Practicising to make perfect - it's always worth a trial run putting up your new tent.

Your touring holidays this year. Are they all booked and confirmed, or do you like to wait for last-minute deals, or just head out on a whim?

I’m a bit of all that, really – that’s what the leisure vehicle lifestyle is all about, surely; whether you have a caravan, motorhome or tent (or, in my case, all three).

All the signs are the UK is going to be pretty chokka again, especially during the peak season.

Gene and campervan friends at the annual VW Brighton Breeze event for campervan enthusiasts.

Well last weekend was the VW Brighton Breeze, which sounds to me either like a dodgy Brighton dive of a club or a smooth, calm tasting cocktail.

It is in fact an annual event for campervan enthusiasts, where they get the chance to show off their super duper campervans and check out the competition.

And there was no breeze of any kind – it was a sizzling Saturday in October.

Putting up the bunting on my campervan Gene.

So, backtracking to the beginning of the summer: May and the Meadowlands Festival. This was the first festival of the year for the samba band I play in (Barulho) and also the first outing for the penguin suit. It was also my birthday weekend. Far more important than any of the above.

You might be asking why would a sane person, assuming I am, buy a penguin suit? Perhaps if anyone has an idea they could let me know…

Campervan windscreen wiper trouble on our return from the Edinburgh Festival.

And so the last instalment of our madcap adventure to Edinburgh Festival and back in five days was coming to a close.

We were all feeling a bit tearful because of this but also because it was 7 in the morning which is always an emotional time.

We thought by getting up at this time we would beat the rush hour traffic back to Brighton. – Oh how very wrong we were…