Excellent questions! Funny how you just take things for granted after doing them for so long.

1) Sleeping can be tough, especially the first couple of nights. Usually, by the third night I am sleeping fine. I find that I sleep best by washing up prior to bed (just a sponge bath) and wearing clean clothes. Have not used ear plugs, but I do carry them just in case. A good pillow and pad make all the difference when you are on the ground. I have been trying hammock camping, and must say that that is by far the best sleeping I have done in the backcountry. Slept like a log first night out.

2) I have found that TP never gets me clean enough. I now use a portable bidet that is really just an old campsuds bottle. It holds just enough water to allow me to rinse and use my left hand to scrub things out (bit of a yuck factor the first few times, but you get over it). Then I wash up with more water and antiseptic soap afterwards. I also pay lots of attention to keeping things clean back there during my sponge baths.

3) I, like others, line my pack with garbage bags which has never failed me keeping stuff in there dry. I also use an umbrella which looks goofy to some, but works amazingly better than a parka or even poncho. For rainy, windy days I use Frogg Toggs, which to my experience are just the best light raingear you can have. I have even had wet clothes dry out under them while I hike. If you stick with mostly synthetics during the day while hiking in the wet and protect your down bag in plastic for nights, it's not bad.

4) I don't shave on the trail. Do that at home or town days.

5) Swim, you bet! But no baths in the water. I take the cut off bottom third of a gallon milk jug and use it for a wash basin for nightly sponge baths, or as a bucket for washing and rinse offs well away from the water source. I use bottomless shelters pretty exclusively now (Megamid, Silshelter or just a tarp) so I can setup a "bath house" by just removing my ground sheet and doing my cleaning in there if need be. On a warm day the ground will dry quickly or just throw your ground sheet back down.