You’ve probably heard of what’s being called the stay-cation, but have you heard of a nakation? Vacationing at a nudist camp is said to be one of the fastest-growing travel trends in the nation, according to Ira Hauptman, a Midwestern nudist and a spokesman for the American Association for Nude Recreation.
Hauptman says it’s just like any other camping experience, with swimming, volleyball and campfires, except no one’s wearing clothes — unless it’s cold outside. He says it’s not for gawking. People don’t care what you look like, he adds, they care about what kind of person you are.
"It’s usually the husband or the boyfriend that wants to go to a nudist club and drags his wife or his girlfriend along with him," he says, "and then more often than not, the gal-pal or the wife discovers that this is really fun." Hauptman says while everyone is naked, going to a nudist camp has nothing to do with sex.
"If more people in this country would stop having these hangups and think that by displaying their body to somebody else that it’s an invitation for sex, we’d all be a lot happier and a lot more comfortable," he says. Still, it should be noted that there’s usually a limit on memberships for single men and openings are rare. There are at least two nudist clubs in Iowa: Camelot in West Des Moines and the Dakota Prairie Sun Club of Spirit Lake.