Kick off your clothes and kick off Nude Recreation Week

Americans celebrating their Independence Day today may have missed the start of another holiday: Nude Recreation Week, July 4 – 10, 2011. Begun as National Nude Weekend in 1976 as part of the "free beach" movement, the event is now promoted as a week of nude recreation by the Naturist Society and other naturist groups.

Some American enthusiasts refer to the holiday as National Nude Recreation week, while other groups promote it as an international event.

As part of this year's celebration, the American Association for Nude Recreation is hoping to set a new Guinness World Record for the largest number of people skinny dipping simultaneously throughout the country at 3:00 PM Eastern time on Saturday, July 9.

Nakedism's home town of Seattle will participate, although later in the day following their own World Naked Bike Ride event.

An article written for the Los Angeles Nude Guys cites the Wall Street Journal as saying nude recreation is one of the travel industry's fastest growing segments. A number of cruise ships, resorts, and campgrounds now offer clothing-free options.