Troy Moon

tmoon@pnj.com

The two articles were together on a national news site.

One was about the Zika virus.

The other was about nudist camps struggling to recruit naked millennials.

I don't think the first article will help the folks from the second article in recruiting.

Yes, nudist camps nationwide are struggling to get a younger membership.

The American Association for Nude Recreation — AANR — estimates that 90 percent of its 50,000 members are 35 and older. Many nudist colonies have tried marketing specifically to 18- to 35-year-olds, but it's not really working as well as hoped.

Tan, an Australian naturist magazine, said that GenXers and GenYers are afraid of being seen nude on social media. What?

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I can't turn on my computer without a story about some actor, athlete, singer or Kardashian showing his or her what-nots on social media. Really? Young people are afraid of being seen naked? Don't tell Paris Hilton, Kesha, Britney Spears, Pete Wentz, Leven Rambin, Prince Harry, Dylan Sprouse, Lea Michele, Sarah Shahi, Cat Deeley, LeeLee Sobieski, Megan Boone, Hillary Duff, Hope Solo, Lizzy Caplan, Kirsten Dunst ... (insert another 100 names here) and Chris Brown.

Maybe the nudist camps should just operate online, instead of, you know, out in the world. People love to get naked when it's on the Internet, just not in real life, apparently.

I drove over to the Riviera Naturist Resort — "naturist" means "naked" — in Pace to talk to a few folks, but I didn't make it past the electronic green gate and the security cameras. The only person I got to talk to was a non-naked handyman who said no one else there could talk to me. I offered to take my clothes off if that would help, but he wasn't biting.

The drive to the nudist camp in Jay — Hidden Lake Resort — was a bit far, so I came back to the office to call them.

I got "Tim,'' a 55-year-old camp honcho — he didn't want to use his last name because he's shy — who has been naked for the past "three or four years." Not the entire time. That's when he started getting into the naked lifestyle.

He said the average age at Hidden Lake is "45 to 50" and the resort just signed up two-middle agers Sunday.

Tim said the minimum age to be naked at Hidden Lake Resort is 18.

"If you're old enough to join the military, you're old enough to join,'' he said.

But there aren't that many young people ages 18 to 25 who want to sit around naked with a bunch of naked people old enough to be their grandparents. The older nudists are more accepting.

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So if you're into the naked lifestyle, consider visiting one of the nudist camps in Northwest Florida.

Hidden Lake Resort is planning a big Memorial Day shindig, complete with a musical performance by the Fabulous Rockets. The band will be clothed. If they get nervous performing at such a strange event, maybe they can just use the old theater trick and imagine the audience naked.

Think about joining. If you're naked at a resort, it's not going to end up on the Internet.

And don't worry about the Zika virus, Tim said. They have a stream with flowing water, but no brackish water where mosquitoes muster.

It hasn't been a problem, though Tim admitted nudists have "more of a target."

Still, if you're naked, it's probably best to use mosquito repellent all over.