Singleparenttravel.net: How Single Parents Can Take Your Children on a Vacation

If you are a single parent or know someone that is you will find it comforting that the travel industry is re-structuring the industry to also cater to one income households. You may have gone on vacation before and come back from your trip with this guilty feeling after opening the mailbox and seeing all those envelopes full of bills. Ha-ha, great news for you because I have stumbled across something that is going to brighten up your day and move you closer to taking that next vacation.

Finding this information is almost like finding a lost treasure, which I never have of course until now. After doing some extensive research when I finally found what I was looking for I instantly had that Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin, Home Alone, 1990) look on my face after I came to realize that there actually are places that cater to single parent families. Since I was unaware of this I can understand that you may not know either so I wanted to relay some useful information to you to help in planning your next vacation.

If you simply minimize your browser you can open another window and go to www.singleparenttravel.net where you will find the creator Brenda Elwell who has traveled the world with her two children for the most part on extravagant vacations to say the least. Now stop! I know what your thinking, "OK, thats great and everything but I'm not really worried about traveling around the world per say, I'm more interested in just taking a freak-in' vacation"! Which is understandable and that is why I brought you to her website. She discusses many things that involve the woes of vacationing as a single parent such as paying two adult prices, planning with one income, package deals that are setup for families, how to deal with the children with different activities, etc. etc. Even more intriguing is the tips that the website itself gives you with everything from pricing, to low budget vacations and best of all she has a book for $5 that is titledThe Single Parent Travel Handbook.

In an ongoing effort to help the travel industry understanding just how bias vacations are set up towards families or couples, Elwell has created an online survey you can actually take right on her website that she is going to deliver throughout the industry and help make this change. That alone speaks for itself in what she is trying to accomplish for everyone that is in a single parent situation. One of the brighter spots of her website is her "Tips" on helping you travel with your children on any destination. For your enjoyment I will list the first 4 tips in this article and you can find the rest on her website.

#1 Involve your children in your research and decisions. Talk to them about what you are planning to do.

#2 Try to spend a third of the time on a trip doing things you like, a third on activities your child or children like, and a third doing things you both enjoy.

#3 Plan on visiting places that each child is interested in. A school is always a good choice.

#4 Type up an itinerary for each vacation you take. This will this prevent some arguments en route about what to do each day and the extra copies are handy for future reference.

While the tips above reflect on what to do I imagine you are sitting there reading this wondering more about the "HOW" then anything else. When you visit Brenda's website you will find additional tips on how to save money while traveling and many more that will enhance your vacation experiences. I have pointed you in the right direction, its up to you to do the rest. Until Next Time........