A Picture and a Story

These pictures were taken during my first stay at the GNI Gathering in 2008. It was the first time that I had gone 'camping' in very long time since the first time that I had convinced the BF to go.

For those unfamiliar with the event, GNI takes over a campground in rural Pennsylvania for 10 days. The full week is dedicated to camping naked and is attended by 800 naked guys.

The week was magical for me. It's funny how if you're naked long enough with others, that you actually forget all about the nudity. What I loved most about this weekend was the same thing that first drew me to underwear night at the Green Lantern, then ultimately to naked events in the first place. In fact, it is one of the things that I find most satisfying and fulfilling in the world. That is that I just loved the closeness and honest sharing that I had between me and others. It is part of human nature that we all want to be part of something and to be close to others, yet we (and society) erect barriers designed to protect us that, unfortunately, have also alienate us from this basic need.

So who did I meet? Far too many people to tell, but some of the ones that I still keep in contact with are:

• A group of Columbians, particularly two from New York that I love and still call friends,
• A couple of Canadians from Ottawa, and
• The greatest and sweetest guy originally from Pennsylvania, now living with his partner in Boston.

Since that time, I've run into people I've met at GNI at various places across the country including several people in San Francisco, Ft. Lauderdale and Key West.

The backdrop in the first picture shows the man-made lake at the campgrounds. It is larger than it appears in the picture as only a portion of it is visible. The camp has paddle and row boats as well as kayaks available for use whenever you please. Many of the activities take place near the lake including some of the cocktail parties, naked wrestling, daily volleyball and many others.

These next two pictures were taken by a friend from DC called Camera Guy. We had met him many times since he used to go to the GL Underwear parties. He had offered to take some naked pictures of me on several occasions so when I saw him at GNI, I definitely took him up on the offer.

Naked Tennis

Another update on the wonderful week that we spent at the GNI Gathering in the Pocono Mountains. One of my nudist goals has been to play tennis naked. Well, I got my opportunity at the gathering.

Upon our arrival, we used our provided maps to tour the grounds during which we found the tennis courts. I had seen on the schedule that there was a Tennis 101 class scheduled early the following morning. I really wasn't interested in an introductory class. After breakfast the next morning, we walked over to the courts just to see what was going on. I saw the guys in the class hitting the balls. They all obviously had hit balls before, so I decided to go retrieve my racket in the hope that maybe someone would want to hit after the class finished. When I returned with my gear in hand but sans-clothes, I immediately met up with a red-head guy. As it turned out, he's one of the better players that was there that week and we immediately became tennis buddies. We played everyday except once when we both needed a break.

So if you're like me (and also haven't gotten completely bored by the topic), you're probably wondering about the obvious logistical issues of playing tennis nude.

1. The first and most obvious question was about the flopping issue. Now, I have a tendency to flop quite a bit even when playing in relatively tight boxer briefs, so I was definitely wondering about this. As it turns out, this is completely a non-issue. Yes things were flying everywhere, but I didn't slow down, stop running or jumping nor restrict myself in any other way because of fears of flopping. After playing for just a few minutes it became obvious to me why this isn't a problem. God (or nature) created us naked and optimized our bodies to be able to run, jump, hunt and a variety of other arduous activities. Our bodies were created to do this. The unnatural thing is when we wear clothing which is why it bothers me so much more when I'm wearing boxer briefs than when nude.

2. Most people that don't play regularly might not think of this, but pockets are essential in tennis. This is especially true if you have a 2-hand backhand and therefore can't just keep the extra ball in your left hand. Well my red-headed tennis buddy taught me how to overcome this my first day. When serving, I used the BF's fanny pack. Simple, easy, comfortable, problem solved.

3. When I play I sweat. So I typically use various methods to help me deal with this and ensure that my grip remains dry. Among these are wristbands and a cotton shirt on which I can wipe my hands. I wore a wristband, but wondered what I would use to wipe my hands if I didn't have a shirt on. As it turns out, this too was a non-issue. What I hadn't counted on was that we just sweat a lot less when nude. I still sweated, but much less and therefore just having a wristband was plenty enough.

I loved the feeling of naked tennis. I loved being able to look onto the next court and seeing brief moments of a beautiful male form contorting gracefully as it stretches to return a deep shot. Naked tennis was all I had hoped it would be which is basically two things I love: naked and tennis. And as a bonus, it helped me get a good amount of physical activity during my vacation.

GNI

The BF and I just returned from an absolutely wonderful, naked week in the woods of the Pocono, PA. It took quite a bit of convincing to get him to go since he never experienced how fun summer camps can be as a kid like I did. Eventually and reluctantly he agreed to go although he continued to have a lot of apprehension about what he would do for a full week with nothing to do out in the woods.

We both loved it within the first few hours of our arrival. The camp grounds are well-maintained and absolutely beautiful. There's a beautiful lake, two huge pools, sports fields, tennis courts, gymnasium, weight room, miniature golf, driving range and much, much more. Although it was crude as such places normally are, it was even better than I expected with hot and cold running water within the cabins.

The best part of the weekend without a doubt was the people. Naked people always seem to be more friendly and accepting and this weekend proved no different. I couldn't possibly count the number of great people we met. I believe some will remain very good friends for a long time to come.

Over the coming days, I hope to write about many of the things that I experienced there, but I'll start by describing the disco. The campground had a wonderful dance hall that was decorated in a Japanese motif. It wasn't until the last night that I looked around and thought that it couldn't possible look like this during the other parts of the year when the camp has its normal kids in attendance. It was beautiful with red walls and platforms to dance on. The thing that was most beautiful about it though was that it was packed with naked men. The amazing thing was that many of them were getting on in years and yet came every night and danced into the wee hours. It was beautiful that for just one week, there is a place on this planet where all can go and lose themselves in sensual naked dance regardless of age. It made me happy just to be a part of it.