Unexpected insofar as I plucked up the courage there and then to go topless on a beach.
I was on a beach in Tenerife a good few years ago alone and soaking up the sun. Around me where men and women and 90% of the women were topless, this included 100 year old German women with nips touching their knees. Now I'm not a confident person about my body and hate even flashing cleavage but seeing the multitude of bare breasted women around me I suddenly felt like I stood out more by sitting there in my swimming costume on the sand.

I took a deep breath and removed the straps from my costume, pulled the costume down to my waist and exhaled.

It was the most exhilerating thing I've ever done and with the sun bearing down on my boobs, I sat up and looked around. Of course no one was looking at me, I was just another pair of tits amongs many other pairs of tits. I lay there for a while happy as a pig in shit until some bloke walked past and winked at me.

Back up went the swimming costume and I was once again a repressed British women with body issues.

Never done it again and I doubt I ever will.
( girlinthehole, Fri 29 May 2009, 10:59, 5 replies)

It's a very British thing, isn't it?
On your average British beach, the only nipples you see tend to be attached to the hairy chests of milky-pale men. Yet on the continent they seem to think nothing of bouncing their boobs out under the bright sunlight. (The Germans can't seem to get enough of nakedtiem...)

I like going abroad...
(LongJohnBaldry, Fri 29 May 2009, 11:06, closed)

I was the same in Greece
Wearing a bikini top was more conspicuous than not. Once I did pluck up the courage it was liberating, as you say. I even bought a thong but that was going too far. Milky white dimply arse cheeks next to nut brown everywhere else - not a good look.
( Tourette's ( . )( . ) has a monkey hair in her fried egg, Fri 29 May 2009, 11:47, closed)

french beaches
I find going to the beach here to be quite reassuring.
Sure, there are gorgeous, perfectly formed bodies on view - firm, tight, toned perkyness for all to see.....men as well, im no fan of teh cock, but can appreciate and be jealous of guys with good physiques.
What reassures me though is that despite what the media like to portray, not everyone is sculpted by the Gods. There are a reassuring number of people with wrinkly bits, hairy bits, saggy bits and wobbly bits. Infact the perfect types are outnumbered.
(dave likes cheese, Fri 29 May 2009, 15:07, closed)

Teh boobies they are funny
I was talking about upper-body exposure with my girlfriend recently, and it turns out that we agree that laws/social mores ought to be the same for me nand women - but she thinks that no-one should be allowed to go topless in public, and I think that everyone should be equal in their allowed-to-hang-out-wherever-they-want-ness.
( ejlflop errrrrgs. Regularly., Sat 30 May 2009, 3:29, closed)

Shame!
How is it that one bastard is allowed to spoil it? Not fair.
(Sammyhaswoefullyneglectedyou, Sun 31 May 2009, 1:19, closed)