Sleeping on the outside

[Ceros]

For the past eighteen days, due to some very odd circumstances and my own impulsiveness I ended up sleeping in the park six days of the week.

Which was a VERY weird and yet enlightening experience.

For one, I've noticed that no matter what time I went to bed I always woke up with the sunrise, and always felt completely refreshed and ready to take on the world. (I would still get the tiredness that comes from not getting enough sleep later in the day, but it was *never* as bad as when I would skip even as little as 2 hours of sleep in the house).

There were some pitfalls, of course, like the cold and the wind (I didn't prepare myself well enough so I experienced quite a lot of discomfort over this).

However overall I found the experience quite enjoyable.
And it makes sense that we, as animals, naturally evolved to sleep this way and not holed up in airtight boxes we call "rooms". (Honestly, after two weeks of sleeping on the outside, I feel VERY uncomfortable sitting in my room, breathing the stuffy air and missing the natural sun and moon light).

So now that I'm back to sleeping in the house, I've been looking back to the time I've spent on the outside, and thinking of trying a little experiment: Starting from mid-August I want to start sleeping in my garden once a week. Properly prepared this time, with a sleeping bag and everything.

I'm curious to see how it goes - will my sleep improve compared to what it normally was? Will waking up be easier or harder? Or will I go crazy(er) from the cold and bugs? Only time will tell! (Oh, and I'm probably going to finally prove to my roommates that I'm a complete nutcase who should be booted out of the house, but that's a risk I'm willing to take!)

I'm interested in hearing some comments!

[ragtag]

I like to sleep on the deck on my sailboat when at anchor if it looks like it's not going to rain. I find it very refreshing and nice. I do try to sleep past sunrise by burying my head in the sleeping bag, but this has more to do with sunrise being very early in the summertime up here in Norway. It's very refreshing.

As a side note, I'm really curious why you had to sleep outside, sounds like an interesting story.

[Zwynd]

I can't sleep if my windows aren't wide open in my bedroom, otherwise I'll end up choking and gasping for breath all night.

Though I have a less of a problem when I'm awake later in the day I can still feel that heavy feeling over my lungs.

Also, I'd like to sleep outside but we have so many skunks, raccoons, chipmunks, not to mention mosquitoes around here. How would (or do) you deal with these critters?

[BenThere]

It used to be that in southern California, rich people had "sleeping porches."
Here's a good example (the Gamble House in Pasadena):

The idea was that when the weather was pleasant, outside beds could be used on these large porches. As you can see they're open to the breeze, but sheltered from the rain.

I think this would be much more comfortable than the park!

When I had a time of homelessness, I sometimes stayed at a friend's place where a large patio overlooked the valley. They put a mattress on the ground, I put my sleeping bag on top of it and slept soundly.

[Stu]

Ya I don't think sleeping in the park would be all that great, but what BenThere posted definitely looks like a lot of fun. One day, when I build my own house, I think it's going to have a sleeping porch.

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by Ceros

For the past eighteen days, due to some very odd circumstances and my own impulsiveness I ended up sleeping in the park six days of the week.

Wow, that's interesting. How were you able to sleep without worrying of being mugged, or harmed by someone else? Where there people around, or was it deserted?

[Bleicke]

I think that's pretty amazing. I've always wondered what it would be like not to have a "home". I think this "home" thing is too common. I'd love to try being independent from one.

But the practicality of living outside is still a mystery. How did you do it? Also, do you think you could make it work for a longer period if you prepared better?

Very interested,
Bleicke

[ilovetoday]

Originally Posted by BenThere

It used to be that in southern California, rich people had "sleeping porches."


The idea was that when the weather was pleasant, outside beds could be used on these large porches. As you can see they're open to the breeze, but sheltered from the rain.

In Australia. A lot of the older buildings are the same, only they are called 'sleepouts' here. They are usually built on the Queenslanders.

When I was in high school we had a lowset verandah-not an actual sleepout. I started sleeping on the lounge/bed outside under the roof for about a week and I loved it. At least that was until I woke up to hear a dogs heavy breathing only meters away from me. Then It started snarling? This both confused and scared the jeepers out of me and I will never sleep outside again unless it is a high set Sleepout.

[BenThere]

they are called 'sleepouts' here

That's interesting. Doesn't Queensland have a climate similar to southern California?

At the Gamble House, the bedrooms are upstairs. The eaves over the ground floor patio are outside the entry, office, living and dining rooms.

I've always wondered what it would be like not to have a "home"

In my case, it was a time of outrageously painful (physical and psychological) stress and anxiety. I was too sick to work, fell through the cracks of the "social safety net," and rejected by most friends and family. I would NOT recommend the experience. I much prefer to have a home, which I do now, and I don't take it for granted.

[sgregory]

It all has to do with melaton/seritoin. Light regulates your sleep/wake cycles.

Sleep in complete darkness and wake up with the sun is what Mercola says.

[sbdiane]

I spent 3 months sleeping outside. I usually slept in a tent, though. It helped with the bugs and gave me privacy. I was hiking a long trail and that's why I was out so long.

I found that I went to bed and woke up with the sun. I felt very comfortable and refreshed. I did not find that when I spent nights in hotels that my sleep was any better or more comfortable, but the soft bed was nice.

I know from my experience that I could live without a home for at least half the year and be perfectly happy, so long as I did that out in nature. I don't think I could sleep in a city park unless it was tucked away in a really nice neighborhood and had a lot of bushes.

[Bharat Keshwala]

Some of the best sleep I had was on the roof of my home in India, I imagine it was similar to that minus my bed

[openeyes]

When I slept outside for a few months last year I felt fine on just a few hours rest each night, getting up each morning just before sunrise, sometimes noticing a deer walking by me just 20 feet away During the summer and part of the fall I slept in a hammock (as seen in the video below) with a bug screen and a tarp I could attach in case of rain, though once it got down into the 30s I often stayed in my car with a blanket.

By mid December I graduated and the experiment (seeing just how much I needed to live happily) concluded. All in all it was a rather fun experience, and while in my hammock no one ever bothered me (perhaps because I wasn't out in the open). In my car, I was only bothered once, when a policeman asked me to park elsewhere.

YouTube - Carolina Week

My ~30 day trial: no house (for people interested in staying outside there might be something of use here)