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University Daily Kansan
Closer Look
Tuesday, Sept. 17, 1985
Grin... and bare it
'Most people don't think of Kansas as being a place for nudists,but it really is.'
Trav-a-Tan Nudist Camp
a member,
SCRANTON — When city life gets hectic, a group of people have found a spot southwest of Lawrence where they can grin and bare it.
"It's a place where I can get away from my business for a weekend without any restrictions," said James, a prominent businessman in the Kansas City area and grounds supervisor of Trav-a-Tan Inc., a nudist camp.
Members of Trav-a-Tan, about 30 miles southwest of Lawrence, do not wear any clothing inside the camp -- neither do photographers and reporters wanting to find out more about the establishment.
Once inside the tail, metal gate of Trav-a-Tan, the action begins, but not the type of action that some people may think takes place at a nudist camp.
Throughout the 20-acre site, groups of seven or eight dudes play Frisbee golf, while others enjoy a game of volleyball on the sand courts next to the swimming pool. On this day, a church from Topeka challenged members of Trav-a-Tan to a game of water volleyball.
Membership at the camp costs $250 a year for a family and $150 for a single member. Current members include 56 couples, five single men and three single women.
"We are family oriented," he said.
"We have parents with their married children, and their grandchildren have fun here also."
Trav-a-Tan permits only 10 percent of its membership to be single so the camp does not turn into a “pickup point.” James said.
Trav-a-Tan maintains a $20,000 annual budget. James said. The budget pays for modernization and everyday maintenance of the camp.
A seven-member board of directors makes business decisions and looks into development ideas for the camp. One of the board's ideas, a hot tub, should be ready for use next summer, James said.
"Our growth is attributed to people who come out and see the future of Trav-a-Tan." James said.
Once a person becomes a member of Trav-a-Tan, he also becomes a member of the American Sunbathers Association. ASA is a national association with more than 30,000 members. Trav-a-Tan is a regional member of ASA and reciprocates with about 125 other nudist areas across the country.
activities.
Many Trav-a-Tan members said they had visited several other nudist camps across the country. Most agreed Florida had the nicest areas and largest crowds.
"Most people don't think of Kansas as being a place for nudists, but it really is," said one member who had brought his family to Trav-a'Tan for the Labor Day weekend.
Trav a-Tan is a "landed" nudist club, as opposed to a travel or social club, in which members travel to other camps because they don't have their own nudist area. It was named by founder Tom Huff, who started the club in his backyard in Topeka.
"We started out in 1969 with five people in my swimming pool, and we would travel to nudist camps." Huff said. "We decided to start our own camp, and in 1975 we came across the area we now occupy."
Trav a-Tan, which is approved by the Better Business Bureau, opens each year on April 15 and closes Oct. 31. Camping is allowed in the winter, but campers must supply their own water.
Inquiries to the club can be made by writing P.O. Box 169A, Scranton, Kan.. 66537.
James said many members went to the camp to lose their city-life identities, and they knew each other only by first names.
But he said the true experience of a nudist camp could be felt only after a person disrobed and entered the camp, feeling the freedom of walking through nature without a care in the world — or a shirt on his back.
Photos and story by Alan Hagman and Bryan Graves