I’ll be honest from the outset here, it’s not my 1st choice of how to make a living - working away from home that is - but you have to do what you have to do.

You find ways to make it as comfortable and, most importantly I’d say, as routine as possible. Little things that make it easier, that make it familiar. I have a particular room at the hotel I prefer; I know that pants and socks go on a particular shelf, clothes on another. I know that the shower works in a certain way - and requires a level of finesse to get the correct temperature. These are all things that make this my home away from home - a routine of what to do, where things go, as well as the ‘character’ of the room and the way the facilities within it work and how best to use them. All things you’d come to know and do at home.

The travelling is a funny thing as well - again, routine makes it all easier. I have a certain seat on the train I get - it has a little more leg room than the other seats and allows me to keep an eye on my suitcase. I tend to rise from my seat just after we pull out of Cosham as I know the next stop is Fratton. Once there I tend to wait for the 08:28 further down the platform so I can get into a carriage nearer the front, as when it arrives into Havant, I know it’s usually right in front of the stairs up to the bridge across to the entrance/exit of the station into Havant. It’s silly little things like that, that make it easier. That make it less of a stress and more of a routine.

Routine for me breeds ease. Ease breeds comfort. And comfort breeds bearability.

That’s not to say the working away from home is unbearable, as it’s not. It’s what I do, and quite honestly, I don’t mind it - not even the 4am alarms on Monday mornings put me off. I think it’s just about catering how you travel, where you stay and keeping things familiar that make it something that doesn’t leave me mentally and physically drained come Friday when I step back on the first of my two trains back towards Bristol.