yessss!
since the middle of May the nights r FINAAAAAALY 'warm' enough
up here, in BC
so i'm out, on the balcony!!!

WHAT A PLEEEEEEEASURE! WHAT SKIES!/STARS!/SHOOTING STARS!/SATELITES GOING
LEFT & RIGHT! & I'M RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF IT!

(the heavy rains sometimes chase me in though,
not for long though)

LOOOOVE,
Namaste, Basia

A good site that has free monthly star charts for those wanting to learn more:

[skymaps.com]

Also for all sorts of good star stuff:

[www.fourmilab.ch]

hey thanks brome!! i'll check those out, as i often wonder about some constallations that i see above me up there...
LOVE, Basia

oh Basia you're so lucky to be able to do that! is it really hot where you are? I hope one day to live somewhere warm enough so that is possible. Sleeping out under the stars... oh bliss, who knows what fabulous journeys you are being taken on each night (-:

yesssss lisa m, the fabulaous journey each nightt they trully r!!!

as to the hot weather here??? oh no! i'm in canada, & at night it is still chilly,
buuuut
already good enough, for my super sleeping bag to do it's thing,
& i keep some clothes on at night, so i'm comfortable,
oh, & i also do a session of Yoga, each night, just before going to sleep,
& LOVE that routine, i mean, treating my body that way, (which warms it up too) before going out in the cooler air, ...without it, i would be freezing many nights... for a while, until my body's heating system would click in,- since i'm soooooooo slim these days, being totally raw, for nearly 3.5 years now....

yessss, i'm soooooo blessed,
(half a year outside sleeping, & half a year inside, on the floor, with/by the window wide open) ...that's the way to go, here in canada, though, a friend, raw, sleeps, & her family too, most of the year outside, they constructed a sort of simple shed like structure, open on one or two sides, where they sleep, under cotton tent like things, on the cooler nights, & on the very cold nights, when she went in to sleep, she right away got a head ache!

hope U can do it too, where r U lisa?
LOVE & BLESSINGS,
Basia

Sounds nice, I'd like to be able to do that someday.

LOOOVing your beautiful post!

BC Canada is SO gorgous! I'm glad you're taking advantage of it!! Do you snowboard too?

I'm in the UK Basia. It gets pretty damp and chilly around here at night, even in the summer. I slept outside while I was on holiday in Portugal last year, that was gorgeous. Do you find you still sleep deeply? I found I slept very lightly, so I didn't really feel very rested in the morning. But I was staying out realllly late as I was with some of my family who like to party when they're on vacation (-:
I keep meaning to get one of those bivouac sleeping bags, they're waterproof, so I can sleep outside here when during the summer. hmmm, you're inspiring me... I sleep on the floor already, that feels good.

I met some travelers from BC when hiking up the volcanoes of Central Mexico. They told me of incredible displays of the Northern Lights one winter night as they were hitch hiking across BC. The aurora was so spectacular they quit hitching, spread out their expedition sleeping bags and lay there marveling at the light show in the sky. This seems the ultimate in outdoor sleeping.

brome- yesssss, AURORA BORREALISSSSSS!!! even the name sounds great doesn't it!? by the way, did U know that there also is the aurora polaris?
i haven't seen any of them, live....i hear they even emit sound ...a bit.. sort of electric crackling/hissing????.scientist was talking about it during a documentary...

Jen Rose- i laughed out loud reading U'r response....snowboard...me...!!! ha ha...that would be nice!...no...not yet..years ago tried roller skating...it was a disaster...i kept on falling time after time, on my bum, till i got quite a headache!...that was then though...i'm a different person now...more balanced...& with all the Yoga i do (every night), & don't for years now....though i don't feel a calling-craving to try snowboarding...(my son is a great boarder! & a raw foodist too! & i'm one because of him too! ha ha)...i've tried cross country & did pretty well...was told am a natural at it!....(can also stone sculpt, paint with acrylics, take good photos, sing, meditate....HEAL, LOOOOVE....& the list goes on....
well now....my body is 56 years young ...& i'm busy healing it with the living/raw lifestyle, also coatching 2 of my family members, at the other end of the country, in raw living, as she has a brain tumor...also, am looking intensively for my next wwoofing place/adventure....sooooooo...no snowboarding for now...

lisa m - as long as it's not too cold, & U have a good enough sleeping bag, it's worth being brave....when it rains i move under a narrow strip of a roof, &, if it's a lighter rain, then it doesn't get me, while, if it's with the wind, & goes sideways, then it strts splashing on me, & i have to move in, sometimes in the moddle of the night...still IT'S WORTH IT!!! my sleeping bag is from Feathered Friends, check out their website, they're pricy, but again, it's worth it,
THE PLEASURE U GET from using it, & being comfy in it!!! & they're THE BEST QUALITY THERE IS...my son got one & LOVED IT, & then i got mine
re. being a light sleeper....& sleeping outside, i use to be bothered by any little sound, so also wondered how it will be out there, but, NOOOO PROBLEM, i don't know, whether it's the living/raw diet, or all the Yoga i do, & meditating, or what, but, by now, nothing out there bothers me, i fall asleep & sleep great...did hear racoon though, when it came on the balcony, & walked around....in any case i'm not afraid of them...& they must feel it...
LOOOOOVE TO U ALL...& BLESSINGS,
Namaste, Basia

I recommend a bag with synthetic insulation. First they're much cheaper. They keep much of their warmth even when wet, dry out easily, and are much more durable than down. They're heavier but the weight isn't bad considering the advantages.

Down is very expensive, gets wet easily, loses all insulating capacity when wet, is almost impossible to dry out in the field, and isn't real durable. Down is very light though and could be alright if you are in cold dry conditions when hiking climbing or skiing and avoid breathing in the bag as the moisture in your breath will condense in the down.

I'm looking for a new bag on Amazon.com and I think the Slumberjack 20 below, a good quality brand, looks good at $70. The Wenzel 0 degree for $25 looks good on the computer screen but its hard to tell the quality. For sleeping in the back yard you could get 2 Wenzel bags, use one when it's warmer, and use 2, one inside the other, for 40 below winter conditions, under the Aurora Borealis.

brome - just out of curiosity, how/when do U breath into U'r sleeping bag?..can't immagine it with mine... my face/mouth is exposed to the air..& there is a string that i tighten the bag with, around the neck, so the warmed by the body air, won't escape out....i LOOVE my dawn sleeping bag...& yes, it is a personal choice, decission which one to go for...
LOVE, Basia

Many bags just have a string that tightens around the hood. When it's cold it's natural to scrunch down in the bag, roll around and have one's face not aligned with the hole in the hood. I focus on aligning myself so this does not happen.

The members of an expedition to the North Pole had their sleeping bags develope into giant blocks of ice because they breathed in their bags. I went to their slide lecture.

You also deprive yourself of oxygen when breathing in your bag. Of course, down or synthetic it's a bad idea to breathe in your bag. It's just that with synthetic you have a much better chance of drying it out when out in the wilderness.

Thanks for reminding me of another good reason to move out into the country (which I may do very soon!)

Sleeping outside here won't be too cold but may be just the ticket for sleeping the the Texas summer heat -- out with the breezes.

Basia: you inspired me! last night I slept outside! it was good, but I didn't really sleep much. If this warm spell continues I'll keep trying it and see if I get used to it and sleep better (-:
I think I could do with a good quality bivouac. Maybe I'll check EBay.

thanks for starting this thread sweetheart!

lisa m - yes, U will get use to the 'noises' outside, i did, & so did our son,(adult & away)..for some time i used ear plugs, & then was told by him that he stopped, so i did too, & now sleep like a log, ...wake up to go to the bathroom sometimes, + when racoon came on the balcony..(i did shoosh it away)...
re. bivouac..U can just cover U'r sleeping bag with a blanket, i mean for extra warmth, it will do, i've tried it on colder nights...
&
NNNNarz - sleeping outside is not 'nice' , no offence, it is

HEEEEEAVENLY & MIIIIND BLOWING & AWWWWWSOME, EXHIIIIIILARATING!
really...not 'nice'...but U'll know/see, when U'll try it
LOVE & BLESSINGS, Basia

Hi Basia
it's not so much the noise - it's really peaceful where I am - I think it's more just the change of scene for me. It takes me a while to get used to sleeping anywhere different. The other thing is the light - it gets light at about 3.30am, which wakes me up. It would be good if I could go to sleep earlier and get up earlier (I'd love to do that as I love the early mornings) but unfortunately I often have to work pretty late at night. I've given up for the time being, but maybe I'll give it another whirl next week. And as for the blanket, again, it's not the cold, it's the damp. A blanket would get pretty wet by morning time. But, the other night I used a survival bag (a big plastic bag that fits around the sleeping bag) and that worked pretty well. You can pick them up for a few pounds at the camping shop too, so it's a cheap alternative to a bivouac.
enjoy your beautiful nights out! (:

hey Basia !
thank you for sharing !

when i used to sleep outside, it was like I live in another dimension.

sleep outside and having fresh and clean air, when wind is passing away.
wake up early when first sunlights are coming up.

it's just gives so much energy for the rest of the day,
and every night before you close your eyes, you are having a special moments with yourself and all around you.

thank you for share this just on time,
i would choose tomorrow morning the place to put a bed in the garden,
and i hope to join you very soon, for sleeping under the naked sky.

with many smiles
Eliran

lisa m - thank U for the tip, re.survival bag! sounds graat! have to look into it...when it rains, i move under a narrow roof, over a balcony in front of our kitchen....but...if it rains harder, it gets my from the side, so i have to move inside, on the floor, with doors open...but...maybe the bag would do? we'll see..THANK U AGAIN!

elirand2 - where r U? from the way U write, i'm guessing U might be in a different country than I, or a different continent even?
let me know, please, how it was, sleeping outside....
i'm just going there now, to enjoy this BLESSING

LOTS OF LOVE & BLESSINGS, Basia

This is making me ache to move out in the country so I can sleep outside too! Well of course I could do it in the city if I didn't live in an apartment complex...