Dave Power was on a naked excursion in Greece when the idea for an all-male clothing-optional travel company started to form. At the time, the American was working as an international escort who was often hired by people to be a travelling companion.
“I’m very flexible. I’m very keen on being culturally appropriate. I speak several languages, and if you put me in a place where I don’t speak the language, I’m that guy who wants to figure shit out,” says Power. A few years into the gig, he was hired by someone who took him on a week-long sailing trip to Greece. Sailing naked.
“It was interesting, because I didn’t know the guy, but we got on well. Throughout the trip, along with everything else that was going on in my head, I thought, ‘This is good, but it could be so much better.’ Of course, I had done naked trips before. But it was then that I thought that I would love to start my own company.”
Soon after, Power made a new friend, Maximilian Strauss, during a ride on a small ferry boat. Eventually, he pitched Strauss his idea and the two of them became cofounders of Everything to Sea, which offers travel experiences to men who welcome opportunities to be naked. Founded in 2018 in the United States, the company is now based in Singapore and offers sailing and villa experiences in France, Canary Islands, Thailand, Bali and the Coral Triangle in Southeast Asia. A New Zealand experience is in the works.
Depending on the boat or the villa, the groups usually number around a dozen each, though their Your Private Journey service pairs individual travellers with two staff hosts for a personalized itinerary. About 10 employees work on creating and delivering life-changing trips.
Power breaks down their customer base into various segments, with a wide range of ages and body types. There are experienced naturists, some of them very comfortable being naked with others in non-sexual situations like at nude beaches. There’s another tribe who are not so experienced, but they are intrigued by the idea. “They’re on that journey of getting more comfortable with their own naked body when it’s not in the sexual realm,” says Power. “That said, we are a sex-positive organization and we’re fine with people having sex on our trips. It’s like running a hotel. What are you going to do? Tell people not to have sex in the rooms? Some trips are more sex-forward and others might have very low sexual activity. It’s really about how to attend.” Some guests are couples, with perhaps one of them keen on nudism—the trip offers an opportunity for the other partner to try it out.
Another segment of the trips is finding the camaraderie of being together with other men on a new adventure. “They like to travel, but maybe they don’t have a friend or a partner who they can travel with. Whether the person identifies as gay or bi or queer or straight or questioning, it doesn’t matter. It’s about the idea of men being drawn to these friendships,” he says. Some travellers might never go naked on a trip, but welcome being around other naked guys.
Others might merely be attracted to the destinations, services and price point: meals, drinks, activities and even massages and tips are included in the package. “We pride ourselves on going to places where others are not going. I know that sounds ridiculous when you’re talking about the south of France, but we’re one of the few doing organized trips there for men who are into nudism.”
Of course, in most of the world, people can’t walk around naked in public. But Everything to Sea chooses venues, routes and destinations where nudity is acceptable, at least discreetly. “We tell people, do not leave the villa naked. On boats, we choose our routes to avoid people, and if another boat is approaching, we tend to stay away from them. If another boat is close, we ask our travellers to cover up with a sarong down there,” says Power.
When it comes to finding nudist-welcoming venues, it’s not a problem at all in France or Spain. “There’s nothing to talk about except to reassure them that our guests are not going to walk out on the street naked,” says Power. For Asian venues like Bali, Thailand and the Komodo islands, the approach varies from country to country. “We sometimes need to talk gingerly about the subject, but we’re not hiding anything. There’s a full discussion, and the people we work with understand what we’re doing.”
