My Life as a Nudist

My name is Stephanie Reamer.  I am 17 years old, and I am a nudist. My first experience of the lifestyle was in the April before I turned 16, approximately 1 1/2 years ago.  At this point I moved to Sunsport Gardens in Loxahatchee, Florida.  At first I was a little uncomfortable with taking off my clothes in front of people I did not know.  I mean, what if the person started staring at me? 
After a little while I realized that it isn't a sexual thing, being nude.

Nudity is self realization.  When you're nude you can't hide from yourself.  You can't hide anything that you don't like.  The people in these places don't care if you're fat or skinny, short or tall; they don't even care if you have a face full of zits.  The only thing they care about is if you're a good person.

It's a shame that more young people don't come to the nudist resorts.  Most young people are afraid because they don't have the "Perfect Body" but that doesn't matter here.  Society today puts way too much stress on the super skinny.  I don't understand why people think a size 0 looks good.  People my age that are that skinny just look sick to me.  If younger people would try coming into these places just once, maybe they would realize that they are beautiful just the way they are.  You don't have to be anorexic to look good.

I know that a lot of people in their 20's and 30's are worried because they have kids and they don't want their kids exposed to nudity.  I just want to let all those people know that there is nothing wrong with nudity.  And guess what else, I bet the kids would like it.  My niece is 1 year old and she lives here.  Her mother and father are 21 years old.  I live here with my parents and my younger brothers who are 10 and 4.

Being nude is about being free.  You are free from the judgement of other people.  Free from pretending to be something you're not.  And free from hot sticky, sweaty clothes.

My favorite part of Sunsport is Friday nights.  On Friday nights the camp has this thing called a Drum Circle.  They have a fire and people sit around the fire, some of them playing drums, others bellydancing, and others sitting around, hanging out, talking to people they actually like, and listening to the sound of the drums.  On Saturday nights they have dances. They aren't formal; there is just someone playing music and everyone is just having a good time.  Another thing the camp does is they have volleyball mostly on weekends and on Wednesday night.  They also have a game called Petanque.  Petanque is a team sport that I don't completely understand. But they play every day and they're always looking for more people to play.

The only problem with living here is that, while there are many children, there aren't very many people my age.  That needs to change.  I think younger people would enjoy living here.  There would always be something to do.  And if there wasn't anything to do, you could always go skinny dipping in the pool which is always at a perfectly refreshing temperature.

NOTE:  Stephanie Reamer works in the Sunsport Gardens front office and was a counselor in Sunsport's Youth Camp last summer.  She is completing her senior year of high school on line.  To address Stephanie's concerns, Sunsport offers grounds fees of only $6 per day for people aged 18- 30 with student IDs.  Young people under 18 are free with permission of a parent or guardian.

Essayist Stephanie Reamer with her two young friends, brothers Jr. and Shannon.