More and more I feel like I should wean myself off NERDTree and back onto netrw like a grown-up. It would reduce the number of plugins I use to zero, and that would be an accomplishment.
The accomplishment is training myself to run as close to default as possible. I've gotten very accustomed to using NERDTree, for example, but that's because I never really took the time to learn to use netrw correctly. I seek to correct that now.
To misappropriate a Dawkins quote, I'm simply going one further, to zero.
I use a bunch of plugins, they help me be more productive...