Fare thee well Polyester Pop-Up Pal x

As I tiredly flutter my eyelashes like an exhausted butterfly about to open the lids, I have a fleeting moment of concern as I wonder what in God's name do you call this time of the morning?! Not a peep from the birds as yet, and no piercing intrusion from the sun, causing the temperature of our polyester 6 man cocoon to become much like that of a piping hot oven.

In my head, I'm cursing my bladder for waking me up in the middle of the night. Yesterday's bladder didn't intrude my slumber, and I swear I had more to drink. It's not particularly colder than yesterday either. I mean, yes, technically we're a day closer to the winter season, but I doubt my pee bucket keeps an eye on the calendar. Its sense of timing is appaling. It doesn't even get the memo on a motorway when I mentally reassure it that the services are just 2 miles away; chill the fuck out and stop making me want to wet myself! But no - cramps galore, while I sit aggressively shuffling my feet, trying to stop the bursting for the loo sensation! Makes me the world's worst passenger!

So here I am at, let's call it 1am, needing the loo. Only went about 3 hours ago as well, but that's camping for you. Not one night is the same. If you made it the whole night through without either a fly, a thunderstorm or an inpatient bladder waking you up, you've done well. Very well!

That's just the shit part of camping. The beautiful part is having the singing birds be your alarm clock, rather than the shit digital sounds an iPhone blasts out. No one is happy to wake up to that, but when the birds sing to you with their cheery morning bird song, it puts you in a great mood at the start of the day. Their song - merrily and tuneful, it's like they've been up all night watching Mary Poppins and can't get Spoonful of Sugar out of their little cute chirpy heads.

Occasionally we get the roaring sound of Scarface the wind banging against our fly sheet, waking us up.

Then there's the heavy pattering from Moaning Myrtle, showering the roof of our polyester abode. Water sliding down the sides of the tent. We've thought ahead though and tend to put washing on the sides - no risk of leakage! These are just two examples that don't happen often, but boy, are we ready for them when they're here!

You take the good with the bad - the rough with the smooth - the little kips and the long kips.

For me, it's worth it though; when we look at our budget sheet which we've put together (back in the comfort of our warm house, when we were pissed and thought "aaah, we'll be fine! *hiccup! We'll make it an adventure *burp!), I love seeing how much money we've saved on accommodation. Cost of hotels and BnB's are steep, and when you don't earn great amounts on the road - especially being an unknown band - budgeting is crucial.

Thankfully, however, we've now come to the end of our camping extravaganza. The clock's ticked on and autumn is now sniffing about. Time for Airbnb's and Cheap(ish) Hotels. We've earnt that, I reckon. Aaah- a bed with a mattress. And the loo just a few feet from your bed - bliss! Oooh, and look - tea and coffee!

Could get used to this.

Until next summer, our little polyester pop-up pal x