Today on the activity feed the question was raised about how to tell visitors to your home that you are a naturist, explain naturism to them and maybe encourage them to try it.

There have been some interesting feedback and we thought it would be good to make a more permanent record of ideas and experiences in the forum. 

We already have a topic about telling others about naturism itself https://www.anaturistworld.com/forums/topic/71/telling-others-that-you-are-a-naturist and another about encouraging partners to give it a try https://www.anaturistworld.com/forums/topic/147/how-to-introduce-a-new-partner-to-naturism so these topics are worth a revisit if you feel these touch on some of your thoughts and experiences and wants.

In this topic I would like us to look at not just promoting naturism or inspiring your other half to get involved. In this topic I would like us to consider the question of telling your family and friends about your naturism, the best ways to encourage them to understand what naturism actually is and then with luck actually getting them to give it a try. 

Experiences and ideas that explore you being able to enjoy your naturism around others and inspiring them to try naturism with you.   
 

It sometimes isn't the easiest of things to do, as when do you bring it up and why? 

If for example you were going to go on holiday with some friends there could be opportunities while planning it. "There is a naturist beach near by, we are naturists so would love to go, you could come with us if you like!" The worry is that they may take the proposal the wrong way. If they think naturism is a sexual thing they may become concerned about the whole holiday! 

And this is the biggest issue we face as naturists - promoting it, educating people, sharing it etc. When people consider it may be something perverse, you always have to contend with that problem before moving on, and sometimes people simply will not listen, because they have already made their minds up. 

How for example do we actively promote naturism to families when there is an idea that naturism is about swinging. Instead of confronting the issue face on, we instead follow a pattern of hiding from the worry of people suggesting it is not for children and skirting the whole issue by simply pretending families don't exist. All this does though is allow the misconception to grow in strength. Adult only has its own meaning to many, and it is much better to continue promoting naturism as a family thing and taking the short term flack than it is to hide the existence of families and face long term destruction. 

Back to talking to people. Hopefully people know you well enough to consider that you wouldn't want to be involved in anything perverse. But you may have your friends talking about you after the idea is brought up asking "what do you think they were suggesting there?"   

So what we need is the opportunity to chat, without pressure "Get undressed now!" and hopefully without ulterior motives being considered - without creating the thought: "Do you just want to see my wife's/my breasts?" or even worse "He wants to see my children naked!" 

Showing holiday snaps or answering the door naked could maybe be an answer, but that too could be construed as exhibitionist and possibly seen as forcing nudity onto people unsuspectingly.  There was a pub near where I live as a youngster that had framed naked images of the landlady in the gents toilets. Was this cool or rather bizarre - I reckon the latter. 

Finding good opportunities to talk away from any suggestive ideas is ideal. Then if the conversation is positive, the idea can be approached of encouraging them to try naturism at some time in the future with or without you. 

How do you find the right time? If someone is coming to stay you could mention it before they arrive. "Look I like going around the house naked - if you are OK with that I will continue but if you are uncomfortable then I won't." Either way you could then bring it up again when they stay, placing it in context, "I mentioned it because I am a naturist" - and then possibly taking the conversation on from there or at least explaining you reasoning and leaving it at that. 

Talking about holidays, beaches, camping trips, bike rides, charity event etc is another good way. "I did this the other day, oh and I did it naked." "We went on holiday to so and so this year, it is a naturist venue/there is a naturist beach near by."

Be prepared to answer serious questions, be prepared to argue against the idea of perversion, be prepared to maybe share some info - ANW may be a good starting point as both a website to present to them or for information to quote or refer to. If you do not have the answers then it may appear that the answers do not exist. 

Try and be objective, but also as positive as possible. "Yes there are some people who abuse naturism, but there are people who abuse all situations, and they are very much in the minority." I for example have seen more perverts on non-naturist beaches than on naturist beaches, and I spend a lot less time on non-naturist beaches. 

When I spoke to my mother and step father about our naturism it was done at a picnic one day, although we had mentioned going to a naturist beach when we visited them in Lanzarote a couple of years earlier. We told them about building ANW, and at first my mother was very sceptical about the whole idea of naturism. "You are naked in front of strangers!" But we simply stayed cool about it and talked the idea of naturism through and by the end of the lunch they got it. My stepfather, thought about it afterwards and then became quite taken with the whole idea, and saw the whole mental attitude behind it, and took to naked sunbathing, and spent time with us naked. My mother who has incredibly sensitive skin simply doesn't expose any part of herself to the sun as she burns very easily, but she became very comfortable with our nudity, and supported the idea of the site. She even swam naked with me once when the sun went down. One of the things was we told them because we wanted too as we were somewhere where we couldn't be naked, but it would have made sense to be able to, so the irony started the conversation. We had no want to encourage them to be naturists, we just wanted to talk about our naturism, so there was no pressure in that respect, and maybe that made it easier for them to accept. 

I don't think there is an exact science but maybe there is a spectrum of how things can be handled and work out, do and don'ts, warning signs or signs of "tell me more." And there is also maybe the disastrous things to watch out for, someone may actually like the idea that you are bringing up naturism for swinging reasons! And then you find yourself in the uncomfortable position of dealing with explaining that is not what you want at all. 

I loom forward to reading various views and the forum maybe working together in designing a set of scenarios that we can all use as a template.

For me if I'm having a visitor, I want to make sure they understand how I live as a naturist and that I prefer to be nude at home and for people visiting or staying to be the same. For me the key is consent so making sure I have had a chance to talk to them about what to expect and to clear up any misunderstandings.

I host alot of travellers through some different websites and find its easy to get consent from them and often they want to stay with me because my place is naturist and I check what their experience is and send them an FAQ before hand. That makes it easy so can greet them nude when they arrive and people have told me having the info really helped them understand.

If I have an unexpected visitor or a visitor who I haven't had a chance to discuss naturism with, then I put on some shorts and have a talk about it when they arrive. I have a small sign in doorway foyer saying - 'nudist area, please remove all clothing' so its usually a good conversation starter!

For me it was age 23 when I went travelling and lived in Sydney Australia sharing an apartment with 3 other people. I had to share a bedroom and bathroom with a guy called Mark who was a year older..

We had our own shower and bathroom away from the girls which had bad ventilation so we had to leave the door open while showering

within the first week me anc mark discussef the shower arrangements anc if either of us worried about being seen nude considering we'd only known each other for a month

i clearly remember coming home and going to our room where Mark was just finishing showering so was naked, we made small talk and I needed to shower so asked him if it was ok then undressed in front off him

Over the next 6 months we got completely fine with seeing each other nude and I even slept nude

Over the years, I have a set of 2 simple tricks that work well:

1. There are always naturist magazines at home, in plain sight. When spotted by visitors, it's generally an easy ice-breaker.
2. In spring and summer, when hosting new visitors for lunch or dinner, we generally have a drink before eating at the pool. I always open with "if you wanna have a swim, be my guest, the place is clothing-optional and as a naturist, I'll go naked if you don't mind. Feel free to join the way you want". I never had a "yes, I do mind", but lots of weird looks and a few joining.

Once any of the above step cleared, we can have an discussion about naturism, and share that I'm a naturist and will be very happy to stay naked if nobody cares and am welcoming any people who want to join me. It happens more than once, I'm the only one naked, then people get relaxed and drop their swimsuit at the pool. Before they leave, I give them an older issue of a naturist magazine, one of my books or various leaflets from the French Federation of Naturism, so they can learn more about naturism.

It's important in my opinion to be very open and relaxed about naturism (we know it's a wonderful lifestyle), to be intentional about having conversations about natutism, and to be prepared and have documentation ready, like magazines, books and leaflets, to share. If I were not intentional about naturism, I would never be able to be naked in my own garden and pool when friends and family are visiting. By being intentional, I live a happier and nuder life, for the better!