If you couldn't tell, I'm not a happy camper when I'm cold and wet. Probably another good reason I did this trip solo, I'm not sure anyone else would have been able to deal with my travel depression.
When you're travelling alone on a bike with a limited budget, simple things like being warm can make the difference between happiness and the deep pit. Stuff we take for granted in our normal lives like being able to take wet things off and dry them. Which I guess would have been less of a problem if I had decided to do half the distance and used the extra money to stay in hotels.
I don't regret my decision to camp for the majority of my trip. What I regret was not taking gear that would have kept me warmer. Like a 0* Sleeping Bag, or more fleece base layers. Waterproofs! I can not emphasis waterproof gear enough. My life could have been so much nicer if I had had the goretex boots I have now, and actual goretex gloves.
Gear is everything.
In the wise words of Chris Hunt, "It's the gear that keeps you happy and without it you'll fail."