“You’ll Never Find a Less Judgmental Crowd Anywhere” — A Conversation with Mark from Canada

By Asha | SlavicUncovered

One of the things I love most about running a naturist space in Kraków is the people it brings through the door — or in this case, to the microphone. Mark travelled all the way from Victoria, British Columbia, on Canada’s west coast, to visit Poland for a few days. We sat down together and talked naturism, world travel, cold beaches in Chile, and why — even in one of the coldest countries on earth — a thriving community of nudists finds a way.

Here is our conversation.

I love finding out about people’s journeys

Asha: Mark, how did your journey into naturism begin?

Mark: It’s a little difficult to pinpoint, honestly. About twenty-one years ago I had a girlfriend who was a naturist. I was an undergraduate at the time, and she introduced me to it. Being Canada, it’s cold for much of the year, so it was more about being naked in her apartment — just not wearing clothes at home — and I thought, I could get used to this. This feels liberating. Then about a year later I went to an organised naturist event in Ottawa, and I just fell in love with it from there.

Asha: And your wife is also a naturist?

Mark: She is, yes. We were married seven years ago — actually at a naturist resort in Jamaica. We were clothed for the ceremony itself because we wanted to be able to share the photos — [laughs] — but everything around it was very much in the naturist spirit. Before I met her I’d been to a naturist spa in Germany and beaches in Cuba. Since we’ve been together we’ve been to Thailand, Chile, Austria, Barcelona. We try to find naturist opportunities wherever we travel.

Asha: That’s my approach exactly. Once you start, you can’t stop looking for them. Tell me about some of the most memorable places.

Mark: The most memorable — and the most unexpected — was Playa Luna in Chile. It’s Chile’s only legal nude beach. We were in Santiago, where it was about 35 degrees every day, so we assumed the coast would be the same. Big mistake. It’s about two hours by car, you cross mountains, and the climate on the coast is completely different. We arrived to about 13 or 14 degrees and an overcast sky.

Asha: Oh no.

Mark: But we were determined. We’d come all that way. So we got undressed despite the breeze — we’re from Canada, we can handle it — and we stayed. What confused us was that all the Chilean people there were applying sunscreen very seriously, despite there being no sun visible at all. We thought, what’s the big deal? We found out afterwards. They have a specific word in Spanish for getting sunburned when the sun isn’t out, because the UV rays come through regardless. My wife and I were both quite sunburned by the end of the day — cold, shivering, and sunburned. The lesson: always use sunscreen.

Asha: I know exactly what you mean. Even on overcast days in the Caribbean, I’ve been on the edge of burning. The climate is so different from what we’re used to in this part of Europe.

Mark: Exactly. You learn these things the hard way.

Asha: What about naturism in Canada itself? It can’t be easy in that climate.

Mark: It’s developing, I’d say. In every province there are naturist campgrounds, obviously only fully usable in summer. Canada has two legally designated nude beaches — one in Vancouver and one in Toronto. I’ve been to both. The one in Vancouver, Wreck Beach, is particularly wonderful. Vancouver is a very progressive city and very welcoming of naturism. If anyone is visiting Canada and wants a naturist experience, I’d strongly recommend it.

For the rest of the year, communities get creative. The organisation I was part of in Ottawa — the Ottawa Naturists — organises nude bowling, mini golf, indoor swimming events. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, even in a climate that is genuinely hostile to being outdoors without clothes.

Asha: Nude bowling! I love that. You can do nude yoga, nude dining — naturism finds a way into any space.

Mark: Exactly. It doesn’t have to be a beach. It’s a mindset more than a location.

Asha: You mentioned Barcelona. Tell me more.

Mark: Barcelona might be my favourite naturist city experience. You have the incredible food, the architecture, the festivals, the museums — and then right there in the city, a clothing-optional beach. It’s everything you could want in one place. I recognise it’s over-touristed these days, but the naturist beach gives you a little pocket of calm within all of that. And the Vienna experience was lovely too — there’s a naturist park on a small river outside the city, and we enjoyed it so much we went back a second time that same week.

Asha: That’s exactly what I tell people. You don’t have to go to a remote resort. Some of the best naturist experiences are woven right into normal city life. What was your funniest experience?

Mark: [laughs] Cuba, the first time my wife and I went together. We were on a clothing-optional beach that was also open to the general public. A Cuban woman was walking past with her son — maybe six or seven years old — and he just stopped and stared. Now, staring is completely unacceptable in the naturist community, but when it’s a small child you’re obviously not going to say anything. He was staring directly at my wife with a very wide grin, for perhaps twenty seconds, before his mother realised what was happening. She covered his eyes and hurried them away looking mortified. I called after her: “Sorry — perhaps there should have been better signage.”

Asha: [laughing] Children are so wonderfully honest. They haven’t learned yet that they’re supposed to pretend not to notice.

Mark: Exactly. No performance. Which is rather the point of naturism, when you think about it.

Asha: What is naturism for you, at its core? How has it changed you?

Mark: I live in a city centre and have for many years. For me, naturism is about reconnecting with nature — not just being naked, but using that as a means of connecting with the natural environment, as we were perhaps meant to be. Away from the concrete and the traffic and the busyness. I find it almost akin to meditation. Discovering your true self. Feeling more free. Like going back to your roots in a very genuine way.

Asha: I feel that completely. That sense of shedding not just clothes but all of the noise that comes with daily life.

Mark: And the equality of it. When nobody is wearing anything, there are no suits, no signals about status or profession or wealth. Everyone is on exactly the same level. It’s quite extraordinary, when you sit with that for a moment.

Asha: We talked a little about winter swimming — which is becoming something of a national sport here in Poland. Cold lakes, waterfalls, all year round. Are Canadians similarly brave?

Mark: We have the Polar Bear Dip on New Year’s Day — people jump into freezing water as a kind of cleansing ritual to start the year. I am very good at cheering from the shore. [laughs] I prefer warmer temperatures. But I understand the appeal of the endorphins, the hot and cold therapy. Finland has been doing it for centuries and they seem to be doing very well.

Asha: Exactly — it gives you all those happy hormones. What would be your message to someone who is curious about naturism but hasn’t taken the first step yet?

Mark: I know people have heard “just try it” many times, and it can sound glib. But I genuinely believe in trying everything at least once. The body image worries, the fear of being looked at or judged — I promise you will not find a less judgmental crowd anywhere in the world. When nobody is wearing clothes, there is no ranking. There is no evaluation. Everyone is simply human together, and it is warm and respectful and kind.

The vast majority of people who try it discover that it is something they can get used to very quickly — and then something they genuinely don’t want to give up. I hope the same for anyone listening.

Asha: Beautifully said. And that equality — that sense of everyone being the same — is one of my favourite things about this community. Thank you so much, Mark, for being here and for sharing all of this. Enjoy the rest of your time in Kraków.

Mark: Thank you for having me, Asha. It’s been wonderful.

Mark’s warmth and ease — the ease of someone who has spent twenty-one years simply being comfortable in his own skin — is exactly what I want people to feel when they walk through the doors of my sauna evenings or retreats for the first time. He said it best: you will never find a less judgmental crowd anywhere. And from there, everything else follows.

I love being nude publicly or privately in nature.

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