Nature can be cruel, unrewarding, and ambivalent but she is never spiteful and nothing she does is ever personal.

Very true. And in the Australian outback, it can be absolutely beautiful too.

I found it quite rewarding, personally. Stripping all the material world of 15 years of life in California took me just a few days, semi-naked, thirsty and hungry, walking barefoot among the spinifex and wattles. Definitely a life-changing experience I would do again and again.