Living conditions will be spartan, with much of the sleeping done on the bus.

“We travel at night,” Ewer said. “You’ll go to sleep in Indiana and wake up in Rhode Island. There’s a lot of bus time.”

The cost for participants is $2,800 this year, which he said is less than the amount spent on fuel. Donations to the tax-exempt organization, which is based in Jacksonville, help make up the difference.

Participants also have to pay for food, which is prepared by volunteers who travel with them and will prepare more than 20,000 meals.

“I just want to get better at what I do, no matter that I have to be hot and sweaty and sleep on a gym floor,” Foster said. “It’s not like luxury hotels or anything.”

Teal Sound members come from all over the country and beyond, Ewer said, including last year from Hollywood, Calif., and Japan. In addition, corps on the tour include several from Europe, Japan and Canada.

One member this year has been flying to Florida from Indiana for auditions and monthly training, Foster said.

While most of the shows are held at night, marching in full uniform in August can still be uncomfortable, Ewer said.

“It’s still hot, especially in places like Alabama,” he said. “The finals are in Indianapolis. The cool thing is they have that new dome. They might have the dome closed with the AC, which would be cool.”

Judging in the competitive events is based on musical performance and marching, and “how well you coordinate your drums, brass and dance line together,” Ewer said. Many of the judges are band directors who have had band corps experience.

Teal Sound will have a different musical mix this year, “more like hip-hop, pop culture music, which is a totally different direction than most bands go,” Ewer said.

Foster, who will graduate high school next year, plans to pursue a medical rather than a musical career. She said she has not decided whether to pursue a bachelor’s degree in nursing or shoot for physician’s assistant.

“I like band and I like being in guard,” she said. “I knew growing up I wanted to do something to help people. I took anatomy this year and it really sparked my interest. Next year I’m doing an internship at the hospital.

“But I might play my sax in college.”

Comparing the drum and bugle corps with the high school band, Ewer said the marching is different and the music is challenging.