Some see homelessness as more free than living in a house or apartment, and prefer being in nature, as well as away from other people. Some may have had a traumatic experience in a house or apartment, such as a fire, and feel safer outside, being able to survey their surroundings. Challenges
The basic problem of homelessness is the need for personal shelter, warmth, and safety. Other difficulties include:

Hygiene and sanitary facilities
Hostility from the public and laws against urban vagrancy
Cleaning and drying of clothes
Obtaining, preparing, and storing food
Keeping contact with friends, family, and government service providers without a permanent location or mailing address
Medical problems, including issues caused by an individuals homeless state (e.g., hypothermia or frostbite from sleeping outside in cold weather), or issues which are exacerbated by homelessness due to lack of access to treatment (e.g., mental health and the individual not having a place to store prescription drugs)
Personal security, quiet, and privacy, especially for sleeping, bathing, and other hygiene activities
Safekeeping of bedding, clothing, and possessions, which may have to be carried at all timesPeople experiencing homelessness face many problems beyond the lack of a safe and suitable home.
Also, HUD reported the number of chronically homeless people (persons with severe disabilities and long homeless histories) decreased one percent between 2009 and 2010, from 110,917 to 109,812. Since 2007 this number had decreased by 11 percent. This was mostly due to the expansion of permanent supportive housing programs.The change in numbers has occurred due to the prevalence of homelessness in local communities rather than other changes. According to HUDs July 2010 Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, more than 1.59 million people spent at least one night in an emergency shelter or transitional housing program during the 2010 reporting period, a 2.2 percent increase from 2009. Most users of homeless shelters used only an emergency shelter, while 17 percent used only transitional housing, and less than 5 percent used both during the reporting period. Since 2007, the annual number of those using homeless shelters in cities has decreased from 1.22 million to 1.02 million, a 17 percent decrease. The number of persons using homeless shelters in suburban and rural areas increased 57 percent, from 367,000 to 576,000. In the U.S., the federal governments HUD agency has required federally-funded organizations to use a computer tracking system for homeless people and their statistics, called HMIS (Homeless Management Information System). There has been some opposition to this kind of tracking by privacy advocacy groups, such as EPIC.However, HUD considers its reporting techniques to be reasonably accurate for homeless in shelters and programs in its Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress.