I mean.. the digging mechanic is nothing but FLUFF anyway.
You just carry a Shovel with you is all it actually means. And then you see a funny animation of an oversized chest popping up from the ground, one that would be far too heavy for you to lift. This is the reason why we need to carry a Shovel? You can even instantly teleport back and forth between camp to get one, should the Shovel be at least inconvenient to carry, which it's not.
Could we just not have to carry that Shovel with us everywhere and just roll a Perception check to find something that would be more reasonably stashed? How plausible is it that hidden treasures are everywhere in Faerûn, anyway? We are back to what's "fun" (subjectively) in a video game, just not believable in a mature RPG setting.
Shovels and Food are complete fluff that add nothing real to the game except annoyance.
