Ali Bastian Instagram – We got away for TWO WHOLE blissful nights!!! 10 minutes from where I grew up… When I was little, my parents had a difficult divorce and we weren’t in a financial position to go away on holl with my Mum for many years. One of my fondest memories growing up was her booking a night for us at the Holiday Inn as a treat… around the corner from where we lived!!…. So we could order room service, watch cartoons in bed and use the swimming pool like the two little water babies we were – and still are! We felt like lottery winners!! I now have a deeper understanding of the very real need my mum must have had for a change of scene and to mementarily simplify life with two small children. I’m so lucky that I have been able to travel in my adult life and dreamed of doing that with my new little family in tow… but with Covid lockdowns and learning how to keep my little one safe with multiple food allergies, it was something that started to feel so out of reach… then I remembered my Mum packing us up in the car for our ‘mini-adventure’ and I thought… I can do this! Like a little homing pigeon, I drove us all back to my home town. We packed a car full of safe foods and asked the hotel to empty the mini-bar to keep our food cold. We snuck in a toaster! If all else failed, there would always be tea and toast! We had hotel room picnics, swam like little fish and fed the ducks their peas and sweet corn. I feel recharged. It was a huge win for us as a family and a change was definitely a good rest! 💞