Sometimes I sleep in the shelters that I’ve pictured here. Sometimes I sleep near the shelters in my hammock. Sometimes I sleep at some anonymous spot in the woods when the time and mileage work together to make that better for me. Sometimes I sleep in a hostel, which can range from basically a crowded basement room underneath an outfitter’s store to a large Victorian house listed on the National Register of Historic Places (like tonight).

The hammock thing works this way: find 2 trees appropriately spaced; ties up both ends of the hammock; climb in.

Here’s what the hammock looks like tied between trees but still in its protective storage sleeves:

Then, here is what it looks like with the hammock unfurled. The mosquito netting is at the top and the hammock itself at the bottom. The zipper entry runs along the near side from head to toe:

And, finally, here is the hammock with the rain fly (or, if it isn’t raining, call it a privacy screen, or a wind-fly) fully deployed. I duck under the fly to sit in the unzipped hammock, and then swing my feet inside:

Toss in a sleeping bag; climb in; get arranged; and you should be ‘good to go.’

I’ll post a couple hostel photos some other time.