Presumably, if you’re reading this blog, you like outdoor adventure. If you haven’t read Microadventures by Alastair Humphreys, go to the library or just order it from Amazon now.

Microadventures consist of a most-simple overnight stay in a field somewhere. No need for a tent – use a bivvy bag instead. No need for food – get dinner from a pub nearby and breakfast from a café nearby. With no food, it means no camping stove. Microadventures should be basic.

At this point people I’ve spoken to have a Marmite moment. You’re either wondering “COOL!” or “That sounds like a tramp – why would you do this?“. If you fall into the latter group, read another article on this site. I won’t be offended.I was given the book to review and was totally inspired and captivated from day one. I read the book cover to cover in three days. But the book asks doesn’t want to remain theoretical. It wants to be a practical guide – Humphreys constantly urges the reader to convert the stories into midweek stay-out-on-a-remote-hillside.

I have all the equipment, except for a bivvy bag. The bivvy bag sounds so raw, and Microadventures so short and intense that I thought let’s give it a go.

I went online in search of ex-Army bivvy bags. Ex-=Army ones are the most highly recommended ones by Humphreys and other bivvy users online.

Incidentally, bivvy bags can cost up to £300, which is more than I’ve ever spent on a tent let alone a bivvy bag. Anyway, I ended up finding some decent Grade One bivvy bags on GoArmy. (Grade One is the highest quality used army surplus).

I asked the kids who would be interested in the following Microadventure:

• This coming Saturday night we’ll have dinner once it’s dark
• We’ll go to the toilet (we won’t want to do this later)
• We’ll each pack out rucksacks with a single set of very warm clothes, bivvy bag, sleeping bag, roll mat, water bottle and toothbrush
• We’ll go to the toilet again
• We’ll cycle 5 miles to a nearby field
• We’ll lay out the bivvy bags
• We’ll go to sleep
• First thing in the morning, we’ll cycle home for breakfast

Ishai and Shelley said they’d be interested. I said it will be cold, very cold, and maybe a bit wet. They shrugged their shoulders.

My next concern was the bikes. Humphreys says it’s OK to leave them hidden from the road, but I am too nervous about my bike. So I tweeted to the #microadventure community:

@twohikers I always do! I'd like to trust the universe but I can't afford my bike being nicked?!

— Kirstin Shirling (@kirstin_roo) September 8, 2015

@twohikers I personally take a small D Lock, but depending in where you going you could probably get away with small one.

— Kirstin Shirling (@kirstin_roo) September 8, 2015

So that answered my question about the bikes. As it happens, I only have a thick motorbike chain at home (I keep my D-lock at work all the time – it has literally never been home), and I’ve meant to buy a D-lock for my pub/ tube bike for a while, so I bought one at Sports Direct today for £7.99.

Sleeping in a bivvy bag compared to a tent sounds like it can get a bit grim, so I have said to the kids that if it’s raining on Saturday night we’re not going. Taking the tents and associated paraphernalia for a single night on the bikes sounds too hard, so we’ll delay our #microadventure and we’ll think of something else.

So I’m hoping for dry weather.

I’ll let you know how we get on – I’ll ask Ishai to write the report afterwards.