Clothed or alone

I am pretty new to nudism, and as I have not revealed this interest to anyone in my everyday life aside from my wife, I often end up making a decision to either be clothed or be alone. Sure, sometimes I'm not really alone at a clothing optional beach for example, but I go alone, and have always had trouble meeting new people and making friends. Mostly due to the fact that I am kind of an introvert, but also due to the fact that I often feel a little worried about coming off as the creepy single dude. To complicate things further, I have always had more female friends in my everyday life than I have had male friends. On a recent adventure to a clothing optional beach, I mostly spent the morning relaxing on a towel, jumping in the water to swim from time to time. This was nice, but I was feeling lonely and I don't think there was a single person, passing by or sitting in close proximity, that said one word to me. So, by the afternoon, I had become restless and began wandering the beach. As I passed groups of people, I became more envious of the friend groups I encountered and didn't feel I had an in with. As I passed one group, (three relatively young women) I overheard them talking about something I am interested in and so I approached them, asked if they would mind if I sat down and jumped into the conversation. We talked for a few minutes and then, feeling that I had imposed on their day, I bid them farewell and I wandered off. I don't think that went well. On my second attempt, I overheard a woman reading passages from a book to her group of friends, most (or maybe even all) of which were women. I liked what I was hearing, so I wandered a few yards past them, and promptly sat down on the sand in a place where they could see me, and I could listen, but not so that I could/would appear to be ogling them. After a few minutes, she paused from her reading and I thought I would go over, introduce myself, admit that I was listening to her read and ask if she would share the name of the book with me. When I did just that, they all seemed to find it amusing for some reason ... I felt awkward and I left. I spent the rest of the day exchanging random smiles and hellos with passers-by, but did not attempt to meet anyone for the rest of the day. Friend finding fail. Returning home, now clothed, I meet up with my wife and share my experiences. Unfortunately, she doesn't consider herself a nudist, and does not want to raise our children in the lifestyle, but has been open to a handful of naturist situations that we have enjoyed together over the years. Throughout the conversation, I continue to be stuck with the question ... Why do I have to choose between being clothed or being alone? And that ... is what brought me to TN. Thank goodness.