Well, we’re now travelling in a different way to normal backpackers – not just because we’re doing it with two small children, but also because we’ve got a camera team with us, working for the BBC Holiday programme. The idea is that they’ll follow us for ten days, and at the end of that have enough to make a 8-minute section for the new series of the Holiday programme starting in October.

When we first thought about doing this, it seemed like a bit of fun, which the girls would enjoy, and it wouldn’t harm our chances of finding a job when we got home.

But the closer to filming it got, the more nervous we became. What happens if we bicker all the time? What happens if some disaster happens while they’re around? Will it really be as much fun as we think? And what will we look like on TV?

We’ve blown the backpacker credibility already by hiring a car, but when there’s four of us, its actually the cheapest way to get around. But the upgraded model makes us totally unlike backpackers (mind you, without air conditioning, we look as sweaty and hot as every other backpacker, except for those on air conditioned buses).

The plans have also been upset by the forest fires – we have had to change some routes and some other plans, and the sky isn’t the clear blue that it was before the fires started. However, visibility is starting to return, with the peaks of mountains now becoming clearer. Fingers crossed that’ll continue to improve, so that we see the Rockies in their full splendour.