights, helpful guidance and honest reviews for anyone interested in the clothing optional lifestyle, whether you're a seasoned naturalist or just beginning to wonder what it's all about. Their travel goes beyond tours. It's a journey into body positivity, authentic human connection and the incredible sense of freedom that comes from embracing yourself and the natural world. Along the way, they've met some of the kindest, most genuine people, proof that when you strip away the outer layers, what's left is the real beauty good souls, open hearts and a deep sense of belonging, sharing the magic that happens when you let go of expectations and reconnect to what truly matters. Welcome, steve and Steph, to the RV Life podcast.
Speaker 2:Thanks for having us, thanks for letting us educate people on the life of nudity.
Speaker 1:It is so great to have you. I know we've met a couple years ago and we have run across each other's paths several times. We saw each other in Tampa, tampa and I went back to the team. So for those people don't know, the RV Life podcast I have an executive producer and producers, so there's a team of people that I talk to about. You know what's a good topic for my RV Life listeners, and when we talked about clothing, optional campgrounds, it was a absolute yes. So many people are interested and curious and want to know what it's all about. So today we are going to cover it all. Well, we're going to try Before we start. You guys have been RVers for four years, full-time.
Speaker 2:RVers for four years. Full-time RVers for four years.
Speaker 1:Full-time RVers for four years, thank you, take us back to that time. What was the conversation between the two of you who decided that full-time RVing was the way to go?
Speaker 3:Well, it kind of happened again, as most really big life decisions happen not necessarily by planning. When COVID hit, my job went completely remote and, being the creative person I was I am I thought, well, I could pretty much work from anywhere. And shortly after that, stephen's work had a buyout and I thought you know what? Let's crunch some numbers, maybe because the kids we were empty nesters, the kids had all left the home and we had a huge six-bedroom house on three and a half acres. We were spending hours every day keeping up for who? For no one. We didn't need all that house, we didn't need all that land. We didn't need all that land. And I crunched some numbers and thought you know what we can do this? We can go on the road, live out of a nice motor home. We do come back to sunny rest in the Pocono area for the summer, where we have a separate seasonal spot. But we figured we could do this financially. Let's go ahead and sell the house and hit the road.
Speaker 1:Financially, let's go ahead and sell the house and hit the road. So where did the naked part, the naturalist part, come in? Were you like that before you started the whole RVing, or was that something that started that came?
Speaker 2:in. Probably. Well, for you it was, for me it was. I wanted to be naked my whole life. I started sleeping nude when I was a young kid, got told if I got up and go to the bathroom in the middle of the night I had to put clothes on because I got caught once. Mom didn't like that too much, so I've always been a nudist my whole life. And then probably well, this is our 14th season.
Speaker 3:Yeah, at Sunday Rest.
Speaker 2:So we started going to the nudist resort before we sold the house years and years before we sold the house.
Speaker 3:10 years, almost 10 years, yeah, and it was once we got there. It was funny because the day we decided to actually take the plunge and go, he was in a bad mood and we had heard the commercials for the naked beer fest.
Speaker 2:Go to the nudist resort yeah.
Speaker 3:And I was like you know what? Do you just want to go to this Naked Beer Fest? And he's like you really want to go. And I was like you know what, make a decision now before I change my mind. And we got there and it was a little intimidating at first. I got to say I mean, we weren't sure exactly what to do. You know, did we take our clothes off now and put them in the trunk, do we? If there are there a lot. He asked if they were lockers.
Speaker 1:You know so. So wait, I'm going to stop you a second this. You're talking about your very first very first time, okay, so I just want to be clear your first time. He's not even in a good mood. There's a naked beer fest in sunny rest first time and you say, okay, let's go. So that's what I want to point out is all the things that go through your head when you get there.
Speaker 3:Okay. So I had it in my head. You know, I planned for it in my head. Okay, we're going to be naked in front of people. People are going to be naked in front of us. Just process that. So I'm processing it. He, of course, has wanted to do this for years. We pull up to the gate. They take our license, our information. They do some places do run background checks this particular one they take your license and information and so forth. Then the gate lifts and you start to drive through and there's a naked man walking down the hill and Stephen goes oh my God, he's naked and I was like honey, we're at a nudist resort. He says. But I didn't expect to see it so soon. So it's definitely it's not.
Speaker 3:It's something that most people do have to ease into because you know it's just not something you're socially used to seeing. But the minute you meet the people there and they're looking at you face to face, eye to eye, they're not looking you up and down like somebody you know out at a nightclub or whatever would be doing. It's a very life-changing experience. It's you meet the kind of people that you never thought even existed, like completely nonjudgmental, nobody cares what your body looks like Nobody cares what size you are, nobody cares about anything. And we meet so many people that say, oh, I couldn't go there because I'm fat, I couldn't go there because my body is saggy. Nobody cares and it's so hard to process that, but literally nobody cares or judges and it's just a very liberating experience.
Speaker 1:The one thing I do want to point out that I think now I've done a lot of research. Again, over the last couple of years the topic has come up a number of times. I've heard groups of people talking about it. Done some research. One thing I want to emphasize is the fact that you pulled up to a security gate. So security that is what I've heard to a security gate. Oh yeah, security that is what I've heard is a big thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, big thing. They try to protect everybody's privacy. Every nudist place we've gone to, a resort or park, you're always behind gates. Yeah, and it's always—.
Speaker 3:No pictures allowed.
Speaker 2:No pictures If you start doing anything goofy like that, you're immediately escorted off the property.
Speaker 3:And while most nudist resorts do allow single individuals to come in again, some do a background check. They always take at least your license information and if anyone ever reports, this guy just feels creepy, or this guy is making advances, or even a woman, for that matter. They get booted immediately and sometimes never let back in again. It is extremely. One of the biggest goals of every nudist resort is to make their guests feel comfortable, because it's difficult enough, you know, walking around naked in front of people that, in most cases, you've never met before. You do need to have some sense of security, for sure.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and I've got to say when I was in my years of dating, walking into a bar was more sometimes difficult, you know with guys at advances and it sounds like it is being naked at a resort, okay, okay. So we've thrown some words around. We said clothing optional, we said naturalist and we said nudist. So for people that this is all new to, can you kind of break down the meaning of that, of those things? How are they different? You know, just to, to, to the best of knowledge.
Speaker 2:They're all the same as one, yeah for the most part.
Speaker 3:Now, there is a difference between a nudist resort and a clothing optional resort, Even though people, even us people in the community, use them interchangeably. Technically, a nudist resort you have to be nude unless it's cold. Nudist resort you have to be nude unless it's cold, and then they just want you to wear a robe or a wrap or, like I'm wearing a sarong, which is the nudist clothing of choice other than a robe. Clothing optional you're allowed to have clothing on throughout the resort, usually everywhere, except in the pool or hot tub. In the pool or hot tub, most places you must be nude, and most of the reason for that is because they don't want people just coming there to look.
Speaker 3:They want people who really want to be part of the community. They understand that a lot of people are new to it and, you know, may feel a little insecure at first. So they allow you to wear clothing, but they want you to be part of the community. They don't want you to just come in and observe and kind of be creepy. Right, right, exactly. So that's the reason for mandating nudity in the pools and Sunny Rest the one we go to in the summer is clothing optional. You'll see people there all the time with clothes on. Especially in Pennsylvania, especially in the Pocono Mountains, it gets chilly even in the summertime at night.
Speaker 2:When the sun goes down.
Speaker 1:yeah, yes, yes. So now, naturalist is a different, a little different, if I'm not mistaken. Is that correct?
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's more. Most naturalists or naturists want to be nude all the time and most of the naturist type resorts are in the South because it's their life. They are open year round and it doesn't really get cold enough to have to put on clothes all the time. It's slightly different vibe, it's I don't want to use the word hippie, but it's kind of like that very laid back, chill. But most places it's really a mix.
Speaker 3:There aren't too many resorts that are completely one way or the other. Most of them are a mix and everybody gets along and everybody respects one another's values and beliefs. Some people think that some of the resorts are clicky. It's really because you form such a bond with the people in your community that you don't always with the people in your community that you don't always, you know, aren't always as welcoming to others. But for the most part, every nudist resort you come into it, people will talk to you, people will ask you questions, people will answer your questions, people will be completely honest with you. It really is just like. It's kind of like the neighborhood you always wanted to grow up in, but naked.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay, I can't quite picture that, but okay, I'm thinking of the neighborhood I grew up in. Okay, so that's something to think about. All right, let's go back to your first time. So you go through this security gate, you go in. Did his mood change at all? Let me ask that. Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 2:It went from grumpy to what the heck am I doing? I like to be naked, but I'm not sure I want to be naked around a hundred other people. I don't know At that point. Well, Beer Fest is probably a thousand other people, I don't know.
Speaker 1:So talk a little bit about that. There is that. You know, I think with anything that's new, it's like, yeah, this is great. And then you get there and the reality sets in. And you even talked about, okay, do you take your clothes off and leave them in the trunk, like, talk people through that who are thinking of doing this.
Speaker 2:I had it in my head that you know, you remember the old airport lockers. You put your quarter in, you get your key out, put everything in and you come back, or the amusement park lockers. I'm like, ah, they got lockers down there, we'll get undressed down there. And we start walking through the parking lot and there's a couple getting undressed at their trunk and throwing their clothes in the trunk and I'm like, well, I guess we're going back to the car to get naked.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I was definitely as we walked down towards the office because the parking lot was just above the office where we had to check in and I was very apprehensive because I did not have a very good body image. I've had four children. I've given birth four times, so, as you can imagine, I'm not a Barbie doll. I was a little self-conscious but we found as soon as we got in there there was a vendor selling those belly dancing wraps, like the little with the chingy changs, and I bought one of those and I just suddenly felt that was the only anxiety that I had was about like my mom belly, and I just felt so much better than and then I could relax. But once you actually meet people and talk to people, you completely forget you're naked and you forget they're naked and I know that's very hard for most people to process. It's not something I can describe and that's somebody who hasn't been through it can understand.
Speaker 1:You have to go experience it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you have to experience it, go experience it, it's the same as going in a hot air balloon.
Speaker 1:I could talk you through it, but the experience is not something that you can explain. You have to experience it yourself. So when you went to Sunnyrest, you didn't have an RV. Where did you stay while you were there?
Speaker 2:We lived 20 minutes away oh okay, we were just driving out. We had to do day passes. We had a pop-up at that point. We'd take the pop-up here and there every couple of weekends, here and there, and then we upgraded to the fifth wheel.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so by the end of Our first time was at the end of June, and by the end of the first season in August, we had purchased a membership. And was it that season, the end of that season?
Speaker 2:we got our seasonal spot.
Speaker 3:There are some people that come there and get a seasonal spot, like the first year they're there because it's just, it's addicting, it's, it's just so much fun. In a sense it's it can be like an adult playground you know zooming around on your golf carts and you know drinking around the campfire. We have open mic nights where people play their instruments, very talented people in the nudist community, because, as you can imagine, if you can get naked in front of someone, getting up on stage is nothing Right, and getting up on stage naked in front of people, Just put your audience naked, yeah.
Speaker 1:I was just going to say that I was just standing in bed with a friend of mine who was speaking and he was sharing how he gets nervous and I said well, do you do that thing where you picture everybody naked? So I guess this is very different. You're naked, they are really naked, so what could go wrong? Like you know, there's I guess fears are gone.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they do naked karaoke. There's open mic At Sunny Rest. There are bands, probably every two or three weekends live bands. There's a pavilion, they have a nightclub, a tiki bar, pools, hot tubs, you know, and most nudist resorts run anywhere. Almost everyone, probably everyone, has at least a pool, unless you're talking about some of the naturist clubs which are really just an open like campground type.
Speaker 3:Very, you know, most of people tent, they don't RV, but most of the ones, if it's called resort, then it at least has a pool, good to know. And all of them have, you know, at least a pool, a hot tub and a little place to gather whether it's a clubhouse or something like that. A lot of potluck dinners, if very, actually very few nudist resorts have liquor licenses and sell alcohol. Most of them are BYOB and then in the community we're going to have potlucks and then they have different activities. Almost all of them have some kind of a calendar of events, just like a regular campground really. I mean, it's really not a whole lot different than a regular campground, but the people are much nicer and I'll get more going.
Speaker 1:And so and again, we're talking about sunny rest and it's funny that you guys live a couple hours from me, if that, and Sunnyrest is probably only a couple hours away In the campground, so you could go like you said. You could get a day pass and I would imagine a lot of the resorts have day passes.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Can you tent and are there rental type situations if you want to stay? Can you talk about that?
Speaker 3:At Sunnyrest in particular, there's tent camping, there are motel rooms, there are cabins that you can rent either for the weekend or for the season, and then there are transient RV sites. Some of them are paved, some of them are natural. There's a bathhouse, very much like a regular campground bathhouse, only this one has inside showers and outside showers open showers.
Speaker 1:Because if you're already naked, what to resist? Right, exactly.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and honestly, one of the most amazing feelings is an outdoor shower. It really is. It maybe takes some getting used to for people, but most people who have seasonal sites there have an outdoor shower on their deck.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, All right, Then this is all good information. And again, different resources. Like a campground where you have to wear your clothes I don't want to say regular campground has different types of amenities, different types of rentals, things like that. So it's really going to depend on the campground.
Speaker 2:Where you go? Yeah, like where we're at now. We're in Louisiana now at a place called Indian Hills Nudist Park and they have RVs you can rent, they have tent site, they have cabins and again you can just come in for the day.
Speaker 3:Yeah, or you can stay. We're here for two months every year because we just love it. It's very close proximity to New Orleans. It's about a little more than a half minute to New Orleans, so there's a lot to do. It's South Louisiana, slido, and there's just so much to do here, and the food's amazing and the people are amazing, and the people are amazing. So we love it here. That's why we stay every spring. The weather's beautiful in the spring, starts to get hot and muggy just about now, so that's when we book it back up to Pennsylvania for the summer.
Speaker 1:And in the Poconos. It's beautiful in the summer months. Okay. So I'm going to ask a question now and again for those people who are listening that have little kids. You might want to have them leave the room. A lot of people are wondering. So when people are walking around naked, the question is is there sexual activities that go on?
Speaker 1:some people I've I've seen have said oh, it's like a big orgy, give us people that say that have never, never been right, and that's why I'm asking you guys because, again, I'm looking at the questions and comments that are on people's minds and when you know I have this conversation about. This is what we're going to talk about on the RV life podcast. These are the things that people could ask, that they're wondering and you know going on social media and talking about, even though they don't know the truth. So give us the truth of what you've experienced.
Speaker 3:So I like to say there's really three different kinds of nudist campground resorts experiences Experiences. There are the ones that are very naturist oriented, where nothing sexual is tolerated, including touching your own husband on the shoulder, not being able to kiss your wife.
Speaker 3:You can't kiss your wife in the pool, you can't be sitting next to you or holding hands in the pool like they want absolutely no contact whatsoever. And then there are. There do exist some resorts that entertain the swinger lifestyle. Very few, actually, probably a lot fewer than most people think, and really those are more like lifestyle clubs that are also clothing optional. They're not really nudist resorts. So if you think of someplace like Caliente is a popular one, where's that?
Speaker 1:That's in Tampa, outside of Tampa.
Speaker 3:Yeah, atlanta Lakes, that is a lifestyle club that is also clothing optional. They market towards the lifestyle crew. They have areas where people can explore their sexuality and again, that is also not a big orgy. It's mostly couples like exploring their own fantasies and their own. You know a little bit of voyeurism, a little bit of in their own. You know a little bit of voyeurism, a little bit of exhibitionism, that kind of thing.
Speaker 3:But it's not what most people probably think and that's like the far end of the spectrum, right. There's a couple of others that are close to that, but nothing, not a whole lot, that really cater to that lifestyle. Most nudist resorts fall somewhere in between, and most of the reason for this is that many nudist resorts belong to an organization called ANR, american Association for Nude Recreation, and part of the criteria for being a member as a resort is that you cannot condone sexual activity in the common areas. So there's no sexual activity in the pool areas, the restaurants, if they have them, things like that. What you do in your own camper, just like in your own home, is up to you, but the overall vibe at most nudist resorts is not sexual at all.
Speaker 1:Okay, I just really wanted to debunk that myth because, so many people, you're welcome. And I was like, how do I say this? Tactfully, honestly, but just to say it because that is the theme that comes up over and over again.
Speaker 2:Every time we find somebody new, it's.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and I think there are people that aren't looking for it. They want to go into, like you guys talked about, a campground, be naked, be in nature and not have to worry about somebody propositioning.
Speaker 2:And you don't Nine times out of ten. If somebody comes up to you and asks you if your lifestyle or if you'd be interested in hooking up with them or whatever, you tell them no, they'll leave you alone.
Speaker 3:And you can still be friends, you can still be friends.
Speaker 1:Still be friends, but that's different than being in a bar. Yeah, very different, very different.
Speaker 2:And you know, somebody keeps coming up to your wife and making advances at her and she's told them no three or four times.
Speaker 3:Then you got to your wife and make advances at her and she's told them no three or four times. Then you got to step in and go yeah, hey, and in in public it's less likely that somebody's going to back you up, but in a in a nudist community, um, if, if someone sees someone, even if it looks like some a woman's being harassed, any one of the community will come up and very tactfully handle the situation and if it pers, then the person does get thrown out. That's good to know. That is good to know. Yeah, we all take care of our own here, everybody, in fact.
Speaker 3:It's funny because you do see and this may be surprising to people you do see a lot of people with high stress jobs and, honestly, one of the biggest tenants of the nudist community is that you don't generally know what people do for a living, nor do you care.
Speaker 3:You're looking to know them as a human and when you strip the clothes you really can't see what some of the social classes or any of that. But you do get a lot of high stress jobs teachers, police officers, lawyers, doctors, nurses, lots of nurses. So it's really a community in the sense that anything you need, there's somebody there when he broke his ankle last year, two o'clock in the morning we found a nurse that had bandages. There was an orthopedic surgeon camped across from us that helped to keep him comfortable until the morning when we could take him to the urgent center. So it's that kind of thing. It's like you have and we had no idea. The guy in front of us was an orthopedic surgeon. Like we had no idea, we just thought he was a guy right, you know that day yeah.
Speaker 3:It's. It's just funny who you meet and you don't know who you're talking to until you know the opportunity comes up. But we absolutely take care of each other in every way. You know, if somebody passes because there are a lot of older people in the nudist community they'll have their funeral and service outside of the community but they'll also have one inside to commemorate their clothing optional family right Because we are truly like across the country, really because people travel and we see people all over the place that we know from other places. It's a small world.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes. So I want to talk more about that. I know there are certain rules and etiquette. You touched on the organization for nudist resorts and I want to give people tips if this is something they want to dip their toe into. But before we do that, I want to talk to people about an option if they don't have that RV yet or they're looking to upgrade their RV. If they don't have that RV yet or they're looking to upgrade their RV, when you're an RVer, you want someone who is on your side every mile, and whether it's sales or service, that someone is Blue Compass RV. They have over 100 locations coast to coast, featuring more than 15,000 new and used RVs, with 1,000 service bays, with more RV technicians than any other dealer. Blue Compass RV is with you today, tomorrow and the road ahead. You can visit a local Blue Compass RV dealership or go to bluecompassrvcom today.
Speaker 1:Let's talk more about this. So not only are people literally stripping away their clothes which, like you said, that identifies people look at somebody and they say they make judgments sometimes not accurate judgments, because based on the way somebody's dressed, you get this idea well, they're this or that. It's just something people do that, unless you're aware of it. It's almost subconscious. So people come in, most people will get undressed and people don't know if I'm talking to a doctor or a janitor, the teacher that's had a rough week. I was a teacher so I could relate to that nurse, whoever you're talking to, because it sounds like that's not even the conversation that comes up. It's not that important. You could just be you and kind of get away from your life, your own life, and just have this sort of freedom is the word that comes to mind for me.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean we've even met a few celebrities. We can't name names, obviously, because that's another thing. That's big in the nudist community is personal privacy. We don't no one talks about who they see right or who's there. When we're together we're obviously all there for the same purpose, but outside you never reveal a friend. Like if you see someone in the grocery store which is odd enough to see them with clothes on. You know. If you have to explain to someone they're with, it's like oh, I know them. Sometimes we usually just say we know them from camping.
Speaker 1:Right, leave it at that. So that brings up another. You know another point, somebody who, let's say, is a teacher, I know as a teacher, I actually signed what was called a morality clause, which, at the end of the day I didn't read the fine print, I'm not exactly sure what that means. So you know, I guess my concern would be being at a club like that and then seeing another teacher, or, god forbid, the principal of the school. How do you address? Or God forbid the principal of the school.
Speaker 2:How do you address that? Here's the way I explain that If they're there and they see you, they're there for the exact same reason you are. Yeah you'll keep each other's secret. So you're going to keep each other's secret.
Speaker 1:That's true.
Speaker 2:Everybody's always so worried about what if I see somebody I know? Well, if you see somebody, you know one. It's going to make you either very uneasy or a little bit more comfortable that you know somebody. And oh, I didn't know, you liked to be naked.
Speaker 3:And it's not like, honestly, there's nothing immoral going on, and that's what's confusing to those of us in the community is that there are people out there that see nudity as an immoral thing.
Speaker 3:But that's how we're born, which is actually our tagline live as you're born, you know that's how you're going to go out, right, so it's just the skin you're born in. I mean, we have so many issues today with, especially, women who are ashamed of their bodies or need to feel the need to mutilate or change their bodies in some way because they aren't comfortable in the skin they're in. And this community will just make you feel better about it because you're in a community where nobody honestly cares and nobody honestly judges it does a lot for your morale, for your confidence.
Speaker 3:This community breeds strong women. It's just a very enlightening experience, a very positive experience for women and men.
Speaker 1:And I would address two things. And then, steve, I'll bring you in First of all the fact that I had to sign a quote-unquote morality clause. I am going to be very transparent and say I do not think being in a campground and being naked is a morale, morality thing at all. That's, I'm putting my thoughts and opinions out there. That's my thought and opinion. How a school could have you sign this? And then who gets to decide that?
Speaker 3:right.
Speaker 1:We're not going to go down that rabbit hole. We could go down, but I love what you were saying about body positivity. But, steve, go ahead.
Speaker 2:So two years ago we were sitting in a pool and a bunch of us just talking about you know how we found the nudist lifestyle and everything. And there was a bigger lady in the pool with us, found the nudist lifestyle and everything. And there was a bigger lady in the pool with us and, uh, she goes. I, I once I found the nudist lifestyle. It's the best thing I could ever. I ever could have imagined she goes. Imagine we're sitting in a bar and I'm sitting at the bar by myself. You wouldn't come up and talk to me as a bigger woman. You'd all sit down there and both.
Speaker 1:Sorry, wow, steve you had one rule you can talk about sex, but you can't curse.
Speaker 2:And talk to everybody down there and I go. I probably say hi, but you're correct, I probably wouldn't come up and have a full on conversation with you, but as we're sitting in a pool, we all sit and talk with each other and she goes. I can come here and talk with anyone and nobody sees me as a bigger woman. Everybody sees me just as an equal.
Speaker 3:And it goes for more than just body as well. I being a neurodivergent person myself, I see a lot of neurodivergence in the community because Explain what that is to my listeners.
Speaker 1:I'm familiar with the word, but you're using that word. What that is to my listeners.
Speaker 3:I'm familiar with the word, but you're using that word. Explain that to my listeners. So I have ADHD and I have children who have ADHD and autism and there are just quirky things about us that aren't always socially acceptable. That when you're in this community where nobody's judging anything, um, you're just if you want to dance around and be yourself and do crazy things, like impulsive little things, like pick up toads or count ducks, which I do okay, nobody judges you. Like if you want to dress in some crazy costume, because there are a lot of themed parties where people dress up in costumes Neon night, neon night Most people don't wear clothes, they just put body paints all over them, but things like that.
Speaker 3:So it's a place that not only you can be yourself, you can express yourself the way you want, and that goes forward to like other, like we see transgender people and you don't think anything of it, you just don't and nobody judges and everybody feels comfortable and, as Stephen was saying, that's why a lot of people come, because they're not judged like they are in public and people talk to them and I can almost guarantee you it saved a few lives. It sounds like a ridiculous thing, but I almost guarantee you there's also a lot of people that come because they have depression and it gives them a place where they can feel wanted and loved and cared about and not judged.
Speaker 1:And I think it's so important and actually it's a huge thing for me. I've worked in a school district with at-risk youth. I heard the stories they were high school students how they felt about themselves, their bodies and some of it was their own thoughts in their head, and we know that. You know, even as a grown up, how I think about myself. You know, and I'll be honest, I go through some of the same thing. I was, I had three kids.
Speaker 1:My body is not what it used to be and I judge myself, and I probably judge myself more than other people judge me. That's a usual thing, that that's what people do. So the whole idea of you know stripping away all of that because not only do we judge people's bodies and what they look like, but we're judging what they're wearing, how they're wearing their clothes, what kind of clothes, what brand of clothes you know that's just. The society we live in is very judging about people. Being quirky or weird is just. I think we all have some of that and whether we're diagnosed and labeled, I think everybody has some quirky weirdness.
Speaker 3:And I've.
Speaker 1:I've gotten to the point where I'm just embracing my being weird sometimes and I'm so okay with it. Years ago, if somebody had said I was weird, oh my God, that would have devastated me and you know, and again, I'm just really sharing honestly because I realized years ago that the most confident people I saw, these people standing on stage with such confidence. They look perfect, they dressed what I thought was perfect, they acted perfect, they couldn't possibly have a negative thought in their head and when I talked to them one-on-one, the realization that they were scared to death. They didn't feel that way. They judged themselves.
Speaker 1:It's just something that I want more information out there. Not everybody has to go to a nudist or clothing optional campground, but to find places that they feel comfortable in their own skin. I want to read this quote that you said, that I said in the edification. That really touched me, and it says proof that when we strip away the outer layers, what's left is the real beauty good souls, open hearts and a deep sense of belonging, sharing the magic that happens when you let go of expectations and reconnect with what truly matters, and I wish for people that they could embrace this Again.
Speaker 1:None of us are trying to promote somebody going to a clothing optional campground. Everybody should do what feels right for them. But again, the whole idea is to demystify what people think goes on. And you know, talking more about that idea about being able to just talk to somebody I guess I'm an introvert and an extrovert. Just give him the time of day, the day of the week, whatever's going on for me. So there are times I'd love to be with people and interact. We sat and had a conversation together and I'd love that. And then there are times I need to retreat and don't want to talk, just want to help. Be that, be an introvert and not socialize.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's me too, like at Tampa. You know when we, when we met up with you at Tampa, you know we're we Like at Tampa. You know when we met up with you at Tampa, you know we did the content creator it was a lot and we did the RV show. It was an interaction. Stephanie will just look at me and go okay, I think I'm done peopling.
Speaker 1:I can't people anymore, exactly, exactly. You can't people anymore. Not try to promote us, but a clothing optional space where you get that opportunity to get rid of the you know, the masks, the anything that's going on and just be, and people accept whatever that is. I would imagine that if you decide you're not peopling that day, that others are okay with it.
Speaker 2:They're not Absolutely Absolutely.
Speaker 1:You know, and so I think everybody needs to find that kind of space where they can go, you know, to be the introvert or to just, you know, be themselves, and I think so many people are looking to find what that is, and this is such an important topic. May is, I believe it's called National Mental Health Month.
Speaker 1:It is Okay. That's what I thought, and I think when we touch on mental health and again I'm going down a road we didn't talk about, but as it comes up, you know you said people, places like this has probably helped save people's lives. I agree.
Speaker 1:I believe it Just based on what you're saying about being able to go into a place where you don't feel judged, when you don't have to beat yourself up when you don't. You know that it's a of the most difficult things, especially when it's somebody close to you, and a lot of it is because of how they think. People think of themselves. It's usually so often not accurate, and so if a place like this, if somebody's out there listening and they're feeling low and they're feeling down, maybe this is something for them to explore. Low and they're feeling down.
Speaker 3:maybe this is something for them to explore, yeah, and you'll know within a day whether it's for you or it isn't. It's for some people, it's not for others and, to be completely honest, there's nobody out there saying, oh, come to all the nudist resorts, we want you to be there if you want to be there, right. But if it's not for you and you're not feeling comfortable, you know nobody wants you to feel uncomfortable. We're going to try our best to make you feel comfortable, right, but you know it's not for everybody and that's perfectly fine.
Speaker 1:And I'd like that. You said you could ease into it A lot of these places that are clothing optional. You could go in, you could get comfortable, decide, you know if you want to take your clothes off, and then you know if you want to take your clothes off, and then you know if not, and you don't feel comfortable.
Speaker 2:You can always leave. Just turn around and you'll probably even feel more like the weird one walking around with clothes on because, everybody else is naked. Yeah, then you think everybody's looking at me because I have clothes on and they're not right.
Speaker 1:No judgments, right. Okay, so now you guys have been to campgrounds across the country over the last four years. Yeah, how do you find them? I know we touched a little bit on the organization and AANR Talk a little bit more about that and how you go about finding campgrounds that you know would fit your needs.
Speaker 2:A lot of it's word of mouth or just Googling campgrounds. When we first set out and I was planning our trip, I Googled a lot. I knew Louisiana was going to be a halfway spot between Florida and Texas. Where is there a nudist resort in Louisiana? There's only one, there's only one, and we're here and we found it and fell in love with the place. But Google's a lot and word of mouth.
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, we're working on. Obviously, on our website we have a ton of it says reviews, but we don't like to think of them as reviews because we're not judging, we're not saying, oh, this is better than that one. We're going to let you know what's there, what the vibe is, what the amenities are, what you can expect. It's more like a guide than a review, because everybody's looking for something different. Right, we want to be that group that helps you find what you're looking for. You know we're not looking to pull you in one direction or the other, but we definitely want to provide that information. At some point I'll have a nice handy guide with like a matrix with checkboxes of what resorts offer what and where they are and all that good stuff. Been working on that for a while, but eventually I'll get it posted to the website. But, as Stephen said, you know, like, for instance, we use the RV Life app to plan our trip every year, right, and we do actually go to what we call textile campgrounds regular campgrounds in between, because we can't always find, as we we're traveling, a place to stop along the way, because there's not a lot.
Speaker 3:There are certain states that have several nudist resorts and certain states that have none and even, as Stephen was saying, they're actually sometimes difficult to find. If you know what they're called, sometimes you can Google them, but it is very difficult to find a good, solid list of all the news resorts around the country and, just like any other business, some of them close, some of them new ones open. So sometimes you find one and then you come to find out it's not there anymore or it's turned textile. So we do go to textile resorts as well. We use the RV Life app to plan the whole thing.
Speaker 3:So I actually have to add all of the nutrition resorts as custom stops. But when I do that, I do fill out the little card with the information on it, so that's helpful as well. Hopefully we can get some more clothing optional places listed. Maybe they'll have to tag them with a certain color so people don't accidentally reserve at one and not knowing it's clothing optional, because most of them don't say that in the name of the resort, like Sunny Rest Resort just says Sunny Rest Resort. We've had a few people show up not realizing it was clothing optional, because they needed a place to stay up for the night.
Speaker 1:Okay. So warning to people when you're booking a campground and you don't want it to be clothing optional, you really need to just read, because I would imagine sunny rest website do your homework.
Speaker 3:Sunny rest website oh yeah, as soon as you go on the website, it says clothing optional, but the name of the resort does not say that I did not know.
Speaker 1:I had to warn my listeners about that. Thank you, that's a great tip in louisiana it's called indian hills nudist park.
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay, so that's a great tip. In Louisiana, it's called Indian Hills Nudist Park.
Speaker 1:That's a little more obvious.
Speaker 3:They don't all call themselves that Some place like Cypress Cove is a really beautiful place in Kissimmee, about 20 minutes from Disney. It's a beautiful resort, beautiful with its own lake and free paddle boats and all kinds of fun stuff to do.
Speaker 2:Whispering Pines yeah.
Speaker 3:There's actually a Whispering Pines that's clothing optional, and then there's another one that's not clothing optional.
Speaker 2:So you have to be careful which one you're booking at. They're kind of close to each other and they're pretty close.
Speaker 3:They're in North Carolina.
Speaker 2:Yeah, whispering Pines is in North Carolina, north Carolina, yeah, north Carolina.
Speaker 3:Yeah, which is about 40 minutes north of Myrtle Beach. That's another beautiful place.
Speaker 1:So people can go to your website and it's Naked Nomads.
Speaker 3:TheNakedNomadscom. Thenakednomadscom.
Speaker 1:Great, so people could go there.
Speaker 2:Facebook, Instagram, YouTube. Check out my skydiving on YouTube.
Speaker 3:Yeah, the naked skydiving.
Speaker 2:That's a fun event. That's another event we have coming up.
Speaker 1:Okay, naked skydiving. Where is that Naked skydiving?
Speaker 2:That will be at Sunnyrest. This will be our third year doing it.
Speaker 1:Wait. So how do you get that on YouTube?
Speaker 3:A lot of editing, a lot of editing, a lot of editing. Okay, and honestly, the straps cover a lot of the area.
Speaker 1:Yes, we'll leave it to people's imaginations. If you need to accelerate your bucket list.
Speaker 3:You can check off two things with naked skydiving.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, there you go. I think I'm going to pass on that one, but it might be interesting to come check out.
Speaker 2:Oh, we get just as many people watching as we do jumping.
Speaker 3:We get probably more people watching than jumping. I'll bet we do a long weekend. We have about 50 jumpers every year and then we probably have a couple hundred that come and watch, or even watch from their homes in the surrounding areas.
Speaker 2:You can't really see anything when you're a tiny little dot in the sky. But right, right not july 9th and 14th this year. So yeah, if you're interested, sign up, check it, check it out it's.
Speaker 1:It's making its way around facebook, so okay, I'm not skydiving safe to say I am not doing that, we will talk. This podcast is definitely live in the moment, minimal editing and there it is for everybody to hear. Okay, so I don't even know where we were. We covered a lot, we covered safety. They have security. The community as a whole really cares about the people yeah we talked about. You know that, that it is a little nerve-wracking the first time you go, do you take your clothes off, do you not?
Speaker 3:and the answer is do what feels right for you, because what you're most comfortable with there's no rule, always remember to bring a towel yes, oh, number one rule always bring a towel.
Speaker 2:So when you go to somebody's house or you're sitting down in the chair, you have something to sit on. Okay, good, rule no bare bottom on a chair.
Speaker 1:Okay, that is good to know. Anything else, any other big tips to?
Speaker 3:share with people. Well, along with that, nudists are probably the cleanest people you'll ever meet in your life. Okay, that is really good to know. I mean, people think about that. Oh, I don't mind Somebody's dirty, but sitting on my chair? Well, first of all, they're. They're bringing a towel because there is not one nudist out there that will let you sit in any chair without a towel. Okay, and you know. Second of all, people, I mean you're already naked. You just hop in the shower a couple times a day, right, especially if it's hot. It's, I mean, above all, really, the community is no matter where you go, where in the country, because that was part of our curiosity when we we were at Sunny Rest for almost 10 years. When we ventured out to other places, we thought there's got to be other places like this, and I will say that Sunnyrest is still our favorite. Indian Hills is probably a close second. The sense of community, the feeling of non-judgment, the connection with nature, which we didn't really get into, and it's more me thing than a him thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, she's a nature.
Speaker 3:I've always been a barefooter, so I really like that connectivity with nature. I actually have my workstation set up outside under a canopy and I work outside every day. So when it's when the weather's good, which, since we travel, we basically chase 75, we chase good weather. Yeah Well, I like to be more than 70, but whatever good weather, I like to be more than 70, but whatever.
Speaker 2:Yes, I do as well. The sense of community is Sunny. Rest is very big on community.
Speaker 3:All of them really are.
Speaker 2:Sunny Rest. We've got a lot of ladies that have gone through breast cancer.
Speaker 1:In June we do a big motorcycle ride.
Speaker 2:They put their big motorcycle ride for the ladies.
Speaker 1:Are they naked on the road?
Speaker 2:No, we do sometimes put clothes on, Okay okay. We're normal people.
Speaker 1:I didn't know if it was like in the campgrounds. No, no.
Speaker 2:It's a big poker run yeah.
Speaker 3:There's one for the blue.
Speaker 2:The back to blue. The back to blue. So Kevin puts that together. I believe in August, june is the Save the Tatas.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And there's a few hundred bikers.
Speaker 3:And we do all kinds of like at Sunnyrest. Anyway, we do all kinds of fundraisers for the community.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:There's even a couple there that does it across the country. Okay, would fundraisers for the community. Yeah, um, there's even a couple there that that does it across the country. Okay, would that be on your website.
Speaker 2:Those events, uh, those would be on sunny. Those would be on the rest website. The skydiving will be on skydiving on ours, that's our event.
Speaker 3:That's, yeah, it's our event that um sunny rest and pegasus skydiving uh.
Speaker 1:Sponsor so, okay, wow sounds this? This is information that I don't think I know I wasn't expecting. I would imagine my listeners weren't quite expecting all of this and yeah, you know, for both of us, like I'm just, I want my listeners to ask questions, whether it's you guys on your social media, then naked nomads, or on my social media, the Naked Nomads, or on my social media, rv Life Podcast on Instagram and Facebook. We are not done, but I just want to make sure that, if this led to additional questions, that people have a place to reach out and ask those questions.
Speaker 3:We really are just normal people, yeah, and if you go on our website, we have a contact us page, of course, and that goes to a big clearinghouse where all of our requests go in. And then we also have Facebook Messenger, and Instagram Messenger are popular places where people reach out to us. We do have that disclaimer immediate automated response, but we will get back to you, yeah, so anything anybody wants to know any questions that they have, they can use either of those, any of those formats.
Speaker 1:That and and again, we encourage people to reach out, because this is something that you know people are could be looking for, because they are feeling judged or they're feeling bad about themselves, and so that's certainly a part of this conversation that I don't think a lot of people were expecting, but I could see where it would be very beneficial to so many people. And you want to say young girls that have these images about their body, but it's not. It's men and women and it's grown people that have these feelings about themselves.
Speaker 3:A lot of women going through divorces come out because they just want to feel better about themselves and it's a place to go. If you can handle it and if you're into it, you'll know right away if you need a support system, because people are going to support you there regardless of you know what's bothering you. But, yeah, just a very supportive environment.
Speaker 1:So is it now single woman?
Speaker 3:It is a place that, as a single woman, I could go to, oh absolutely, you're safer in a nudist resort than you are at any public, than the supermarket. Great, if somebody sees somebody coming on to you, they're going to go up and say hey, excuse me, patty, how are you? Are you okay? You know, can I help you out with anything? You know? Whatever, just to get the vibe. And you can either use that as your, you know know, yeah, let's uh get me away from this guy kind of thing, right? And if it's, and if it's even more than that, then you know the guy will get spoken to and or removed from the premises, depending on the extent of the nature of the incident.
Speaker 2:But, um, and that's you tell me you're fine and go away yeah, and I just go get another drink and it doesn't even have to be a sexual advance.
Speaker 3:It can really just be somebody's following you around and asking you a lot of questions. They want they. Every nudist place.
Speaker 1:Um wants everyone to feel comfortable and safe, and that's great to know, because I know I've walked into bars, even with my wedding ring on, or a club, or you know, and had more of an issue than it sounds like I would have there. Oh, absolutely, we could talk on and on forever. I'm sure there'll be other questions and if you guys get questions, share them with me so I could post on my social media.
Speaker 1:And again, we are not done yet. You guys cannot go anywhere just yet. I do want to. It's now time for the question of the week and this is for you guys. I don't prepare you ahead of time, so I'm going to ask the question. Give you a minute to think about it. While I talk about cool RV because it is an amazing air conditioning it goes into your air conditioner to make your RV cooler. So I want to share that and then I'll come back to you for your answer.
Speaker 1:The question is what's on your bucket list? So a people you want to meet, a place you want to go, an experience you want to have? If you both have something different on your bucket list, you could both share. But while you're thinking, I want to share RV. Life is all about adventure, but not about sweating it out in the heat. Meet Cool RV, the game changer in RV air conditioner upgrades. With cool air, more airflow and a whisper quiet operation, you'll stay comfortable without the noise, whether you're off-grid or at a campsite. Enjoy the chill without that roar. Upgrade your ride with CoolRV, where comfort meets the road. You can visit CoolRVcom, and that is K-O-O-L-R-Vcom. Visit them today and find out all about how to keep your RV cooler. Okay, so you guys bucket list skydiving naked. It sounds like that's.
Speaker 3:We're kind of living in our bucket list?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it sounds like it. So is skydiving naked something new, have you?
Speaker 3:ever done. I wouldn't mind going to other countries. We get a lot of followers, especially on Instagram places in Ireland, australia. Germany is huge. Germany has a lot of new displaces. Most european countries don't have any hang-ups about clothing.
Speaker 3:They're not as hung up as yeah, there's tons of places on the uh, you know, on the other side of the world. So if there's anything that we haven't experienced, that would probably be it right now. Logistically, uh, since we live in a motor home, we'd have to park it and pay to have it parked somewhere while we go somewhere else, which technically isn't any different than paying your mortgage and taking a vacation. Right, but yeah, that's probably the only thing I can think of Ireland for me. Yeah, Ireland Big one.
Speaker 2:Skydiving was a big bucket list for me and I did skydiving before with clothes on, but to do it naked was awesome.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, that was amazing. Oh wow, the only other thing that I could think of is and I just lost it.
Speaker 1:Okay, well, if you think of it. So stay with me because I'm going to talk about the campground of the week and this campground. You do need to wear clothes for this campground. It is brought to you by RV Life. We talked about the RV Life suite of products that you guys use. We'll have to talk to RV Life about adding naked campgrounds to their filter. I don't know if that's possible. The owner listens to the episode, so we'll see what he has to say about that.
Speaker 1:But this week's featured campground is St George, hurricane KOA, in Hurricane, utah. It is a Thousand Trails Park, but you do not need to be a member to stay. St George, hurricane KOA. The landscape is absolutely incredible. It reveals millions of years of geologic history and breathtaking views.
Speaker 1:I started looking at these pictures of what's around this campground and absolutely breathtaking is the only word I could think of.
Speaker 1:They have 123 sites, they do a full hookups and if you don't have an RV, like me, I could go rent a cabin while I'm there. They have a solid 7.3 rating on the RV Life Campgrounds website, with 190 reviews, so if you want to hear what the RVers that have stayed there actually thinking what their thoughts are, then you could check out the reviews. And what's really nice is it's easy to book this campground because you go to campgroundsrvlifecom type in St George, slash, hurricane, koa, and then you could see all of the photos. They have a full list of the amenities about the property. Everything you need to know is right there and what's even nicer is you could hit the book now button, not go anywhere else, just book your stay right from the RV Life Campgrounds site. As I said, rv Life Campgrounds is part of the RV Life Pro Suite of products and it's the most comprehensive source of RV parks, campgrounds, resorts, city, state, national parks and Corps of Engineer parks. It doesn't have nudist parks yet, but maybe you could suggest that it's customer support.
Speaker 1:We're working on it there you go, and you could go there by visiting campgroundsrvlifecom If you're not already a member. There is a 25% discount link in the show notes. Guys, thank you so much for being on the show for all of the information. I know that you've really cleared up a lot of the mystery in the idea of clothing optional campgrounds. Thank you, guys.
Speaker 2:Thanks for having us, thanks for letting us educate people on the life of nudity.
Speaker 1:Yes, and again, any questions. I want the listeners to reach out to you guys, whether it's private message on your social media. Message me and let's share those questions and answers. We'll leave names out of it and I will have them posted on my social media just to get any further questions answered for people. Put it out there to everyone and I want to thank my listeners and remind you life's a journey. Live each day to the fullest, without regrets. I'm Patti Hunt and you have been listening to the RV Life Podcast.