Book Excerpt
"The Single Parent Travel
Guidebook"
Single
mom Brenda Elwell has been crisscrossing the globe for decades with her kids
in tow. Now she's gathered the lessons she's learned and is sharing them with
the rest of us.
I. Decisions, Decisions
Where’s the best place to go?
How long should we spend there?
What should we do when we get there?
These questions, commonly asked by all travelers, are especially poignant
when asked by a single parent. A single parent, by definition, is a
working parent, and unless you happen to be Ivana Trump, your vacation budget
is limited.
- You want to spend quality time with your kids, but
not just do kid activities.
- You, as the only parent, want to plan a good time
for everyone, maybe even have a family adventure, but you don't want to spend
all your vacation time attending to all the travel details.
- You also want to get the biggest bang for your limited
buck.
How do you begin to plan your trip? Start with three
easy steps:
- Determine how much money you can comfortably afford
to spend on your vacation.
- Decide how much time your vacation should last -
one week, two weeks, a long weekend
- Start researching those destinations that interest
you. (You must have some ideas!)
Let's take an example:
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Brenda Elwell's guide, "The Single Parent Travel Handbook,"
can be ordered on her Web site, www.SingleParentTravel.net.
She also publishes a free monthly online newsletter of tips, including
transportation, accomodation and tour bargains specifically geared for single
parents.
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You are a single parent with one child, age ten. You have one week's vacation,
a budget limit of $2500, and you live in the Northeastern part of the United
States. You have done the Walt Disney World route with your child and want
to do something different for your next vacation.
You have thought about flying out West and renting a car, perhaps visiting
California or Arizona, but you are not sure you can afford it, and you don't
know where to go or what to do once you get there.
Another idea is to drive up to Montreal and Quebec but you are not sure
if your child will enjoy just visiting big cities. What do you do next?
It is now time for research and you need to get your child involved in
the process.
II. Creating an Itinerary
Why create and type up an itinerary?
Single parents that travel with their kids have different needs than double
parent families. Single parents must be twice as organized, twice as patient,
and twice as creative to have a successful and fun trip with their kids.
- Itineraries create a framework for your trip and
help you get and stay organized, before and during your trip. All confirmation
numbers, hotel directions, special instructions, can be written into your
itinerary.\
- Itineraries eliminate family arguments thus allowing
you to be more patient. The hour or two you spend typing an itinerary with
rainy day alternatives will save you hours of time and frustration during
your vacation.
In all the years I traveled as a single parent with my kids, from kindergarten
through college, we never once argued about what we were going to do that
day. We argued about a lot of other things on our trips, but never that. They
simply got up in the morning and asked "What's on the itinerary for today?"
Even though our itineraries were always flexible, and often could be changed
on a moment's notice, they took for granted that what was on paper, was what
we did that day. End of discussion.
- Itineraries save you time. By geographically planning
out and writing down our daily activities we spent more time having fun. By
pre-planning and writing down our ride sequence at theme parks, we never waited
in long lines, even at Walt Disney World in high season. "Birnbaum's
Guide to Walt Disney World" is an excellent guidebook for the most efficient
ride sequence at Disney.
- Custom-made itineraries allow you to be very creative.
You can include side trips to schools, attend local sporting events, and get
more deeply involved with the local culture.
- Itineraries make a nice memento. You can keep them
with your photo albums or videos. (Years later you may have trouble remembering
all the names of places that you visited). You can leave itineraries with
family members and envious co-workers, who will be eager to hear about your
adventures when you return.
A few, final comments on itineraries….
- If you have not done this already, make sure you
have final "buy-in" from your kids as to what you will see and do on your
trip and how long you will stay in each place. Plan on one last family
"pow wow" before you begin typing up the itinerary and making reservations.
- Keep a master copy of the itinerary in your backpack
or fanny pack, or whatever will be with you throughout the trip. Keep
additional copies in your luggage. Send copies to relatives in case of emergency.
Keep a couple of clean copies at home, which you later can add to your photo
album.
- Lastly, when all is said and done, you may still
have some doubts as to whether you planned the best possible trip for you
and your kids. Friends, family and co-workers, even your travel agent may
say things like "You should spend more time (or less time) at this place"
or "This is too fast (or too slow) a pace for children this age." or "You
really should see (this) instead of (that)." My favorite is always "Aren't
you afraid of ….. ?" When in doubt, go with your gut! There were
many times when the kids and I decided to do things our way, often against
the advice of well meaning friends and family. After all, it was our itinerary
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