Introducing.... Naked Letterboxing Day!

As many of you know, Plant-A-Letterbox Day has become.... competitive at times. I kind of lost my appetite for the 'holiday' when the competitiveness reached an extreme. Feelings were hurt, spirits were broken, and I couldn't help noticing the irony when a person who I was felt the cheating the spirit of the event (planting boxes for months leading up to the event instead of planting boxes on a single day) accused someone else of cheating.

I haven't promoted the 'holiday' as much the last few years and kept hoping people would just forget about it, but it keeps limping along.

But yesterday, I had a brilliant insight! I don't have to eliminate the holiday--I just needed to change the focus of the holiday! Time to get back to our roots! Time to embrace the silly and adventurous! It was time for.... Naked Letterboxing Day!

I have to admit, this change is somewhat selfish on my part. I've been a big fan of Hike Naked Day ever since participating back in 2010, and--I don't normally brag about this--but I've actually planted a letterbox while naked. *nodding* (Box #2 of the White Rock Canyon series) It was located on the far side of a hot spring in which I'd been soaking naked. =) Good times!

So it's perfectly natural for me to want to combine my two favorite hobbies: letterboxing and hiking naked--and there's totally not enough of that happening. And what better way to promote naked letterboxing than a holiday--and use it to replace that competitive sport known as PAL Day. Two birds! One stone! Awesome! The holiday will still be May 24th of each year--that hasn't changed.

I've updated the PAL Day widget to now be the Naked Letterboxing Day widget. (Although I have to admit, using the word "naked" and "widget" in the same sentence makes me giggle.)

I realize that not everyone will feel comfortable letterboxing in the buff, which is why I'll allow you to wear a buff (and only a buff!) and still count as a naked letterboxing experience. (You laugh, but the Buff company does brag about all the different ways a buff can be worn!)

Atlas Quest will also allow you to track multiple different 'nude events' to suit your purposes. When you list a plant or record a find on May 24th, there will be a checkbox to mark whether you did the plant/find in the nude. There will be a second checkbox to mark if the plant/find has a stamp with a nude carving.

The state totals will be calculated based on points, and a nude plant/find will be worth ten times more than a nude stamp. (I like to reward you for courage.) Only traditional boxes will count.


Like with regular letterboxing, a little common sense goes a long way. Please don't try to letterbox in the nude at an elementary school or a busy park. Don't look for a box in the nude at a business that clearly states "no shoes, no shirt, no service." If a police officer questions what you are doing, stay calm and be cooperative. Make no threatening moves. Tell him or her about letterboxing and what a wonderful hobby it is for kids and adults of all ages. They might even be inspired to start letterboxing themselves!

I'll also be creating a photo album where you upload your naked letterboxing photos but please, PC photos only. I know, it's not really fair, but my hosting provider has rules about not allowing nude photos on their servers, so make sure any of your "critical parts" are properly blocked with trees, bushes, logbook or letterbox in your photos. If not, do some photoshopping and blur that part of the image out. I'd hate to be booted off my hosting provider because your photos are too explicit!

To make finding nude stamps easier, I've added the "Nude Stamp" icon to boxes suspected to have nude stamps. (It's not a perfect system, relying on keywords found in the clues or whether it's restricted to the Pin-Ups group, but it's the best I can do for now since I clearly don't have the time or inclination to read through all of the clues on Atlas Quest!)

And... I think that's about it. Any questions?

Now get out there and box! =)