I failed dismally in my bid to find a holiday for a fiver. I did however manage to procure some obscenely cheap flights and so am part way through my mission.

I took the older two for an Indian tonight. The man serving said

'Can you just check the pilau - it doesn't smell right to me'

This strikes me as a little odd. If something doesn't smell right, why would you ask your customers to try it first to see if it kills them? I let the children try it first because that is just how generous I am. They survived and short of winning awards for aromatic nirvana - it was okay.

The children have been surviving on a fairly ad hoc food regime; lethargy, illness and stress make for no Nigella and whilst I know that they have eaten, I cannot put my hand on heart and say that it is the best this kitchen can muster. As a result, we are unaccustomed to large quantity and half way through the meal, we all experienced a near death moment. Given the proximity to the local undertakers, this could have been most convenient.

So we had a nice meal, we overate, risked food poisoning and felt fat, bloated and ill on leaving. For this we paid good money. This goes to prove that money does not necessarily make you feel good.

So back to the issue of the holiday. We have flights and nowhere to stay. Every year I tell myself that normal people plan and book these things in advance. I have lost count of the times we have had the car fully loaded and still frantically trawled the Internet for accommodation. I cannot forget the last flying family holiday we had (10 years ago) when it was booked, paid and left us a mere three hours to get to Birmingham airport (the joy of last minute bargains), or the bargain basement holiday to Thailand when I took myself, a baby, a toddler, a friend and her 4 month old on a spontaneous holiday to Malaysia. I lost the childs shoes in last minute packing and he spent his hols in slippers, nothing was booked, nothing planned, a guidebook purchased at Heathrow that did not get read on the plane. This was the best holiday I ever had.

There are some things you can plan for in life, some you cannot. The planned ones have anticipation and expectation attached - all to easily shot down. The last minute unplanned will always be okay because it just will. Sometimes not knowing what is around the corner is far more exhilarating than knowing, and the results are often better

I do wish I had sent the passport applications off earlier.