I’m not going to read that article because it’s about people living outside in Alaska, and I’ll get nightmares.
If you’re going to move outside, you do it in a warm place, that’s what I say.
If you have a parachute, you can do whatever you like. If not, that’s a difficult lifestyle for someone who has no experience with it. Homeless people do it year-round, but they are not clean, comfortable or well-fed. There were a lot of guys I served with in Vietnam who used to wistfully say “when this is over, I’m going to Alaska and live off the land”. I always advised them to leave a map with their location on it with somebody, so the body could be easily retrieved.
I’ve heard about college students living in a tent to save money. The Indian dude on Dual Survival said he did that for several years.
Not all tents are the same. A tiny pup tent isn’t realistic to use long term. Umbrella tents let you stand, and have room to take a few steps.
It’s not anything special…people from my university (UC Santa Cruz) did it all the time. You do what people all over the world do- bathe from a bucket, using a cup to pour water on you, shit in a deep pit with a concrete slab over it, cook over wood or propane and don’t own much worth stealing. If the weather is warm and dry, there really isn’t anything bad about it, although doing laundry by hand is a bitch. there are huge swathes of the world where the idea of a house strikes people as pretty useless, and indoor space is jjust a place to store stuff and retreat to when it rains.
Cool.
But what about the internet and stuff? Are you gonna leave your laptop at work?
An address is very easy to come by, the Salvation Army will let you pick up your mail at their offices or give you a fixed address so you can get aid.
Grooming isn’t a problem as I go to the gym and lots of guys shave and spend 30 minutes grooming and dusting and spritzing themselves. So that’d add about $25/month on to your cost.
The two hardest things to get along without are electric and bathrooms. It’s hard to find clean restooms to use. And you forget how much you rely on electricity.
Heat and cold you can adjust to over time. When I moved to Florida, my A/C ran constantly, now it goes on only over 90s. And even then sometimes I don’t bother. I’m used to it.
My mother still tells me about the cold water apartment she had on Maujer Street in Brooklyn. She didn’t leave that till World War II.
It’s great…I did it when I was 50, although I worked at the campground so had access to showers. Even had a waterslide complex next door that I would climb the stairs with sleepy eyes :o and hurl myself down to wake up…what a blast !!! :eek:
Lived in my tent the whole summer with only a hundred steps to get home to my tent with a stop-over to pick up some coolers and dinner. Lot’s of people around to talk to, good ol’ fresh air…the outdoorsy feeling. I had lotsa fun!
I highly recommend it. 
A fellow my father works with, a market research analyst, lived outside in a tent for months for some odd reason. He says he had fun. I know a few other establishment types who’ve done it for months on end – some of them had “bed-sores” (one claimed), but most thought it was the ultimate in slumming.
I’ve only been out for a a month or maybe more at a time (time doesn’t work the same way without a watch or a calendar), without having to commute back to the world, so I couldn’t say. But if you’re organized, why not? Join a gym if you want some showers. Just don’t lay a half-eaten pizza by your tent (or tarp, or whatever), if you’re wise.
Synthetic fabrics can stink to hell IME, so, maybe keep some fancy duds for going meeting with the townfolk.
Please don’t wash with soap in natural waters (river, lake), though – it’s pretty vile to do to the local environment. Get a big collapsible (or not) water container and wash well away from the water and shallow underground waterbed.
Disagree that hand-laundering is a pain, though – I do it all the time if I’m low on quarters. (As long as it’s not polluting, and done prudently, for good-will’s sake), the clothes will get plenty clean.