Three Years Sleeping Outdoors: What I Learned from My Nights at -11°C

The first evening

Summer 2022. It's 25°C in the bedroom at midnight. Impossible to close my eyes. I get up, grab my futon, and go out on the balcony.

I fall asleep in a few minutes.

The next morning, I wake up more rested than I've been in months. I decide to do it again the next evening. Then the next. Then every evening.

When autumn arrives and nobody comes back inside

September, October. Temperatures drop. I add a blanket, then two. My children start finding it funny.

Of course, I took up the challenge. A cold-weather sleeping bag, thermal leggings under pyjamas, and above all a beanie.

What started as a bet became obvious. My body adapted in ways I never imagined.

What really happens at night

Each evening brings its own atmosphere. Some nights, I read a few pages by headlamp while rain drums on my shelter.

Other nights, the full moon floods the garden with light so intense that shadows form at night…

And then there are those rare mornings when I open my eyes to find a thin layer of snow settled while I slept. Those moments are worth all the discomforts.

My children sometimes join me in the early evening. We settle in together, talk about their day. The starry sky above us creates an intimacy different from the living room.

The question I'm always asked

'And your wife, what does she think?'

The question comes up systematically, often with a barely veiled hint of judgement.

The answer is simple: my wife loves me. And because she loves me, she sees the good this practice does me and respects it.

Perhaps that's what love in a couple is: letting the other breathe in what does them good.

What my body says

I won't drown you in scientific study references, but some facts deserve mention.

Our body needs to drop in temperature to sleep well. Between 15 and 19°C is ideal.

The benefits I've noticed are concrete: I sleep better, wake up in a better mood, have more energy.

Whatever the reason, the result is there.

The difficult nights (because there are some)

I won't tell you everything is rosy. There were nights when I was cold.

One particularly windy January night, the thermometer showed -9°C and wind was getting under my sleeping bag.

But curiously, even these difficult moments are part of the experience. I'm not just a brain locked in a climate-controlled bubble.

Some obvious precautions

Sleeping outdoors in extreme cold is not for everyone. If you have heart problems, severe asthma, or Raynaud's-type circulation issues, it's probably not a good idea.

Even in perfect health, the approach must be gradual.

Starting abruptly with extreme temperatures is the best way to hurt yourself and give up after two nights.

What it really changes

This experience taught me to trust my body rather than conventions.

We live in a world where everything is controlled: constant temperature, artificial light, schedules out of sync with natural rhythms.

Sleeping outdoors is simply reconnecting with something more ancient.

Maybe you'll never sleep outdoors at -11°C. But perhaps you can start by turning down the heating in your bedroom.

Your body will quickly tell you if it suits it. And if it says yes, you might discover, like me, capabilities you never suspected.