Up until the spring of 2000, pretty much all of my nudist activities had been done in solo mode. The reason for that was that although I had lots of friends, none of them knew of my nudist preferences and if they had, they probably wouldn’t have understood so I hadn’t told them. But then I found someone to join me in my nude hiking adventures – or perhaps I should say he found me. The discovery of this common interest of ours was totally unexpected and it all happened pretty fast. In fact, it was actually a little too fast. But we worked through it and became great friends as a result. Since then we’ve enjoyed a number of nude hikes together. Here’s the way it all came about.

I was in my world literature class one morning at the college I attend. We had been assigned to read "The Inferno" from Dante’s poem, "The Divine Comedy". The professor was lecturing on it and trying to get some class discussion going. Due to the difficulty of understanding this work, she was having more than a little trouble in getting us to discuss it and in keeping the discussion going in the direction she wanted it to go. During our labored attempts at discussion, the subject of nudity came up because some of the subjects in the work were naked and Dante referred to that a number of times in his writing. By the way, we’re definitely talking non-sexual nudity here.

The idea was raised by someone that the nakedness of the people was part of their punishment and a couple of others voiced their agreement with that. As difficult as I found this assignment to understand, I understood enough to know that this idea was way off so I joined in the discussion and said that I didn’t think the fact that the subjects were nude had anything to do with their punishment. I said that I thought it simply meant that they were no longer in the world in which they had lived and that they no longer had any of their previous possessions or status. They were now reduced to the essence of who they really were without any of the material trappings of their former life. I added that I didn’t think we should let simple nudity sidetrack us from seeing the real punishments that Dante described for each of the types of sins that the subjects had committed. The professor agreed with me and then the discussion got back on track and went on from there. I remember using the word, nude rather than naked, but other than that I didn’t say anything that might give anybody the idea that I was a nudist.

When class ended, I left the room along with everyone else and as I was walking down the hall toward the stairs, I heard a guy’s voice right behind me say, "You know, you made a very good point there in class today."

"Oh, thanks," I said as he came along side me. At first I assumed he was talking about what I had said about the type of punishment matching the type of sin, but I was soon to find out otherwise. As we proceeded down the hall and on down the stairs, he went on to comment at length about how everyone had so easily gotten off track in the discussion. He remarked that people often seem to get hung up over simple nudity and tend to jump to all the wrong conclusions about it.

Now you need to keep several things in mind here. First of all, this guy was beginning to share his ideas on simple nudity with me based solely on what I had just said in class - I had not said anything to him beyond thanking him for his compliment. Second of all, he and I were only acquaintances – you couldn’t really consider us friends at this point. We had started college here at the same time and we’d had a couple of classes together (it’s a small college). I knew that his name was Jeff, I knew from our other classes together that he was very intelligent, and he seemed like a nice guy, but that was about it. Now here he was starting to open up to me about how he felt about simple nudity without knowing anything about me or how I felt about it. He was displaying a lot more trust and courage than I would have had the situation been reversed.

We were now outside walking along slowly. So far, I had simply been nodding in agreement with what he was saying to show that I was listening. I hadn’t yet decided how much about myself that I would reveal, if anything. I needed to get a better for feel for how much I could trust this guy before I would risk anything.

Then he began to proceed a little more cautiously with the things he was telling me and he started prefacing them by saying things like, "I don’t know what you’ll think about this, but…"

He went on to say that he enjoyed spending time nude whenever he was alone but that he didn’t get much of an opportunity to do that because he lived in a dorm and had a room mate that didn’t go for it at all. He said he couldn’t even sleep nude because his roommate thought it was "just weird". He also talked about being nude at home when his family was gone and about how he had started sleeping nude when he was in high school.

After a few more minutes of these disclosures and judging by the sincerity with which he was saying them, I felt pretty certain that he was being honest and straight forward with me and that he wasn’t just trying to hit on me like so many other guys or be aggressive in any way. Based on that, I decided that I would risk sharing a little bit about my own ideas on simple, non-sexual nudity and just see what happened. I felt that I could end it and walk away at any point if it started to go wrong.

I started off by saying, "You know Jeff, I totally agree with you about the way people are so hung up over simple nudity."

"Really?" he asked in astonishment as though he couldn’t believe anybody else could possibly feel the same way he did.

"Oh yeah," I affirmed. "You saw how they were completely missing the point in there – like they thought that being nude was some sort of punishment in and of itself. How lame is that?"

He didn’t say anything and I think that was mainly because he didn’t know what to say.

So I continued with, "And listen, I know exactly what you mean about enjoying being nude – you know - like when you’re by yourself."

"Really?"

"Yeah," I replied. "I live by myself – I’ve got my own apartment - and I’m nude whenever I want which is really just about all the time."

"Really?!" More astounded yet.

"Oh yeah," I said. "I mean, why bother wearing things when you’re alone and it’s just more comfortable and practical without them? I don’t know about you, but at least that’s what I think."

"Uh…yeah…me too!"

"You seem a little surprised or hesitant about what I’m saying," I said. "Am I maybe talking too much or telling you more than you want to know?"

"No, no, not at all," he said. "I’m just so surprised to find somebody that thinks like that. I thought maybe I was the only one – you know, like I was just (pause) weird or something."

"I don’t think you’re weird," I said smiling. "I mean if you are, then I am too, but I’m not – or at least I don’t think I am."

"I don’t thinks so either," he said.

It was kind of nice just to be able to discuss these kinds of things with someone else for a change. Perhaps I’d found a kindred spirit here. Maybe. So far so good anyway.

"But listen," I said, "don’t feel like you’re the only one who thinks like this, because you’re not. We’re not."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I’m just saying that you and I may be the only ones each of us knows personally that feels this way, but we’re not totally alone in this."

"I guess I’m just not following you," he said.

"OK, listen," I continued. "You’ve been very honest and trusting with me and I feel like I can be the same with you."

"Yeah," he said. "You can. It’s such a relief to actually find someone to talk to about this stuff."

"I agree," I said. "Now I’m going to trust you with something else – something no one else around here knows about me. OK?"

"OK," he said.

I took a deep breath and said, "Jeff…I consider myself to be a nudist." I paused to see what his reaction to that would be.

"Whoa," he said in a long, contemplative way. "I don’t know if that applies to me or not." Then he went on to say, "So when you’re talking about others out there, you’re talking about other…nudists? I’ve checked out some nudist web sites, but I don’t know if…"

I interrupted him by saying, "Actually, I’m talking about the others I’ve been with – other nudists."

He looked at me quizzically.

I continued on, "I’ve been to a couple of nude beaches in the Caribbean. That’s what I’m talking about."

"Whoa," he said again deep in thought and then after a pause he said, "And were you…?"

"Nude?" I finished his question.

He nodded his head.

"Yeah," I said. "That was my first time – with others."

"Whoa…" he said yet again. That seemed to be his word of the day. "I don’t know if I could do that. I’d be so nervous that I.…"

"Starting out I was way more than nervous – I was so, so scared!"

"So then how did you...you know…like go ahead with it?"

"Well, when we got there, -a girl friend and I – we had our swimsuits on under our clothes. So as I took my clothes off, I just kept going. I knew if I stopped to think about it much, I might chicken out."

"Whoa…were there very many people there? I mean - did they like watch you or anything?"

"No. As I think back on it, everything was as normal there as you would expect at say a pool or lake around here. Everybody was just minding their own business and doing their own thing – regular old things. The difference was that everyone was nude, but that was all that was different!"

"That would be pretty different!"

"Jeff, I just want to stress that I’m talking about non-sexual nudity here. Nudism is not about sex like most people think. It’s very casual, very relaxed, very accepting – and it’s a lot less sexually charged than a regular beach. I’m probably stating the obvious here, but I just want to make sure you know."

"Oh yeah, I understand – totally," he said. "That’s what I always thought, but I just can’t imagine what it would actually be like to be there and actually do it. You’ve got guts."

"Hey, don’t give me too much credit – all I did was sort of blindly and clumsily charge into it. Very clumsily, in fact. But Jeff, once I got past all that, it was just so awesome!"

"What do you mean? I thought you were scared to death?"

"Listen, my nervousness lasted for all of about maybe two minutes. Probably less. After that, the fear, the awkwardness – it was all gone. Then I became aware of how free I felt and how liberating it really was to be without clothes outdoors – out in nature. Just to feel the sun on my entire body – to feel the wind blowing over my entire body – to feel the ocean over my entire body – completely unencumbered. It was so awesome. Why? Why should it make any difference whether you have a couple of pieces of cloth around you or not? I don’t know – it just does! And once you’ve experienced it, you’re changed forever."

"Sunny, you make it all sound so…incredible! I can only imagine."

"Words can barely begin to describe it. Experience – that’s what it takes to really understand."

"You’re lucky to have been able to go to a place like that."

"I know. I’d love to go back. And I will someday. The only thing that comes anywhere close to being in a place like that is…" I paused a second - I needed to make a quick decision. There was a secluded place in the country near by that I had discovered where I could sunbathe and hike nude. Lately, I had been going there often. So far, I hadn’t told anybody else about this place, but then prior to this there was no reason to. Now that I had come across a potential kindred spirit, should I tell him about this or not? My sense was that he could be trusted so I decided to go ahead and fill him in on everything.

"OK, listen Jeff," I started out again very seriously. "I’m going to trust you with something else."

He confirmed that he was ready to listen to what I had to say by his expectant expression.

I began by saying, "I’ve found a place not too far away – just outside of town where I run – where I sometimes go to sunbathe and hike – nude."

"Really?! Right around here?!" His astonishment reached a new high.

"Yeah. It’s a far cry from being a nude beach in the Caribbean - just a cow pasture - but it’s not too bad. It’s secluded enough and yet still easy to get to. I’ve never seen anybody out there."

"Whoa. I had no idea that was even possible around here," he said. Then after a brief pause, he asked, "Do you think maybe you could tell me where it is? I might want to check it out some time – that is, if I can work up the nerve."

I paused again to think and to make a few more quick decisions. This was all happening so fast. I hadn’t thought about ever telling someone else about my secret spot in the country. If I told him, I would be risking not being able to use it again if he somehow proved to be untrustworthy. And how would I feel about knowing that anytime I was out there, he might show up and then there we’d be - like, together. I’d always have that worry looming over me.

He must have sensed my hesitation and reluctance, because he continued with, "It’s OK if you don’t want to tell me. I understand that you probably want to keep it a secret."

We had only been talking for a few minutes all together since we had left class, but it had been an intense discussion and we had both bared our souls to each other in that short amount of time. I don’t normally do that, but everything within me told me that here was someone I could trust; here was someone who shared some of the same thoughts and ideas as me. My head was saying be careful, but my intuition was saying go ahead.

So I took a deep breath and said, "Jeff, (pause) what time is your last class over today?"

"Uh, two o’clock. Why?" It took him only a second or two to figure it out for himself. "Oh, you’re talking about us going out there? Like, today?"

"Only if you want to," I said. "I know this has come up really fast – for me, too. But I mean, since we both have the same interest and all I thought that maybe this might be the best way. You know – no time to worry too much – just act on it. But what do you think?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess so," he replied hesitantly. "I guess I just need to do like you did and not think about too much. Yeah, why not? Act on it. Yeah. Seems like the best way."

"Well like I said – it’s up to you," I reiterated. "And it’s OK to change your mind. I really don’t want to rush you or be too pushy or anything."

"No, that’s fine – that’s fine," he said.

He told me that he was a runner, too, so we agreed on a place and time that we would meet to begin our run out of town together that afternoon.

The rest of the morning and early afternoon flew by with classes and some research at the library. I had no time at all to think more about my earlier conversation with Jeff. In fact, I barely made it home in time to change and get back to the place we had agreed to meet. He was already there when I got there. I took that as a good sign that I hadn’t scared him off. It was a perfect afternoon to be outdoors – sunny and warm. We took off on our run to the edge of town and then on out into the country. We talked along the way, but for whatever reason, we didn’t discuss anything further about what we were planning to do. He was a good running partner and said that he also works out most days. It was nice to have someone to run with as it pushed me to keep up with him on the hills. Guess I’ve been getting a little lazy since cross-country in high school.

We had been running for quite a while when we came to the metal gate leading into the pasture where my secluded place is located.

"Well, here we are," I said to him as we slowed to a walk.

"OK. Great," he replied with a certain amount of enthusiasm, but I sensed that it might not be completely genuine.

"Follow me," I said as I climbed over the gate.

He followed and we then walked the short distance over to the trees next to the creek. The creek runs mostly straight away from the road and we didn’t have to go too far before we were out of sight of the road. We walked through the trees along the creek talking casually as we went, but I began to sense some nervousness on his part, which in turn made me begin to feel a little nervous, too. But he had said that he wanted to try this so I was going to continue on. No one was twisting his arm - or mine either, for that matter.

The creek has steep banks along much of its course as it winds through the trees. Some of these tall, steep banks go straight down to the creek itself and others go down to areas of fairly level ground that then lead to the creek. These areas between the base of the creek bank and the creek itself are very hidden and it was one of these flat, grassy areas that I had been using for my hidey place. It was a perfectly hidden spot within an already secluded area. I thought of it as double security.

When we came to the gully that led down the creek bank to my hidey place I said, "Well, here we are. Down there is where I go and leave my stuff. Come on, I’ll show you."

I started down the gully and glanced back after a few steps to see if he was following. He wasn’t. Uh-oh. Maybe his nerves were starting to get the better of him. I stopped, turned back, and as I retraced the few steps back to the top I said, "Hey, we don’t have to do this if you’re having second thoughts. Or we can just walk around a little more if you want to wait a while. It’s OK. Whatever you want to do is OK with me. Honest. It’s up to you." I tried to sound as reassuring as I could.

"I don’t know," he said with hesitation and nervousness. "I mean, I want to go ahead with it. I’m just a little nervous. Maybe if I could start out by myself. You know?"

I answered continuing with the reassurance, "Oh. Sure. Yeah, that’s a good idea."

Looking around, he said, "Looks like there’s another place like this over there where the creek bends."

"Uh, yeah, there is," I replied. "It’s pretty much like this one – it leads down to a spot by the creek. That would be a good place, if you want to go down there." I was trying to determine what I needed to do to make him feel as much at ease with the situation as possible. The last thing I wanted was for him to be so worried that he couldn’t enjoy his first time out.

"OK," he said. "Let’s do it that way."

"OK," I said. "Then we’ll just meet back up here – whenever you’re ready."

"Yeah, good, fine," he said nervously.

"Just take your time," I said awkwardly and unnecessarily which probably just made matters worse.

"OK," was all he said without looking at me as he turned toward the other gully.

I in turn went down to my hidey place as I had originally started to do. As I undressed, I couldn’t help but wonder what was going on in his head and I wondered if we maybe we were moving too fast. Maybe we hadn’t talked this through well enough. My intentions were to help him enjoy his first out – not make it scary and fearful and traumatic. I had hoped that by leading him through it, he wouldn’t have to go through the fears and awkwardness that I did on my first time. But instead, it seemed like just the opposite was happening.

After I peeled everything off and tucked my stuff out of sight under a bush like I always do, I climbed back up the fairly steep slope. Back at the top, I wandered around in the grass there under the trees enjoying the warmth and the breeze as I waited for Jeff. Time passed and he was still down there out of sight. I was beginning to wonder if something was wrong. More time went by and I really began to second-guess myself about bringing him out here. The thoughts that maybe this had all happened way too fast and that maybe we hadn’t talked this all through well enough kept running through my mind. A few more minutes went by and now I was beginning to think that maybe I had better check on him.

And then suddenly I heard him call up to me, "Hey, Sunny?"

I called back, "Yeah, I’m here. Is everything OK?"

He replied, "Yeah…but…I don’t think I can do this." The tone of his voice sounded really dejected.

Several alarming thoughts echoed through my head. I’ve been way too pushy! I’ve rushed him into this before he’s ready! We definitely needed to talk about this some more. What do I do now? Calm down – it’ll be OK – we will talk about it. There are several things we could do. He could come back up and stay dressed until he’s ready to try again or even for the rest of the day if he wants. And I could just stay like this (I’m a little nervous with that, but I’m willing if it will help) or I could get dressed again. Whatever he wants to do is fine. All I want to do is help.

But before I could say anything, I heard him say, "I think we’d better go."

That hit me like a ton of bricks. Oh no! I’ve totally ruined it for him. I really have been too pushy. I’ve been so inconsiderate. I presumed that he would be as OK with this as I am. He’s been so open and trusting with me and yet I’ve rushed him into it before he’s ready. We went way to fast. And now he may never try it again and it’ll be all my fault. I felt like I had totally failed him. I was so angry and disappointed with myself.

"OK, no problem," I called back to him trying to sound upbeat like everything was OK. "No problem at all. I’ll get dressed and meet you back up here in a minute or two."

He was already there waiting for me when I came back up. He said he was sorry and started to explain and I interrupted and said I was sorry and started gushing apologies and things just got progressively more and more awkward. We walked back to the road in silence and finished the run back to town. I tried to start some conversation along the way, but mostly we just endured awkward silence. I felt really bad – I had totally failed and let him down.

This whole incident continued to weigh heavily on my mind for the next few days. I wanted to talk with Jeff again and try to apologize for rushing him along and for not considering and anticipating his feelings. I also wanted to reassure him that it was OK that he had changed his mind and that I understood. But the truth was, I really didn’t understand – I had no idea what the problem was – only that there was a problem. I knew we needed to just talk. But for one reason or another we didn’t manage to meet up. Just a quick hello or wave coming or leaving class, but that was all.

Then one day after class, I saw him waiting in the hall for me. We said hi and walked out of the building together in silence.

When we were outside and somewhat to ourselves, I said, "Listen Jeff, I’ve been wanting to talk to you - about the other day. I’m really sorry. I feel like maybe I rushed you into something before you were totally ready. That was so inconsiderate of me and…"

He interrupted me in mid-sentence and said, "No, wait. Let me say something first."

"OK."

He began in earnest and sincerity saying, "You know, I’m so grateful that when I first brought up the subject of nudity with you that day after class, that you listened and didn’t think I was some kind of a perv or something. I’m not sure where I got the guts to even talk to you about it just out of the blue like that, but you were open to listening so I just kept talking. That’s not really like me."

He continued with, "But you not only listened to me ramble on about what I thought, you apparently trusted me enough to share your own thoughts and experiences about it with me. I was totally surprised to find someone else who not only thought kind of like I did, but who had actually been somewhere and done something. Then when you asked if I’d like to go with you that afternoon – whoa – I couldn’t believe that you would be so trusting like that – you know – you didn’t really know me like a long-time friend or anything. I was like in shock there for a little a bit. I couldn’t believe it – couldn’t believe how nice you were being."

I was feeling worse and worse and worse! He was thanking me and complementing me yet I felt I had done everything totally wrong.

"But Jeff…" I started to say, but again he interrupted.

"No, wait, I’m not finished," he said and continued on. "You know, the last thing I would ever want to do would be to betray your trust or to offend you or unnerve you in any way."

Where was he was going with all this I wondered.

He was talking slower and more nervously now. "When we agreed to meet and go out there that day, I had some concerns, but I didn’t say anything. I figured I was really lucky to be getting this chance and that I needed to just not worry and go ahead with it. But by the time we got out there I was really worried, but I tried to just be cool and figure out some way to keep going. That’s when I came up with the idea to get undressed by myself. I thought that if I got undressed by myself, you know, and was alone for a few minutes then everything would be OK. But…that didn’t help."

I felt myself getting ever more impatient and wondering what wasn’t OK? Just tell me! But I forced myself to be patient and attentive and wait for him to go on.

He continued, "I don’t know what you’re going to think about this, but the real reason I couldn’t go through with it was because (he paused for a breath) I was aroused."

Of all the things running through my naïve little brain about what the problem might have been, that was about the last one that would have occurred to me. I must have had a surprised look on my face, because he quickly went on with his explanation. "Listen, I just want you to know that that was in no way your fault. You weren’t doing anything to cause it…it just happened…I didn’t want it to, but it did…I couldn’t help it. But I mean, I couldn’t let you see me like that, you know? I couldn’t handle the embarrassment. And not only that, I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea…about me. You were so trusting and so nice and I just didn’t want you to – you know - feel threatened and think I had ulterior motives or anything like that. I’m really sorry and I apologize, but I thought you should know."

I was feeling totally overwhelmed and confused as he told me all this. I felt so sorry for him that he had had to struggle with all that nervousness and embarrassment and uncertainty and I was angry with myself for how insensitive and inconsiderate I had been. I had failed to think about and anticipate the feelings that he might be going through with this brand new experience. I knew from reading nudist web sites and message boards that it was not uncommon for guys to get aroused in a first-time situation like that. I guess it can happen to girls, too, although that’s not been the case for me. My intentions were good in wanting to lead him through his first time, but I had just assumed that since I felt so comfortable with it that he would, too. And yet as inconsiderate as I had been of him, he had been so very considerate of me. And well, he was probably right - I would have been unnerved if he had come up like that. I probably would have felt threatened and wondered what was going on. The only time I’d been around nude guys before was the couple of times I’d been to a nude beach and nothing like that had happened there. So I really don’t know how I might have reacted.

He had finished talking now and was waiting for me to respond. My mind was racing to think of what to say and how to say it. I really wanted to smooth out this situation and assure him that everything was OK and that I now understood. I’ve always believed that honesty is the best policy, so I just started pouring out all of my thoughts.

"Jeff, I really do apologize for not thinking about how you might feel about all this – you know - going into it for the first time and all. We should have talked a lot more about it ahead of time - about what it might be like – for both of us. I should have known that. Thank you for being so considerate of how I might have felt out there. I’ve read that that’s perfectly normal for guys in a first time situation like that so don’t think there’s something wrong with you or anything. It can even happen to girls, too. I just wish that we’d had this kind of open and honest talk in the first place. Then we would have both understood each other better and maybe neither of us would have felt unnerved or uneasy - no matter what happened."

"Yeah, maybe so."

I needed to get to an appointment soon, so I began to wrap up our conversation by saying, "I’ve been worrying about all this and wanting to talk to you ever since the other day. And now that we’ve finally talked about it, I feel a whole lot better. Can you forgive me for being so inconsiderate?"

"Of course," he said. "I feel a lot better about everything, too."

"Good," I said. "I’ve learned my lesson – talk it all out before hand."

"Yeah, both sides of it," he responded. "I was guilty, too."

"Hey, better late than never," I said and just to show that I meant it, I added, "so…if you think you might ever want to give it another try, just let me know."

He surprised me by saying, "So…when is your last class over today?"

We both laughed. It appeared we were back on track. As it turned out, that afternoon wasn’t going to work for me and the next day wasn’t going to work for him so we settled on the upcoming Sunday afternoon.

OK, now fast forward to Sunday afternoon - another fine day to be outdoors. The weather was sunny and warm with a slight breeze. Jeff and I met at the same place and started out on the same run out of town. Today there was a lot of light-hearted conversation and joking around on the way as we ran. As we approached the pasture gate, we slowed to a walk and then stopped before climbing over.

"Well, here we are again," I said.

"Yeah, but this time is different," Jeff said.

"And how is it different?" I asked in a tone of voice that told him that I knew it was different, too. I just wanted him to talk about it to sort of reassure himself.

He answered, "Well, we’ve talked about what happened last time. And I think you understand that sex was not what I was about. Right?"

"Right."

"And if it happens again this time, well, it won’t be about sex this time either."

"I know. So assuming it does happen, what about being embarrassed?"

"I don’t know. Assuming it does happen – and I’m afraid it will – then I guess I’ll just have to be embarrassed." Then he added with a nervous laugh, "That and just be glad we’re not out in a crowd on that nude beach in the Caribbean."

I laughed, too and then said earnestly, "Jeff look, I don’t know if this will help or not, but I just want you to know that I’m totally on your side in this. I’d like for your first time out to be as nice and fun and carefree as it can be. You’ve told me that you have no ulterior motives and I believe you – so you don’t have to worry about me being alarmed or upset or anything. My take on it now is that if it happens, it happens. Either way, I’m not planning to do anything any different. I’m not going to stare. I’m not going to even say anything about it – at all – ever. It’s just not going to be an issue. So I’m hoping that you can just not worry about that and instead concentrate on enjoying being nude outdoors on this beautiful day. That’s what I’ll be doing."

"Thanks," he said. "That does help."

"So?" I asked just to keep things moving.

"So let’s get going!" he replied as he reached for the gate to climb over.

I followed and we headed back into the woods along the creek just like before except this time there was a lot more talking and an easy-going feeling. I could sense that we were off to a much smoother start.

When we reached the gully, I said, "OK, I’m going down here to get undressed like last time. You can come with me if you want or get undressed over there by yourself and we’ll meet up back here in a couple of minutes. Whatever you’re most comfortable with is fine."

He replied, "No, this will be fine."

So I headed on down the slope toward the creek and he was right behind me. He really seemed more comfortable, confident, and self-assured this time although I was sure he was still nervous. As I started to get out of my shoes and socks I noticed that he had turned slightly away from me as he started to undress so I did the same – anything to make it easier for him. I peeled everything off in a hurry just to keep things moving.

As I put my stuff out of sight under a bush there next to a tree, I said to him even though he still wasn’t looking in my direction, "Just put your stuff under here like I did. I’m heading on up."

I climbed back up the gully and he followed. When we were both back at the top, I decided that the best way for us to get past the awkwardness was to just start talking and trying to act normal. The quicker we started interacting, the quicker we would actually get back to normal so I just turned to him and said, "Well, here we are. This is what I was telling you about. So what do you think?"

By asking him a direct question, he really couldn’t avoid looking at me to answer. He turned to me and said, "This is great!" That was to be a phrase that he repeated probably a hundred times that afternoon.

The ice had now been broken. No more avoidance. No more afraid-to-see-somebody-you-know-naked phobia.

"Come on, let me show you around," I said.

We explored the area there in the trees along the creek all the while enjoying the feeling of the grass under our bare feet and the feel of the warm breeze blowing over us. He spotted some very large, flat rocks that jutted out into the creek and suggested we go check them out. We went down there and walked and climbed over them and crossed back and forth over the creek a couple of times. We even did some exploring there on the other side of the creek while we were there.

Upon coming back up into the trees near where we had started out, I took him to a large tree that had fallen at an angle against some other trees. I stepped up onto one of its large branches and then onto the trunk and told him to follow me as I started to walk up the sloping trunk of the tree. He followed and we walked up the trunk until we were fairly high off the ground. We stood there and talked for a while as we looked around the area from that vantage point. The breeze was even nicer up high like that.

Pretty soon we made our way back down and he helped me to the ground at the bottom. We continued exploring and talking and before long we found ourselves at the edge of the trees where the pasture changes to open grassland. I explained to Jeff how I had gradually gotten up the nerve to hike farther and farther into the pasture and that I had only just recently begun to leave my clothes and all behind when I hiked. But he was not the least bit nervous as we walked out into the sunshine. He said that he couldn’t imagine carrying clothes around or wearing shoes or even something as small as a watch or jewelry when hiking nude. He said that nothing should be allowed to take away from the effect. I didn’t teach him that – he came up with it on his own. What a natural this guy was turning out to be. I agreed and said that now I make it a point not to wear anything – not even a hair barrette – when I’m out here.

As we continued on, he kept discovering new places for us to explore. We found another interesting spot that led down to the creek so we made our way down the bank (a little steep in places), across the creek, and up the other side "just to see what’s there," as he kept putting it.

After thoroughly exploring that area, we crossed back over the creek, climbed back up the bank and walked out into the open pasture until we came to the fence and then on to the corner fence post that marked the farthest point of my adventures. I told him about the time that I had first come out this far and how scared I was to be this far from my clothes.

"So do you still feel that way?" he asked.

"No, not any more," I answered.

"Good," he responded. "Then let’s go see what’s over that hill."

His confident attitude made me wonder why I had ever been so afraid. Now I felt completely comfortable and confident in hiking out here. Not only that, I was having so much fun, too! I suppose the fact that we were together gave both of us a lot more confidence than we would have had separately.

We walked on up to the top of the hill. And then on to the next - and even the next! We just kept walking along side by side, talking as we went, both of us totally at ease and enjoying the beautiful afternoon outdoors. We were careful to keep an eye out for anyone else who might be out there just in case, but there was no sign of anyone else. After a time, we came to another fence at the top of a hill. From here, we could see a farm not too far away so we decided not to go any farther. I’m guessing that by now we were about two miles from where we started – from where our clothes were. We had probably been nude for an hour or so and everything seemed perfectly fine that way.

As we stood there on the top of that hill in the sunshine, the grass, and the breeze, Jeff turned to me and said. "I really want to thank you for taking a leap of faith and inviting me out here with you. This is the most amazing sense of freedom. It’s incredible! I could never have imagined this. Like you said, it just has to be experienced to understand it."

"So does that mean you might try this again sometime?" I asked smiling and already knowing the answer.

"What it means is that I’m never going to stop!" he replied emphatically.

We spent the rest of the afternoon hiking and exploring out there and didn’t get back to town until after sunset. He was hooked. I was both relieved and thrilled that things had worked out so well after our shaky beginning. I was also very happy to have a new friend – a kindred spirit – someone who understood. All of this happened near the end of the spring semester so we were both busy finishing projects and getting ready for finals, but we did manage to get back out there once more together and he went at least once by himself that I know of. When finals were over he went back to his hometown for the summer. I definitely missed his company and enthusiasm.

I don’t feel like I can take any real credit for bringing Jeff into nudism. He already had the attitude and desire but just didn’t know how to get started. My guess is that there are probably a lot more out there just like him who would readily join in if someone were to extend an invitation. It was mostly pure luck that got us together. I’d like to figure out how to find other like-minded people and help them along if they need and want it. It’s also nice to have company. He said he initially approached me that first time after class because I had always smiled and said hi and just had a generally friendly attitude. I guess that’s the first step.

As I think back on it, there are several things I learned from this experience.

1: Take your time; don’t rush the situation.

2: Talk it all through very openly, honestly, and in depth. Don’t assume anything.

3: Establish a mutual trust before hand so that each of you is comfortable with the other.

4. Don’t be pushy.

5. Make it fun.

These are the things I’ll remember when introducing others.