Nakations

[Ace001]

At a campground, two young couples sit at a picnic table, chatting and relaxing. Parents set up tents and a barbecue, while their kids ride bikes and play volleyball.

Everyone is stark naked in this picture, although no one seems to notice -- or even care.

These campers are on a "nakation," engaging in the same activities as other run-of-the-mill vacationers, just doing it in the buff.

"There's nothing more basic and human than being nude in the sun ... because that's being true to who we are," says Stéphane Deschenes, who runs Bare Oaks Family Naturist Park in Sharon, about 70 kilometres northeast of Toronto."We're suffering from an ill in society ... where we can't ever look right."

The desire to bare chests and bums outdoors is not new, of course, but interest fell off in the 1990s and the movement is using social media to recruit new campers.

Deschenes has a website, a blog, a Facebook page and a Twitter feed, and many of the campers he attracts are not lifelong nudists. They're brand new at being buff.

A well-orchestrated online marketing campaign has helped to recruit a younger generation of nudists -- or naturists as they prefer to be called these days -- who weren't around when the movement went mainstream in the '60s and '70s, he says.

Ironically, the tools Deschenes uses to spread the word of naturism are exactly what many campers are trying to escape by stripping down.

"People are also looking to reconnect on a human level because of technology," he says. "People find that they are missing something."

Canada is dotted with clothing-optional beaches for those not ready to leap into strictly nudist camping.

For instance, Vancouver's Wreck Beach -- an eight-kilometre stretch of land with stunning views of mountains and the ocean -- attracts massive crowds in the summer, some there to relax in the buff and others to watch them do it.

At its peak, the beach is crammed with sunbathers, vendors and the occasional police officer on patrol.

Back at the Bare Oaks, Michelle, 26, says she tried the naturist experience for the first time last summer along with her husband and their baby. She was so hooked she now has a job at the camp.

"I always thought I could never do that, or I'd be too self-conscious," says Michelle, who preferred not to give her last name because some of her family doesn't know about her nudist lifestyle.

"(But) it just feels good. It feels free. I learned to love my body more since I started coming. When you're nude, you can see that no one's perfect."

Being nude is the great equalizer, agrees Bob Campbell, 60, and people who show up thinking it's all about sex are in the wrong place.

"It's just more comfortable," says Campbell, president of the Western Canada branch of the American Association for Nude Recreation. "It removes that whole issue of body acceptance."

Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/skinny+summer+nakations/3234233/story.html#ixzz0spelJBpc

Source: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/skinny+summer+nakations/3234233/story.html

I think it's awesome that nakations are increasing in popularity. I think it really has to do with people getting tired of trying to look a certain way and finally embracing who they are. It's also probably has to do with the fact that nakations are just cheaper and easier. No need to pack that much, very relaxing, and if you go to a beach or something you really only have to pay for gas. I see nakations booming this summer, especially with the overbearing heat, and high electric prices with the economy still not in the best state. Nude just makes sense.

[Wolfboy]

Nakation?
Never heard the word "nakation" before but it definitely sounds better then just "vacation"
In my language it would be something like "nakantie"