Exactly! It is a very harsh way of life. No romanticising from me at all, a girl brought up in an urban environment. However, some people / cultures are genetically hard wired to live that way. They like it for what it is and they just need to live that way. Their way on their own terms.
As for me, a softie. It would be hard for me to trade in my washing machine and modern day conveniences.
I remember this conversation with a Mexican-American teacher who would go back and visit her fishing village in Puerta Vallarta. American tourists who would genuinely feel sorry and said "oh, look at the poor people" , at the poor mexicans who do not have as much (materially). But then, she said, they are not "poor". These people would go out and do their thing e.g. fishing and make a living, and then come back to a large family and a warm community. They are happy. They are not "poor" .