My journey of self discovery started a little over a year ago and I thought I would share a story about my experience at the nude beach.

This past spring, my husband and I were out with another couple for dinner when they told us they spend alot of their summer fun time at New Jersey’s only nude beach. One they said it was a blast and two, it is the only beach in New Jersey where you can legally bring alcohol on the beach. Well they invited us along many times but neither my husband nor I had the guts.

By the middle of the summer, I was feeling pretty good about my body although I am over 40 ya know. Things are the way they were or where they were when i was 20. I asked myself my favorite question, “Will I regret it when i’m older if I don’t do this?”  

With that question answered, my husband and I were off to the nude beach with our friends. The beach itself has a parking lot that’s at least a half a mile away so you have to walk forever to actually get to the beach. The whole time we‘re walking, i was so nervous, my stomach was actually doing flip flops.

Could i actually do this? Could I take my clothes off in public? Had I lost my mind? What was I thinking...I’ll probably be the ugliest person there and will be surrounded by all these beautiful people and they’ll all be staring at me.

And so the walk of shame continues until you reach a sign that says Beyond this point you may encounter nude sunbathers. Here goes nothing.

Now past this sign the beach is really wide so you still have to walk a good 250 yards. I can see a volleyball court that we’ll come to before the beach and as we approach I see one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. Eight naked men playing volleyball. Just picture it for a moment. It was hilarious.

From the volleyball court you can see the full scale of the beach. It’s huge, very wide and about 200 yards long and full of naked people. Somehow I thought there would be maybe a hundred nudists but i’m telling you there were at least 1,000 naked people. All naked. Wandering around, chatting, sunning themselve, swimming in the ocean and playing frisbee.

We had to walk through a whole bunch of people to find a good spot and plopped all our stuff down in the sand. Within two minutes my husband and our friend Mike are naked. Loving life, being free. Mike’s wife then strips down to nothing and lays out in her lounge chair.  

So there I am in my bathing suit with shorts and a tank top on paralyzed with fear when it hits me. I start to look around at these people and realize i’m the only person with a top on. And they aren’t staring at me. There are no cameras around, no wierd scary creepy men. Just a whole bunch of people enjoying the feeling of being naked. The cool air, no clothes, relaxing and enjoying the beach.

And, better yet, there are all kinds of people. Tall, short, old, young, heavy, skinny...you name it, they were there. All different body types and they were all coming together to just have some fun and enjoy themselves.  

After a few minutes of telling myself i was being stupid, I too, got naked. Of course, i stayed on the blanket face down for an hour before finally sweating so badly from the sun that I had to get up to go in the water. My first conversation with another naked person who I did not know was there in the water. Nice gentlemen whose frisbee had flown my direction. I gave it back and he asked if I was enjoying the beach. He was naked and I was talking to a naked man that wasn’t my husband. It was strange at first but what seemed stranger was that he actually looked me in the eyes. He was respectful and nice and we had a nice chat.

We had a great time that day and went back about a half dozen more times over last summer and i’m looking forward to going again this year. Since that first day, i’ve never felt uncomfortable and everyone there is really nice. I think it also helped with my self confidence. We‘re all basically the same. Some a little older, some younger, heavier, some a little skinnier, some darker, some lighter but the human body is a beautiful thing that no one should be ashamed of.

One more thing to scratch off my list and the best part, NO TAN LINES! Hello? That counts for something. One more step towards self discovery..literally. LOL