I was prompted to write this article in reply to Scott my nudey cyber-friend in Canada who wrote an article on his blog “The Naturist Page” about his Tanning experiences in the Northern Hemisphere, his experience is of course seasonably opposite to mine i.e.: he is losing his tan as I am getting mine back, you can read his story here:

http://thenaturistpage.wordpress.com/2014/09/14/sunbathing-the-naturist-page/

Now down to my story, As I write this it is almost Summer 2014 here in Australia (starts 1st December) and I have reached my “base tan” and feeling quite cocky about it too…. I just came back from two weeks holiday with the first week spent at a beachside location where I was out in a kayak/on the beach or just generally walking around naked (when possible) or at the very least wearing small briefs… I only used sunscreen if I was out in the sun for an extended period of time.

Paddling on the lagoon in the van park…. yes I’m wearing briefs. 😦

Sunrise nude sunbake on a remote section of beach that I kayaked to.

Sunrise glow on yet another remote beach

Nude kayak trip, I kayaked early one morning about 7km return up a river and around an island and back, all nude… even managed a sun bake on the break wall 😉

The second week was spent with my wife, we went on a bushwalk the Monday and we went skinny dipping and had a sunbake for about 30 minutes, then the next day we went to a local water hole called “Paradise” my wife is very pale so she lathered up with the sunscreen and I put some sunscreen on my nose/ears/forehead as I sometimes get burnt there.. we had a swim then moved out the back of the beach under some shady trees and ate our picnic lunch then lay on our towels on the sand in the shade for about two hours.

Shades of brown, my wife and I at the paradise swimming hole.

My wife relaxing nude on the sand, we had an awesome nudey picnic 🙂

My wife having a splash in the chilly water.

Then on the Friday we went to Cobblers beach, one of the three legal nude beaches in Sydney Harbour and spent about two hours or so at the beach… sorry no photos as I didn’t take any….

As a result of all this sun exposure I am very well tanned with no signs of skin peeling or blisters, quite an achievement for an Aussie of Irish decent with fair freckled skin and blonde hair 🙂

In fact on the first day back to work this week I was inundated with questions about my tan by the 19-25 year old girls in the onsite call centre next to my office… “wow are you tanned all over? and “have you got any tan lines” and “what nationality are you?…. you can’t be an Aussie with a tan like that!”

Stills from the upcoming movie “Nudeyman Tan’s Back” 😉

So I told them what my secret is, regular moderate all over sun exposure over many years… I don’t lay out in the sun all day burning till I look like a lobster.

Ok so here’s how it all happens… In our Aussie Winter (June-August) if it’s sunny then most days the temperature will be around 18-20C (64-68F) so on my work lunch-break I go for an up to 5km walk, either around a exercise track near my work, or along the river and back near my work or along an extensive track network through some old railway cuttings 10 mins drive from work.

I am only wearing small boxer style shorts and light sandals when out on these walks so naturally my back/chest and arms get tanned the most, so come the end of August when Spring starts teasing us with 26C (78F) days I’m ready to start up my “Nudeyruns” where I drive 10mins, park my car, jog/hike along a very rough “goat track” as a friend called it, this run consists of jumping over fallen logs and rock hopping which take about 13mins at speeds from 6-7kph over a distance of 1.25km… you can read more about it and view a link to a video here: https://nudeyman.com/my-nude-outdoor-adventures-skinny-dipping-free-hiking/

If I am 100% certain nobody is around (spider-webs across the track and no fresh foot prints) I will strip down to nothing and enjoy a nude run…. but I always have my briefs at the front to A) protect from bushes etc. scratching the “crown jewel’s” and B) just in case there are bushwalkers about that I hadn’t anticipated, which has happened once when a hiker came along the track from the other end (very rare).

Look… it’s a bird?… it’s a plane? no it’s Nudeyman in mid-flight 😉

So after I complete the 13min nude dash to my destination which is a creek through a deep gorge I go for about a 10min skinny dip and dry off in the sun… or if the waters too cold for swimming I just sunbake.

The swimming hole at the end of my 13min run.

Then I run back along the track, get dressed, jump in my car and race back to work…my 2.5km 26min workout all crammed into my one hour lunch-break! So I’m not only getting my dose of vitamin D but I’m also exercising, in the last 4 years or so I’ve lost about 20kg. 🙂

I continue this regime of daily sun exposure and exercise all through Spring and into Summer, only stopping if the temperature is over about 35C (95F) as it is too darn hot and I don’t want to get sunstroke!

So what to do on my lunch-break on these extreme sometimes heatwave conditions? well I drive about 10mins to a choice of a couple of different spots where I know nobody goes and I jump in the river naked and cool off while sipping a nice cool water I also limit my sun exposure to about 5mins and ensure I don’t walk too far… 😉

This Summer is set to be a scorcher! we are already getting temps as high as 43C (109F)!!! and that was three weeks before Summer 😦

Cooling off on a heatwave day.

Me “logging” a skinny dip on a scorching hot Aussie heatwave day.

The Thinker?…

Then as Summer starts winding up around the end of April I have my last Nudeyruns then go back into “Winter mode” and so the cycle continues…

Oh I almost forgot about my “Nudeynest” this is a very secluded clearing behind high bushes where I have been known to go to on my lunch-break when I can’t be bothered going for a walk or can’t due to injury… I damaged a knee ligament back in March 2012 and couldn’t manage any exercise for about five months, it was painful to just walk down stairs!

Batman has his Bat-Cave, Superman his Fortress… Nudeyman has his “Nudeynest” 😉

I have noticed recently that many health authorities are starting to realise that they went too far promoting the “Sun Safe” message, they have people so scared of the sun and the mere mention of nude sunbaking has people saying “you’ll get sun-cancer” but what has happened now is people are starting to get vitamin D deficiency as they either stay indoors or cover themselves up or go wild with the sunscreen and coat every inch of their bodies with the stuff!!!

This article in The Australian newspaper from last month has some great points about the scare mongering by health authorities over the years…. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sunbake-and-live-longer/story-fnkbzth6-1227093002439

If people would just realise that they can and need to have some sun on their skin… the more skin exposed the better! but it needs to be done sensibly and in MODERATION! depending on your geographic location the U.V index will vary and you also need to consider your skin type so you can calculate how long to expose your body to the sun so it can generate vitamin D

A couple of good page’s to follow on Facebook are:

“Sensible Moderate UV Exposure” https://www.facebook.com/moderateUV

“Vitamin D Council” https://www.facebook.com/VitaminDCouncil

Also checkout the great podcast about Vitamin D on the Naturist Living Show:

http://www.naturistliving.bareoaks.ca/2010/04/sunshine-and-vitamin-d.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NaturistLivingShow+%28Naturist+Living+Show%29

As I mentioned before it is not something that will happen overnight… it has taken me at least five years to get to the level I am now where I don’t peel and burn, the tanning to me is natural protection so it takes longer to burn, but I’m still very sensible about it and use sunscreen if I am out in the sun for long periods.

Back when I was teenager I was much the same as I am today and back then I was always naked out in the bush and in Winter the most I ever wore on sunny days was a small pair of shorts…

Mmmmm so this means at age 48 I’m reliving my teenage years! Oh well, I don’t want to grow up anyway 😉

Michael

Published 28/11/2014