Rusty Saber: Nude travel industry skimpy on clothes, not profits

Joe McAdoo is former chairman of the communication department at Drury University.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about something that cried out for a Rusty Saber comment. It was about two Southwest Airlines pilots who were fired for stripping down to their underwear in the cockpit while flying an airplane filled with passengers. Shortly afterwards, I read about a flight from Miami to Cancun, Mexico, with 89 nude passengers aboard, enroute to an "au natural" week at a resort near Cancun.

These two events are connected only by the participants' lack of clothing, which made them newsworthy. However, the nude flight caused me to want to know the rest of the story.

I doubt we will ever know why the pilots stripped. But I wanted to know why 85 airline passengers would drop their knickers along with everything else.

Eventually, I found there was a rest of the story. The passengers were confirmed nudists. Why people would want to fly jaybird naked is outside the boundaries of my understanding, but it probably made sense to the nudists. If that sort of thing paddles their canoe, more power to them. If the airline doesn't object, it's their right. But it's Rusty Saber's right to poke fun at them.

Don't ask me why, but the passengers didn't disrobe until the airliner reached its flying altitude. Whereupon, the fully clothed pilot informed the fully clothed flight attendants to tell the fully clothed passengers they could then bare everything but their souls.

I understand that no hot beverages were served. Makes sense to me. A nudist spilling hot coffee on a bare, er, whatever, could make a lasting impression. Also, complimentary guest towels were distributed for passengers to sit on. Reasons for this act of kindness are too numerous to mention, plus they shouldn't be mentioned in a high-class column like Rusty Saber.

Interestingly enough, the passengers had to dress before leaving the plane. Regardless of how broad-minded the Mexican government might be, the official word was for the visitors to put on their clothes before deplaning. I'm trying to visualize 85 stark-naked people of all sizes and shapes strolling into the terminal.

According to a recent USA Today article by Jayne Clark, who as far as I know writes while fully clothed, this flight is an outgrowth of an increase in nude recreation. About 2,000 bare vacationers went for a 10-day cruise in February off Mexico's Pacific coast on Carnival Cruise Lines' aptly named Ecstasy. Seven more nude cruises are planned this year on smaller ships.

Clark reports that Hedonism III, a Jamaican resort, hosted 29 people for a nude wedding. (If ever a resort was destined to host a nude wedding, it was this one.)

If there are nude flights and boat trips, why not nude train trips? Clark reports on a planned nude dinner train excursion by a resort near San Diego. Can a nude bus trip be far behind (pun intended)?

Nude recreation is a $400 million industry; up 230 percent since 1992. According to USA Today, the National Leisure Travel Monitor survey reveals (no pun intended, this time) that 17 percent of respondents would find nude or clothing-optional recreation spots or beaches to be desirable. Young men were the greatest proponents of nude beaches. Why am I not surprised?

Some proponents claim that going naked is healthy. It might be, assuming one buys sunscreen by the gallon; otherwise, sunburn difficulties may arise on bodily locations most of us will never see sunburned.

Others say the increase in nude travel and recreation is a reaction to stressful times. Sure. I know I have often said things are so stressful that all I want to do is get naked, get on a train, plane or boat and spend a week cavorting on vacation with a bunch of naked people.

Don't you?