Can Nudism Improve Your Relationship? An Interview with Nick and Lins of @NakedWanderings
An attractive couple in their thirties, tanned and smiling as they pose with super soakers in front of a field in Thailand. It’s a vacay pic like any other on Instagram. Except that this couple is completely naked, and the super soakers are positioned to cover their more delicate parts from view. Meet Nick and Lins, the young Belgian couple behind the popular blog and Instagram account, Naked Wanderings.
Here, Nick and Lins dish on their favorite things to do naked, what happens when you pull out a camera at a nudist resort, and how being naked has more benefits than you might think.
Nick: We met fifteen years ago because we lived in the same village, but we went to different universities and lost track of each other. When we met again there was a spark. That was more than ten years ago and we’ve been together ever since.
Lins: We were only together about a year and a half before we became nudists. I always throw a big party on my birthday and one of my friends gave me a trip for two to a wellness spa. We looked at the places online and all the good ones were naked ones. We decided to go for it. At first, we were scared.
Nick: Oh yeah, we were very nervous.
Lins: We smoked something like ten cigarettes before we went. But after an hour or two we felt comfortable. Being naked and seeing other people naked is not something we were used to in normal life, but after that first time we were hooked.
Nick: We kept coming back. It’s very liberating. Every day you turn yourself into a different person with clothes, and different hairstyles or makeup, but with nudism all of that is gone. You are who you are. It’s scary in the beginning, but it’s also very comfortable. Things like swimming are way better naked. We really started to hate bathing suits.
Lins: They stick on you for hours.
Nick: And when you’re camping there’s always those horrible showers. It’s a mess. The floor is always wet, it’s too small, and your clothes are falling off those little hooks. That’s completely gone with nudism. You walk in naked, shower, dry off, and walk back naked.
Lins: Changing your clothes in tents is a mess, too. We don’t have to do that anymore. Swimming naked, though, that’s one of the most incredible things.
Nick: Other things are better naked too, like gardening. You don’t have to think about your clothes getting dirty. You just take a shower and the dirt is gone.
Lins: Getting ready in the morning is so easy. You wake up, make yourself a coffee, go outside and sit in your garden. I love to start my day like that. It’s my little Zen moment. Usually, you’d have to put on clothes and get ready for work, and then you start your life. Now, I start with my life. I recommend you drink your coffee naked wherever you are.
Nick: We get a lot of questions. We’ve all heard about nudist places; they’re hidden in the woods behind big fences and everybody wants to know what’s going on, but very few people try it. People ask questions like: are people having sex there? What’s it like?
Lins: It’s changed our relationship, for sure. We’ve always been open-minded people, so that wasn’t new. But as a woman, I see Nick differently now. It’s not like when I see him naked I immediately want to have sex with him. I’m not turning into a wild woman. But I appreciate his body more now that we’re naked more often, and also naked around other people.
Nick: It takes away a lot of jealousy. She sees a lot of people naked. I see a lot of people naked. And then other people see us naked. It’s good for relationships.
Lins: Our families were very supportive, but none of them has tried it out yet, maybe they will.
Nick: So many nudist places are full of old people. It was strange because most of the time we were the youngest. We wondered why young people weren’t attracted to nudism, so we started researching online and everything we found was patronizing and inaccurate. The websites looked like they were made in the eighties.
Lins: No Instagram. No Facebook. Nothing.
Nick: We thought we could do this better and make a platform to focus on younger people. We wanted to show them about nudism as the couple next door. So, we started Naked Wanderings. A lot of people tell us we’ve helped them take the first steps into nudism.
Lins: A lot of the reaction on social media is about how normal we are.
Nick: We get very few negative reactions. An angry mother might say “Oh my god, my children might see this!”
Lins: We get a lot of unwanted dick pics, too. At first, we didn’t respond. Now I just mess with them. If we get a dick pic or someone saying they want sex, I respond, “yeah, and I want pizza, can you go get it for me?” Most of the time that stops them.
Nick: We’re nudists. We see loads of naked people every day. Why would we be interested in seeing your penis?
Lins: One of the issues we have is that most social media sites have a “no nudity” policy. Whenever there’s a female nipple or genitals they take it off and block the user for some time. We’ve been in Facebook jail a lot and have to be careful now with what we share or we’ll be banned permanently. Blocking isn’t our big concern though, it’s easy to create a new account. Our problem is that Facebook and Instagram categorize nudity as “sexual content,” which sends the wrong message to users. It’s the opposite of what we’re trying to do: normalize non-sexual nudity.
Nick: From the first month, the website was a success and even now we’ve got an ever-growing audience. The first time we were recognized in person was when we were in the US a couple weeks ago. One day we were in San Diego at a nude beach and posted about it on our Instagram Story. Within five minutes three different people came up to us because they saw our Instagram story and wanted to say hi.
Lins: It was weird.
Nicks: But it’s fun. You’d be surprised how much stuff we have to bring traveling. Not a lot of clothes, but equipment for our photos and blog posts.
Lins: The photos are very trial and error.
Nick: We always say we’ll publish the bloopers one day. So many photos don’t work. You see a nipple or bit of a penis, but then there will be one that works and we’ll be very happy. The ones where we censor each other with our fingers are my favorite.
Lins: I love the ones with the coffee cups.
Nick: You rarely get photo-bombed at nudist places. If you pull out a camera, people run away. There are so many benefits to the lifestyle. You don’t have to worry about what you’re going to wear.
Lins: No tan lines, either. It’s hard to make friends as a couple at normal resorts. It’s easy at nudist places. Within minutes you’ll be talking to strangers or the owner of the hotel will be taking you on a tour.
Nick: You have a common ground.
Lins: It’s an easy conversation starter.
Nick: We recommend everyone give nudism a try. It’s not like a tattoo on your face, if you don’t like it, just put your pants back on and you’re not a nudist anymore.
Lins: I think for women it’s also a big step towards loving your body as it is. I’m not the perfect size, but I love my body, and I love it even more now that I’m naked more often.
Nick: It’s a jump into cold water, but once you’re in, it’s perfect.
