Nudism is simple - you take your clothes off for recreational purposes in a so-called "natural" setting, such as a wood or a beach. Some people seek out swimming places in rivers and lakes. Less natural places to get naked include saunas, spas and nude swims in pools. Either way, it can be a very pleasant sensual experience being free of your clothes, and many are really hooked on it.

Some people take to nudism like ducks to orange sauce, while others may want to try it but never get around to it because of nagging doubts and unanswered questions.

It's these frequently asked, or unasked, questions I want to look at here. I hope that by the time you've read these brief notes, you'll be tempted to try nudism, if you haven't already.

My biases I'm in the UK, am a bi-male, and am not the sort of person who joins formal organisations in my spare time, so I tend to practice nudism alone or with other gay/bi men in a free-range fashion, rather than at formal gatherings.

A little history Back in the 19th century, there was nothing unusual about men, at least, going into the sea naked, and the concept of nudism would have seemed pretty strange. In time, however, Victorian values won out, and most people learned to be ashamed of their bodies, hence the birth of the swim-suit, and, for women, the bathing machine,, where they could get wet, but nobody could see anything.

In the 20th century, in the UK and Germany in paticular, various movements started to appear for people who wanted healthy nude recreation in the open air. This early naturism or nudism was practised in remote places behind high hedges, and was remote in more ways than one from the workaday world of most people. Inevitably this rather institutional form of nudism attracted suspicion and some very silly seaside postcard jokes. The remote "sun clubs" or "sun and air" clubs seem to be in decline. The jokes are, unfortunately, still with us. See any web site that has ha-ha jokes about nudist COLONIES. I don't know how long it is since there were things called nudist colonies, but people who think they're being funny and tabloid journalists are still hanging on to this quaint concept.

Probably for the best of reasons, the sunclubs and the rest had / still have a strict code of conduct. Most are only open to families or heterosexual couples who appear to the management to be committed. Single males, if they are accepted at all, may face very long waiting lists for membership. People like me are much too liberal to accept the nudist orthodoxy, and I'm quite sure I need not apply for membership at all.

In recent times, public nudist beaches have grown in number in the UK, and are more common still in continental Europe. In America, there are many nudist resorts, which seem a bit more like the nudist clubs of old to me, but I have never visited one.

In some cases, there is a battle going on to preserve the naturist status of UK beaches, either because some councillor or other doesn't like the idea, or there has been problematic behaviour from a minority of beadchgoers.

Those unanswered questions

Q. What happens if I get an erection?

Let's get straight to this one, which must be the most frequent of frequently asked questions.

It's perfectly natural for men to get erections, whether they've got clothes on or not, and some time during a day at the beach, you are likely to get one, and it's not unusual if you see someone else with one.

What happens next depends on where you are and the company you keep. On a beach with a mixed clientele, women and children included, it really isn't a good idea to walk around waving it about. The law might have you for harassing someone, and in these days of camera phones, just don't. You might wreck the nudist experience for the rest of us in that place if it gets around that these naked people go in for sexual displays. Possibly you could cause someone some kind of trauma, and that's not funny at all. Yes, I know an erection isn't always a sexual thing , but you can't blame anyone for taking it that way.

On the other hand, if there's no-one around, or no-one who object, that's different. If nobody is offended, there's no offence. Personally I have often gone to places where I won't offend anyone. Enough said.

I wouldn't panic like some do and go to any lengths to hide an erection. Some will pull their clothes on quickly and leave, which is really over the top.  It's much easier to hide it than that, by lying face-down on your towel or sitting with your knees raised up.

If you get persistent erections, you might have to go off somewhere and sort yourself out.

Q. I have scars on my back / I have a leg missing / I've got a rash. Can I go nude on the beach?

Definitely. Body acceptance is one of the most positive aspects of nudism. Anyone with any experience knows that people come in all shapes and sizes, may have disabilities or other conditions that in the clothed world are a bigger deal than in the nudist world.

Get to the beach and enjoy it!

Q. I've read some nudist magazines. They're full of glamorous young women. Is that what I'll find on the beach?

Probably not. You can bet that those people in magazines are hired models, and may or may not be real nudists. I can't help noticing that they don't look like any nudists I actually know.

Q. I've heard that most nudists are really ugly. Is that the case?

Of course not. Nudists are just people whith no clothes on. Because they're not all models (see above) the cheap media like to portray them as unusually ugly. Not that it's their business what you look like.

Q. I went to a nudist beach, and everyone was really old. I was the only young one there. Is it always like that?

No, and don't let it put you off. Ask your friends to go with you, and try to convert anyone else to nudism that you can.

There has been a problem that formal nudism in clubs and the like has become less popular, and that the nudist population is aging. At the same time, more an more people are enjoying the naked experience, and they are all ages. The conclusion has to be that they're getting their nude experiences on public beaches and other less formal settings.

Q. I've tried to find nudist web sites, but all I can find is expensive porn. Where can I go for real nudist infromation?

It's true enough that many porn sites just bung in the word "nudist" as a tag or key word, and they are not remotely to do with nudism. They're just ordinary porn and require paid membership.

You could start with my DareDevils Nudist Explorer. I don't deal with porn sites, though sexual topics aren't banned either. There are no pictures, just information, news and links to free web sites. I do my best not to list any trash.

You might also like to look at British Naturism, Clothesfree.com, and the Diary of a Nudist blog, all of which are very informative in different ways. If you're gay, well, none of those sites are gay sites, except mine.

Q. isn't it dangerous to expose your whole body to sun all day?

It can be. It's just the same when you have swimming trunks on. You don't want sunstroke or sunburn whether you're clothed or not, so you might like to find some shade for part of the day.

Q. I like to be naked, but it seems dangerous to me to cook or do household repairs without clothes. Do nudists do everything in the nude?

No. If you're too cold, or you're doing something hazardous, you need clothes for protection. Don't abandon all common-sense.

Q. I can never get to the beach and I live in a built-up area. Where can I go nude?

At home. you can sleep nude, and it feels nice if you've not done it before. You might like to stay naked after a shower. If no-one gives you a problem, you might be able to spend a lot of time naked at home. Keep a t-shirt and shorts or trackies handy so you can go to the door without embarassing the postman or your rmaiden aunt when you answer the door.

You might also like to find out about any nudist-style activities, even in the city. You may find saunas, spas or social groups where it's OK to be naked. You might find a local group on, for example, yahoo groups, passion.com  or meetup.com.

If you're discreet about it, you may find a corner in a park where you can disrobe without frightening the horses. I've certainly seen someone wearing nothing but a broadsheet newspaper enjoying himself in the sun in my local park, and nobody bothered him.

Q. Why bother with nudism when swimming costumes are so minimal?

All the more reason to dispense with them, then.

Q. I don't want to sit naked on the furniture. This is a bit delicate, but I mean there is all sorts of bodily fallout that might make it dirty.

Yes, even clean people sweat and drop other things all the time from their bodies. the sensible answer is to sit on a towel.. Even paper kitchen towel will serve in an emergency. It's only polite to have a towel with you if you're going to sit or lie on someone else's furniture. or you want to preserve your own.

Q. I fancy a nudist holiday abroad. Where are the good nudist places?

There are many. France has Cap d'Agde and many nudist beaches, Spain generally has a wealth of nudist beaches, Portugal has some, and attitudes to nudism are pretty liberal in Germany, Denmark, Netherlands and other Scandinavian countries. Greece is OK if you're selective, but it's not the nudist paradise you might have imagined. Liberal countries still don't allow you to  be naked just anywhere, as one poor American tourist recently found out in Germany, so please do some careful research. Old editions of Rough Guides had items such as attitudes to nudism, though it seems the newer ones are much less informative.

Q. My local beach is not an official nudist beach. The nearest one is a hundred miles away. What happens if I go nude on my local beach?

It's hard to say without knowing your local laws.In the UK at least, so long as you don't make a nuisance of yourself, chances are you will be left alone. Beyond that, it might be possible to get together with other people in your locality and lobby the authorities to allow nude swimming and sunbathing on your local beach.

This is just a sketch of some aspects of nudism, but if you're new to it, I hope you'll search further on the Internet. You can only improve your quality of life by taking part, so enjoy yourself!