Welcome to the January 2004 edition of SINGLE PARENT TRAVEL e-zines - a continuing series of monthly newsletters created for the community of single adults who travel alone with kids.

In this issue:

I. GLOBAL BRENDA'S MESSAGE II. SINGLE PARENT TOURS
III. TRAVEL SURVIVAL KITS - YESTERDAY AND TODAY
IV. MEETING SINGLE PARENT FAMILIES
V. UNCOVERED ­ SINGLE PARENT TRAVEL SPECIALS
VI. SUBSCRIBERS SPEAK UP-REQUESTS, INQUIRIES, COMMENTS

I. GLOBAL BRENDA'S MESSAGE

Dear Readers,

Happy New Year everyone! I hope your holiday was as warm and wonderful as ours. I also wish everyone a healthy, happy and prosperous 2004.

On Wednesday, January 7th (TOMORROW NIGHT), I will do a book signing at Barnes & Noble Bookstore in Paramus, New Jersey. The time is 7:30pm and the address is 765 Route 17 in Paramus. The local store phone number is 201-445-4589. I invite everyone in the area to stop by and visit during the book signing. If you attend the seminar you are eligible to sign up for a free single parent family trip to any one of the Beaches properties. (Book purchase not required to enter the contest). Please stop by!

On Friday, January 9th (my birthday) I leave for a long weekend to Prague, in the Czech Republic, one of the loveliest cities in Europe, often used as a movie backdrop. I found a special package - $399 - air, hotel and sightseeing, on the Frommers.com newsletter, a great place to find travel bargains. My travel companion will be my best friend of 25 years. Look for my write-up on Prague in my February newsletter. For those of you who email me after January 8 please note that my usual speedy response may take a few days, as I will be away.

Lastly, we have several new announcements under Single Parent Tours (see Section II below), including our March trip to Estes Park, Colorado, which we are quite excited about. The weekend includes snowshoeing, wildlife viewing, and a Saturday night family pizza party at a bowling alley. See details below.

Happy Travels! GlobalBrenda

II.SINGLE PARENT TOURS

We are pleased to announce a weekend trip to ESTES PARK, COLORADO, March 19-21, 2004. Try your hand (or foot) at snowshoeing, view the wildlife of Rocky Mountain National Park, and join us for a pizza party at a bowling alley. For details on prices, activities, and inclusive features, click on: http://www.SingleParentTours.com/tours/Estes.htm or call Renee or Janet at 877-GOGO-SPT. This trip was created at the request of the single parent families in the Denver area and we expect it to sell out! It is an all-inclusive weekend at a very moderate price.

SOLVANG, CALIFORNIA - February 20-22, 2004 We have several families booked for this weekend. Join us in this quaint Danish village for a family fun weekend including tickets to the Flying Leap Storyteller festival, a naturalist-guided lake cruise, and a relaxing poolside family Bar-B-Q.dinner. Make your reservations now! For details on prices, activities, and inclusive features, click on: http://www.singleparenttours.com/tours/Solvang.htm or call Renee or Janet at 877-GOGO-SPT.

MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA - January 16-18, 2004 We regret to say that we have cancelled the Monterey weekend due to low participation. Tour participants have chosen to move their deposit over to the Solvang weekend.

This is our first season of getaway weekends for Single Parent Tours and we are still undergoing a learning curve. One of the lessons learned is that we cannot schedule weekend getaways that are several weeks before or after the Christmas holidays. They do not fit into the family budget at that time.

WASHINGTON D.C.- April 2-4, 2004 The Washington D.C. weekend has been moved to a new date in early April rather than late March, The new date should provide better weather. This is the heart of the cherry blossom season so our nation's capital should be at its prettiest. The weekend will include tickets to an IMAX presentation at the Aerospace Museum, the nation's most popular museum, as well as tickets to the exciting new Spy Museum. Once supplier contracts are finalized, we will post the weekend to our tour Web site. Look for an email announcement later this month announcing that we are open for reservations.

Thank you to everyone that responded on the Washington D.C. versus Annapolis survey. The vote was close but D.C. won out. Next year we will consider offering a spring weekend to Annapolis.

BOSTON or VERMONT - May 2004 Calling all readers in the New England area!!! We are currently researching a New England weekend for May. For those of you interested in participating in this weekend, please email me by January 20 and tell me if you would prefer a weekend in the city of Boston or a weekend in a family resort hotel in northern Vermont. My email is Brenda@SingleParentTravel.net.

BEACHES BOSCOBEL, JAMAICA - AUGUST 2004 Renee and Janet have received a number of inquiries about our Beaches trip this summer. Based on your feedback, we selected the last week in August again. Beaches has promised to give us prices sometime in January, so we should have an announcement about this trip shortly. Stay tuned to the newsletter for this and other upcoming summer tour announcements.

Happy Travels! GlobalBrenda

III. TRAVEL SURVIVAL KITS - YESTERDAY AND TODAY

Did you ever think what it was like to be a traveler in the mid 1800's? Travel survival kits of yesteryear were certainly a lot different than they are today. As single moms and dads, we sometimes heave a series of sighs as we pack the accoutrements for ourselves and our young child or children in readiness for a road or airplane trip. Thanks to technology, travelers today have a far easier and more comfortable travel experience. To appreciate this, I did a little research on travel history. Let's take a peek back in time.

A century and a half ago, both men and women wore more hats or other head covers, as much for protection from the weather as for fashion. Women carried parasols (for sun protection) and fans to keep cool (no air conditioning). People didn't have as many clothes and there were not low-priced Wal-Mart's on every corner, so a needle and thread were essential for repairs. A traveler's survival kit also included candles and bar soap. With no TV or computers, people read more, which meant they traveled with a book. They also wrote letters, so they carried nib pens and a bottle of ink. (Fountain pens were invented in the second part of the 19th century but it took some time before they were widely used).

Regardless of the type of trip, there were no frequent fast food restaurants along the way so folks brought with them dried foods, such as cornmeal (to make mush) and dried meat--your good-ol' beef jerky. They might also have included a pot and a cup in their survival kit.

Very importantly, there were concerns about safety and security. All travelers, men and women, carried with them some type of weapon, usually a travel-sized Derringer pistol. Easily concealed, these single-shot pistols fit inside a woman's purse or a man's pocket.

All throughout the history of humankind, people have worked diligently to alter their consciousness by changing their body chemistry--simply put, people get high. We can assume that the" fear of the unknown" element of travel triggered the same feelings of hypochondria or at least concern for one's health for the 19th century traveler as is the case today. The convenience of the 19th century patent medicines was that one sip did it all.

According to Barbara Floyd, University Archivist at the University of Toledo (Ohio, not Spain) the most successful patent medicine of the 19th century was Lydia Pinkham's Vegetable Compound. Among other things, Lydia's compound would "cure the ills of suffering women." It also made them high as a kite as it was 20% alcohol and the rest vegetable extracts. Of course, the booze component did not appear on the label. These patent medicines were secret concoctions protected by, well, patents, of course. Since you ordered them from Sears and Roebuck, and not from your local PCP, they were more quackery than medicine. Other remedies that the 19th century traveler might have carefully packed to help her make it through the trip were laced with cocaine, caffeine, opium, or morphine. People also carried booze. Whereas today we can fill an iced-down cooler with Budweisers, back then it was the flask of liquor. Lastly, for those who liked tobacco but considered smoking it to be too crude, they brought with them snuff bottles from which they inhaled tobacco in its powdered form.

Well, readers, I hope you enjoyed our journey back in time. If you would like information on today's travel survival kits, check out our Web page on packing lists: http://www.SingleParentTravel.net/Writing/Pack/index.htm

Happy Travels! GlobalBrenda

IV. MEETING OTHER SINGLE PARENT FAMILIES

KellyInMaine writes about how she is a Single mom of 3, ages 12 14 15, traveling to Cancun. See her posting and reply at: http://pub15.ezboard.com/fsingleparenttravelfrm1.showMessage? topicID=42.topic

forsoso writes, "I am planning a trip to Paris in February, possibly March with my daughter. Would like to know if anyone has been or is interested." Reply to this single parent at: http://pub15.ezboard.com/fsingleparenttravelfrm1.showMessageRange? topicID=1.topic&start=41&stop=58

To see all the bulletin boards on the Single Parent Travel Network, click here: http://www.singleparenttravel.net/BBoards/index.htm

Please note that this bulletin board service is provided free of charge to our readers. The Single Parent Travel Network does not monitor postings or have any knowledge of the exact nature of the individuals doing the posting. BEFORE communicating with anyone on the bulletin board, please take precautions to protect you and your family. Also, please note that if you post your email address on the bulletin board, there is a likelihood that it will be harvested by spammers. Thank you.

V. UNCOVERED ­ SINGLE PARENT TRAVEL SPECIALS

Single Parent Travel Special #1 - Single Parent Tours goes to Estes Park, Colorado, March 19-21, 2004

Single Parent Tours has just announced a single parent family weekend getaway to Estes Park, CO on March 19-21. Estes Park is located just outside Rocky Mountain National Park and March is the BEST time to view wildlife. In fact, you can see a photo of elk in the front yard of the hotel where our group will be staying: http://www.SingleParentTours.com/tours/Estes.htm . Bring your camera!

The weekend includes two nights accommodations at the Inn at Estes Park, which has one of the largest indoor pools in Estes; all meals; snowshoeing; a haunted tour of the Stanley Hotel, which was the inspiration for the movie, "The Shining"; and a pizza party at the local hometown bowling alley. (The bowling alley has a nice sized bar for the adults.) All this and the company of many other single parent families for the price of $428 for one adult and one child, plus tax and gratuities.

To see more details and pricing, click on our Web site, http://www.SingleParentTours.com or call Renee or Janet at 877-GOGO- SPT. We hope to see you there!

Single Parent Special #2 ­ Single Parents Day, Mar. 21 Columbus, Ohio

March 21 is Single Parents Day. A Cup of Joy has planned an event celebrating Single Parents. The event will be held in Columbus March 19-21, 2004 at the Columbus Marriott North. There will be workshops, speakers and pampering, free time for the pool or hot tub. All planned with single parents in mind.

For more information please visit http://www.acupofjoy.org or call Sheryl Fenderson at 614-847-0276.

Single Parent Travel Special #3 ­ CORRECTION Last month, we listed the Norwegian cruise that Amanda Herring was organizing for single parent families leaving Houston, TX on July 3. The correct pricing is $1,753.72 for one adult and one child and $2,130.58 for one adult and two children. Please contact Amanda at 866-771-8608.

VI. SUBSCRIBERS SPEAK UP-REQUESTS, INQUIRIES, COMMENTS

Q: "What are the requirements of traveling with children of divorced parents to the Bahamas?" - S.W.

GLOBALBRENDA'S ANSWER: Glad you aim to be prepared, please see our documentation section at: http://www.SingleParentTravel.net/Writing/Documentation/

Q: "I am taking my two daughters for Spring break to a sun destination - they are 13 and 16. Can you recommend a nice resort where I will not be as usual the odd woman out=!" - M.R. GLOBALBRENDA"S ANSWER: I can make no guarantees about not being the odd woman out. There are no hotels that specifically cater to single parent families, which is why I created Single Parent Tours. However I do have 3 suggestions:

1) Beaches Boscobel in Jamaica offers single parent weeks May through September. Perhaps during spring break there may be some single parents booking or you can join Single Parent Tours when we go down as a group at the end of August. (Stay tuned to the newsletter for pricing information.)

2) The Maya Riviera is a wonderful place for single parent families. See my write-up on my Web site. http://www.singleparenttravel.net/Writing/mayariviera.htm There is a much better write-up in my book, "The Single Parent Travel Handbook."

3) Lastly check out our single parent specials on our Web site under the Single Parent Specials Section which includes warm weather destinations: http://www.singleparenttravel.net/Specials/index.htm

Q: I am writing to ask if you know anywhere that would be easy for my son and I to go right after Christmas? I just found out I can get away but don't have time to do a lot of investigation or planning. Do you have any ideas or recommend anyone that can plan for us?

GLOBALBRENDA'S ANSWER: I presume you live in East Texas since you referred to the San Antonio trip. I have a several suggestions for you:

1) Why not drive across the state and visit Big Bend National Park? You can stop along the way and visit San Antonio for just a day. Cheap hotel accommodations should be available outside the city or at the airport. Besides Big Bend, you have Guadalupe National Park and Carlsbad Caverns in the northwest corner of the state. I vacationed in those 2 areas last year over the New Year's holiday week and had a wonderful time. I wrote about it in my Feb 2003 newsletter. Here is the article: http://www.singleparenttravel.net/Writing/BigBend.htm

2) How about New Orleans? I believe that is a day's drive from your area. New Orleans really gets into the Christmas celebration but it is not crowded with tourists. The convention season is over and the locals come out to play. You might get some good hotel rates. From there you can drive east to the "Redneck Riviera" (Pensacola, Florida) for some beach time.

3) If you want someone to do the planning or book you into an air package somewhere, you can call one of the travel agents listed in my book that specialize in single parent travel or call SingleParent Tours booking agent at 800-GOGO SPT. Ask for Janet or Renee and tell them I sent you.

Q: J.L had some great travel ideas for single parent families: "A summer idea for Michigan might be Mackinac Island.... possibly the Mission Point Resort. It is a resort island without cars and lots of space to ride bikes, play croquet, etc."

J.L. also had this comment about the Single Parent Tours trips: ".wish you did reserve a van for the trips I have seen. If everyone is going to the same place it seems silly to drive separately."

GlobalBrenda: A few others had mentioned this as well. We looked in to hiring a bus or van and driver for the weekend, but that would usually increase the price by $100 to $200 per family. Knowing that single parents tend to be cost conscious and knowing that our trips are designed for families within a two to four hours drive of the destination, we felt that some families would not want to drive to a meet up point and pay the extra amount.

Q: "I am a single parent living in the UK and am planning to visit friends in Toronto during the summer. As a single parent, such an adventure feels much less frightening knowing that I will be staying with friends. However, I feel that to stay with them for more than a week would be pushing my luck and I am trying to sort out a further week's holiday for just me and my two children. I was born in Canada but have not been there since my early childhood. I would like to find some sort of a package holiday which would provide me with some sort of support whilst on holiday but only seem to be able to find holidays with flights from England. I will be flying out to Toronto using just a direct flight deal. Can you pass on any Web sites that might help me find a holiday to go to from Toronto? I've had no luck using search engines on the Internet. In other words, where do single parents in Ontario go for their local holidays?

GLOBALBRENDA'S ANSWER: I would give a call to Air Canada. They may have a tour dept that can offer you something out of Toronto.

I also write about traveling independently to Niagara Falls and upstate New York on my Web site. Here is the page: http://www.singleparenttravel.net/Writing/NiagaraFalls.htm

Also you can email the Canadian tourism bureau for the Ontario area. Here is the contact info: http://www.towd.com/search.php Perhaps they have a listing in the UK.

Q: I am a single parent trying to come up with an educational yet fun vacation this summer (July 11 through July 23) for me and both of my children. I have two boys, ages 10 and 1. I thought about Arizona, but I think it would be too hot for the baby. He'll be about 20 months by then. I also need a vacation relatively inexpensive. Any suggestions? I live in California and would like to go somewhere out of state. - S.M.

GLOBAL BRENDA'S ANSWER: I have 3 suggestions, all of which can be a moderately priced vacation: 1) Northern Arizona (not too hot in the summer for the baby. Because of the climate above the Mogollon Rim, the temperatures usually do not go over the low 80's. 2) Southern Utah. Some of the national parks, such as Zion and Bryce, that are at higher elevations, do not get extremely hot in summer. 3) The Oregon Coast. Utterly scenic and weather-wise, quite pleasant.