Skination

Regardless of your reason to go buff—wellness, spirituality, self-experimentation, exploratory art or just because it’s the 46th item waiting to be ticked off on your bucket list…more travellers are dropping their inhibitions [and clothes that hold them] to take a ‘skination’! Don’t know what it means? A vacation where you wear nothing but the comfort of your skin. Perhaps some alcohol or high stake dare would help you loosen up the buttons and give up your skinny-dipping virginity. Strap that seat belt on your birthday suit [be warned—it may hurt] as I have handpicked spots to go without your clothes—from two hours to two weeks, 
depending who you are and where you are. Nudity meets travel in its millennial avatar to hang loose [pun most intended] across the globe.

 
Racquet and Tennis Club, New York 
This exclusive recreation club in the navel of Manhattan is a post-work catch-up spot—not for a drink but for its naked swim session. It has managed to hold its men-only rule [women are only allowed for special events, that too if accompanied by a male member] to its game courts for several decades now. Statesmen and CEOs, the elite and expense account addict alike, de-stress in buff if they manage to cross its velvet rope to jump into its pool on the prized Park Avenue property that reminds you of an Italian palazzo. Bare bottomed power brokers definitely don’t talk shop here, but stick to a serious swim lap and power nap routine before next dinner meeting beckons.  
Bare Fact: Many still trying to fathom if there is an alternative agenda during those bare swims…perhaps to compare ‘growth notes’ over male bonding.
Where: 370 Park Avenue, between East 52nd and 53rd Street, New York


Blue Lagoon, Iceland 
You will find enough alluring arctic blue eyes here to justify its name. About an hour’s drive from the capital city of Reykjavik, it’s beyond a spa to be a geo thermal destination in itself, powered by nature. Clothing—optional allowance must be taken to enjoy its luxurious setting after being lathered in silica mud. The welcoming water of the pool maintained at warm 37 degree C, even in the freezing winters, while the varying sunlight on adds to this stunning spectacle of topography and Scandinavian design. The Nordics savour its organic food and wellness facilities when they are not letting every pore of their skin soak in the minerals of its hot springs in silence.
Bare Fact: Make the most of the country’s volcanic advantage that adds to its heat quotient [besides the leggiest blondes in the region] to indulge in their uber cool lounges dotting the complex.
Where: www.bluelagoon.com

Lokrum Island, Dubrovnik, Croatia
One of the many tiny islets that cling to the country’s famed Dalmatian coast, Lokrum rates higher than the rest for the same reason you want to go there. A pristine cove that openly encourages going ‘back to basics’ on its jagged shoreline and azure Adriatic waters dotted with the tan line free bodies in abundance. Suggest you take a local ferry for five Euros from Old town of Dubrovnik to this skin haven, and make a naked picnic out of it with a bottle of local sparkling wine and shrimp sandwiches. Don’t forget a cushioned mat before you slip out of those flip flops to get darker shade of brown as its more stone and less. Lokrum’s skinny-dipping in serenity is what many come here for, unless you are keener on all things Balkan and beautiful [includes under rated Croats that are smoking hot].
Bare Fact: Look out for an ‘FKK’ (stands for free body culture or freikörperkultur)  sign to signal your kind of beach to enjoy an unbuttoned outing to this button-sized island.
Where: www.tzdubrovnik.hr

The Big Nude Boat
There is life beyond just a naked swim in the sea—the entire cruise without clothes is the promise. Sailing from several parts of the world with itineraries to pick from, the last big nude boat this season took off from Fort Lauderdale to Caribbean islands. It’s a service started by naturists and travel specialists Bare Necessities Tour and Travels to ensure that you were nothing but sunscreen. A regular on these strip ships confesses that the most frequently asked question is always pertaining 'unexpected inappropriate arousal'. The answer is simple; look out for small towels as they are handy across the liner while you are on the sea. 
Bare Fact: The crew is always in their uniform, but do check in advance for the Captain’s dinner if you need to wear your well-cut Zegna suit or just the 'custom made' birthday suit. 
Where: www.cruisebare.com

Thermal Bath Bashes, Budapest
Party in the buff? Loud music in your bathroom back home, unless you are in Budapest. The ancient bath house culture has a 20th century twist of techno music and laser lights as the loads of lithe (and not so lithe) chase the psychedelic trip at famed spots like Rudas Baths and Gellart Bath for about Rs 3000 a pop. Some unisex and many which are mixed, these wet and wild raves amidst a thermal pool go on until the wee hours of morn. The trapeze dancers and aerialists are graceful distractions where hedonism and nudism collaborate as long as you can handle the heat—of the natural springs, we mean. 
Bare Fact: 'Let’s have some clean fun—shower and party together' must never be your pick up line. 
Where: www.cinetrip.hu 


Text Ashutosh Parekh