I agree that the fixed camp thing feels weird and unsatisfying. I'm all for having you be able to rest anywhere, but the place you're resting (and possible actions you've take to camouflage your campsite) impact the risk of something stumbling into you. If you want a long safe rest, you can walk back to town or find a little uninhabited cave and cover the mouth with foliage (use that survival skill!). If you only need a quick breather and feel like it's quiet enough, you can rest where you are and just hope something doesn't find you.
Choices with meaningful tradeoffs and calculated risk are what makes this game (any game, really) interesting.
