I’m on the sleeper after killing time in the station. Then finding my bunk was a question of asking questions and more questions. Then when I was in the right carriage I walked passed the paper sticker they used instead of the built in numbers. Everything is fine. I have some nice looking biscuits and help. A swiss girl called Simone helped my store my rucksack in the storage at the top of the cabin and helped me again when I wanted my inflatable pillow. Then when I asked what the conductor was saying! She’s really nice, but that’s about as much helplesness she needs from me.

The conductor explained that I get my ticket and my rail pass back in the morning. He clipped it to his clip board and moved on. After two weeks of travel, and three weeks of keeping it safe at home I feel a bit nervy. The pass has been my companion. A beat up companion admittedly. I needed to fold it to keep it in my zipped trouser pocket, then the perforation to the travel diary ripped, and now it’s crudely stuck together with black tape. It does the job and that’s all that matters. The other thing that matters is that this is trip number 5 out of 10! Or is it 4? London – Paris, Paris – Lyon, Lyon – Bern, Bern – Grindelwald (pass not used), Grindelwald – Vienna. Four it is! Budapest will be five and Bucharest six.

When I removed my sandals, I think my feet smelt a bit ripe. They were clean this morning, but I think the shoes need a wipe to freshen them up. I think the ventilation has taken care of it now. I’ll be more prepared for the next sleeper.

My inflatable pillow is great. It doesn’t look much, but it was £27 well spent. My tent sleeping is amazing now. There’s the occassional slightly dead arm, but on the whole I’ve been getting a full night’s sleep. Camping used to hurt! Now I’ll have to find a couple more nights under the stars. The tent was dried really well as I was phaffing around this morning. Everything is dry – almost everything. There will be no horrible surprises when I unpack. I even taped the bag of coffee closed today. I don’t know why I didn’t do that before. I do know. I’m hard-wire not to do the right things and be ordered. This can be good in a way, and it can be time and financially consuming. This is the reason my pot of money, whilst sufficient for now isn’t as large as it could be. I’ll have to look after it, earn and save. There’s a chance that I’ll be in an older car too.