The talented carpenter sleeping on trains - because he can't afford a place to live
He can nap for 45 minutes from Croydon to London Bridge, then back, 45 minutes more sleep, then repeat.
From 1am to 5am - which he calls the "zombie hours" - Daniel naps and swaps trains, trams and buses until, as the public returns, he becomes a commuter on his way to work.
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The 56-year-old is a working carpenter who has fallen on hard times, and he is among a growing population of rough sleepers.
His demographic, someone in the twilight of his working life, is one that homeless charities are increasingly concerned about.
"You've been working hard all your life - you don't think the bubble is going to burst," says Daniel, carrying his fresh laundry from the crisis centre, where he has also showered.
He does not look homeless. Conscious of the stigma, he says he is "incognito homeless".
Daniel wants to blend in and "stay under the radar".
Older generation 'no longer safe from housing crisis'
Figures released by the Combined Homelessness and Information Network show that the number of people considered to be living on the streets in London is up 26% on last year, and has doubled in the past 10 years.
This is despite a pledge from the previous government to end rough sleeping, and this government offering to develop a cross-government strategy to tackle the problem.
Daniel's road to homelessness was complex. He took a period off work to look after his sick father, whose death left Daniel without a home to fall back on.
He later had his van broken into and had to endure aggressive flatmates in a multi-occupancy house from which he was ultimately evicted.
Then, while Daniel was staying in B&Bs, an employer failed to pay him for a job.
He is still trying to work.
"The problem with my kind of work is if you're not focused on that specific detail, you make mistakes," he says.
"Me not being about to work skilfully through lack of sleep, lack of washing facilities and lack of food, there comes a point when I'm a liability."
A new study by homelessness charity Crisis found that among older low-income earners, one in five feared homelessness in their retirement, and many say they cannot afford to stop working.
"A generation once thought to be safe from our housing crisis is now increasingly being swept up in it and at real risk of homelessness," it concludes.
Francesca Albanese, executive director of policy and social change at Crisis, told Sky News: "Most people are thinking they will go into later life with savings and security, and actually the cost of housing alongside lower wages is meaning that for lots more people that just isn't an option."
'You don't change the person you are'
Daniel has a bag system. A carrier for dirty laundry, a rucksack for clean, and a small essentials bag on top.
We pass Croydon College, where he obtained his City & Guilds carpentry qualifications, and go to the public library where Daniel charges his phone and uses computers to apply for work.
He has not turned to drugs or alcohol and seems determined to remain working.
When I observe this, he tells me: "You don't change the person you are."
It's hard to imagine how this experience can't change him, but Daniel has one foothold on normality - his lockup.
Behind carefully stacked toolboxes are his memories.
He has a banner from his father's 70th birthday. A photo of his parents on their wedding day outside the library where he now charges his phone.
At the back, he pulls out a giant cuddly "Doc" from the seven dwarves.
"I took it to cheer up my mum when she was in hospital," he says. She liked it so much that he bought her the other six, which he also still has.
"This is my world," he says. "This is what I've created over the last 50 years - everything from emotional memories to tools that make me money to put me in a shelter or a house.
"When you buy something or get given something, it's got a memory, and that's what we're made up of.
"It gives me hope, it gives me some sort of reason."
'You've got to get on with it'
When we catch up with Daniel a few weeks later, he is at a pop-up soup kitchen.
Staff are handing out tea, soup and sandwiches. Their 70 or so clientele includes several working people who cannot afford food on top of their rent.
"Who comes out at 9.30pm for a sandwich and some soup unless you are desperate?" says Linda Palmas from charity Croydon Nightwatch.
Things have changed for Daniel - his attempt to "stay under the radar" failed.
He was fined £50 for not having a ticket on an overnight tram. So, he has changed his sleeping arrangements to a local park.
As he tucks into his sleeping bag, his essentials rucksack tied to his belt, he strikes a positive note. "You've got to get on with it, haven't you?"
Daniel refuses to be beaten. He is a skilled contributor to society, a man who can make stuff with his hands.
He is hanging on to that, by his fingertips.
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