5 Cheap Ways To Sleep Comfortably Outdoors
Sleeping comfortably outdoors is one of the trickiest parts of being away from the comforts of home. Developing this skill means the difference between a restful night and hours spent rolling around in agony in the darkness, cursing those who convinced you to go camping in the first place. But you that you don’t need a hide made stone to wake up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed when the birds start trilling outside your tent at some ungodly hour of the morning.
Get an Inexpensive Mat
The cheapest way to sleep outdoors is, of course, with nothing but the clothes on your back between you and the harshness of cold, hard earth. And if you’re planning on becoming a wild mountain hermit, this might be a good choice. But for those who are used to sleeping on mattresses, having at the very least a thin sheet of foam between the ground can make the difference between a sleepless night and a sleepless night interspersed with blissful moments of napping.
Choose Your Spot Wisely
Newcomers to the rough-and-tumble world of outdoor living often think that dirt is dirt, and setting up a sleeping arrangement in one spot isn’t much different than setting it up in another. But to those experienced in wilderness things, the surface of the Earth has a language all it’s own, made up of grades and elevation and words like “shale” and “loam.” Choosing a good place to stake your nightly claim, one that is free from roots and rocks and that has some give, will go a long way in improving your quality of sleep.
Adjust Your Sleeping Schedule
The main problem with sleeping on the ground is resting too long in one position, especially if you missed an irritant that digs into one spot on your body. You can fix this by not worrying about getting a full night’s sleep in one place. After all, if your ancestors could deal with waking up every few minutes to make sure they weren’t being eaten by wolves, you can surely deal with a few pokes and prods. Find a nice sandy beach? Enjoy a couple hours of napping. Discover a comfy rock to lean against? Let your body relax, and your mind drift for a few restful minutes.
Use Available Materials
It’s amazing how much you can improve your comfort level with some of the things you find around your campsite. Pine boughs can make for excellent beds (just make sure you check beforehand on whether you’re allowed to cut them). Even just gathering some leaves or moss into a pile under your desired sleeping area can make a big difference.
Practice
You’ll almost never feel completely comfortable out of your bed for the first couple of nights. Luckily, the more you practice, the better you’ll be at accepting the absence of all the comforts of “modern living.” In fact, you might even find that the hard surfaces Mother Nature provides give you better support than your failing ten-year-old mattress back home.
Image sources: Flickr, Flickr, and Flickr.
