Episodes to laugh and reflect

It doesn’t matter whether you spend a long, or a short time on naturist grounds, encounters with fellow naturists are part of the experience. Every age and every stratum is represented; simple campers with a tent, caravan-owners spoilt with luxury, as well as those staying in rented accommodations. Though we shouldn’t judge others in general, it’s sometimes just interesting to observe what people do differently.

Once on a long weekend, a couple moved into the mobile home next to ours, towing a small trailer behind their cabriolet. It contained everything they deemed necessary for a comfortable three-days-stay, including a home trainer, on which they pedalled for 5-10 minutes daily. However, their fitness was not very solid as yet, because whenever they went somewhere more than 20 metres away, they hopped into the car...

A German couple told us, how jealous they are that we stay in a quiet two person apartment, where we only had other couples as neighbours. To celebrate their golden wedding anniversary in style, they wanted to spoil themselves with a luxury holiday apartment. This joyful couple finally booked themselves into the most expensive accommodation, they could find in their favourite naturist resort! What they got, was a luxury four bedroom terrace house with all the trimmings. They were delighted – but only until they realised an abundance of noise around them. Not surprisingly, the surrounding terrace houses were all occupied by families with lots of children...

At one of the places where we stayed for three weeks, our neighbours changed often. All were so quiet and reserved, to us it seemed that we bothered them already, by saying “Hello” in the morning! Only on our last day, a very nice and sociable couple installed themselves on the pitch next to our mobile-home. Sure enough they invited us for a drink, just when we actually should rather have been packing...

At one of the naturist-resorts we stayed a few years back, the bar was usually a very lonely affair during the day. Holidayers just went in there to grab a drink or ice-cream, and consumed it usually outside on the sunny terrace. However, this changed suddenly. When Heinz went in to buy ice cream, he almost fell in comma, due to the smell of excessive drinking and smoking. The Bar was packed with noisy men, all staring at the large TV screen showing a major soccer event.
The atmosphere outside on the patio was much more pleasant: some 50 naked bored woman of any age were having an ice cream or sipping a drink. Any man more interested in ladies than in sports seemed to have ample opportunities ...

A local couple installed themselves in the mobile-home next door. As it was quite warm during the day, naturally, everybody was roaming around naked. Only our neighbours’ remained fully clad, as they hosted some textile friends daily. However, after sunset, it got quite chilly and everybody wore some clothing by then. Only our neighbours stripped now off and practised naturism, as their friends had left only then...

While sunbathing on a cloth-optional beach, we observed a family arriving next to us in conflict, whether they shall install themselves here, or on the nearby textile beach. However, the head of the family decided: “we stay here”; and soon all were sunbathing in their swimming gear. Nevertheless, after a while, one of the children was questioning: “why are we the only ones wearing bathers?” The father answered: “I don’t have a problem with nudes, indeed. I just think it’s not what our family should do!” “But if everybody else is naked, I want to be naked too” the daughter argued and started to put her panties down. “You must support me” the father then said to his wife “our children are going to strip off!” “Well”, the mother answered, “if you can decide it’s appropriate for our family to sunbathe on the nudist beach, we can also decide it’s appropriate to strip off” and before he even had a chance to reply something, her bikini was already gone....

What a physically handicapped can do and what not, is often a matter of attitude. Once, we had a neighbour with a recreational vehicle, who didn’t obviously look disabled and we could see him walking several times. However, whenever he moved more than 10 meters, he used a special electric tricycle, designed for disabled people.
Still on the same naturist-ground, we met a woman who was the absolute contrary of him. Despite being bound to a wheelchair, she still camped in a tent, excitingly participated not only in activities like dancing, but also motorcycling with a trike. She also managed to parachute, kite-surf and many other crazy activities more...

Once, while doing the dishes, we talked to a Frenchman about our stay in Croatia. With our limited French, we meant to understand that he doesn’t like it there, because there are only “allemands et autres chiens” (Germans and other dogs). We were a bit puzzled and told him, that there are many of those mentioned around us. He just replied that he doesn’t think they understand him, as they don’t speak French, and if they would, this wouldn’t be a problem anyway...
Only a few weeks later, we meant again to hear, that some French talked about “allemands et autres chiens”. We thought this must be bad language among French commoners... until their conversation continued about Vienna, Salzburg, the Danube and so on. Only now we realized, that the polite French must have talked about “allemands et autrichiens” (Germans and Austrians) ...

Two large English Families with altogether a dozen children between 8 and 18 years old, were settling in a bay at our lake in Switzerland, certainly not aware that they had chosen the local nudist beach for their picnic lunch. As the day went on, more and more bathers arrived and naturally: all stripped off. Now the English children started giggling and talking about going naked as well... “It’s up to you” one of their mothers said, “but if you strip off, make sure, you do it properly, I won’t accept anything half-hearted!” The children just continued giggling and swam out to a sandbar in shallow water, about 70 meters from the shore. Out there, they now stripped off, shouted and swung their bathers. One of the fathers paddled to them with a canoe and collected all their bathing costumes. Swimming back, all of them were begging to get their swimsuits back, so they could leave the water. The mother (wearing a bather) just smiled and said friendly, but determined: “I told you already; if you strip off, you have to do it properly. There is no way around it! All of you: don’t make a fuss, just leave the water naked!” Surely, everybody’s eyes were focussed just on those children who screamed as if they would be grilled on a spit, while leaving the water inhibited. At least they have just learned a lesson.

Once we had rather astonishing French neighbours. They managed to sleep in until 10 o'clock almost daily, even though they had a 3 years old girl and a baby.
In general, French parents seemed to deal with their kids in a more pleasant tone than we are used to hear from German speaking fellows. Could it be, that their mentality is more relaxed and permits the children to collect their experiences by themselves, rather than bewaring them of everything bad by continuous controls and directions ?

There were skilled tent-constructors, able to build a very smart rain roof with the simplest material. Another one extended his already cleverly built camping kitchen with the help of the drilling machine - all at hand ! Just next to him, an awkward tent-engineer, who tried to adjust some pegs daily, even though he'd put up his new tent with the help of the instruction-leaflet, as well as 3 expert neighbours.

Some naturists brought only small and simple tents and were are able to put it up or down in just 1 hour. For most others, however, the process of erecting and disassembling cost them one and a half days each, on the beginning and at the end of their holidays, regardless of whether they had a family-tent, a caravan or folding trailer.

Single men are not always welcome on naturist grounds. However, most we met, were very friendly and didn’t behave any different from others. Once we met a single man and first-time naturist who had such a pleasant personality, he got along exceptionally well with everybody; guests and staff alike. Therefore, a BBQ-evening was organized with 20 people attending, just to give him a decent farewell!

Very amazing was also the old man, who asked us, whilst he was shaving, how old we'd guess he is. Well, we thought around 80. This prove wrong, as he proudly told us, in 4 years time he shall turn 100.

	...by the way: We are naturists because...
	TEXT ONLY: We are naturists because...