Welcome to the June 2002 edition of SINGLE PARENT TRAVEL e-zines - a continuing series of monthly newsletters created for the community of single parents (and other non-traditional families) who travel with their kids.

In this issue:
I. OUR SPONSOR: -THE WORLD OUTDOORS
II. LOS ANGELES - FROM TACKY TO TRENDY
III. BY POPULAR DEMAND - NIAGARA FALLS
IV. UNCOVERED - SINGLE PARENT SPECIALS
V. GLOBAL BRENDA IN THE NEWS
VI. WEB SITES YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT
VII. SUBSCRIBERS SPEAK UP-REQUESTS, INQUIRIES, COMMENTS

By June 30th I will have finished writing my book, " The Single Parent Travel Handbook, " after which it will be submitted for professional editing, a month long process, I am told. My book will be self-published in the fall under a newly created company called GlobalBrenda Publishing. Self-publishing carries certain advantages for a new author, two of which are control of content and speed of publishing. Thank you to all of you who wrote in with suggestions about the subtitle and the celebrity forward. We recently hired a graphic designer to create a new company logo and cover art for the book. Next month is my photo shoot. I have been diligently hitting the gym three times a week in preparation for that event!

This month, we have decided to have a MEMBER DRIVE. What is a member drive? Instead of asking for money, we are asking for friends! Get out your electronic address books and forward this newsletter to at least THREE friends. If we have helped you by answering a question or giving you tips and travel advice, this is your chance to help us. The more subscribers we have to this newsletter, the longer we will be able to keep it up free of charge. Our goal is to increase by 200 subscribers by the July newsletter.

Lastly, our apologies for the changes to our newsletter recently instituted by Yahoo Groups - adding nasty annoying big ads, truncating emails, etc. We hope to change to a paid provider by next month, which is the reason for the member drive. As the subscriber membership increases, we are able to charge sponsors enough to defray or completely cover the costs of the newsletter.

Happy Travels,

Brenda Elwell

I. OUR SPONSOR: THE WORLD OUTDOORS
(Paid advertisement)

Family Adventures Hotdogs and grilled salmon. Day hikes and afternoon naps. Natural history and ghost stories. Time with the kids and private time for yourself. Whatever your different needs are as a family, The World Outdoors has an adventure for you. Meticulously planned with plenty of flexibility and fun, our exclusive family departures feature exciting options suitable for all ages. And you can take comfort that your guides are equipped with a mixed bag of age-appropriate tricks, and your family's safety is their utmost concern. Discounts available. FREE Brochure: 800-488-8483, http://www.TheWorldOutdoors.com

Founder's Note: The World Outdoors' Web site is dripping with the spectacular scenery of their trips. Brian, the director, was a latch key kid and therefore has first hand experience of the needs of single parent families. In addition to offering small groups and local guides, the World Outdoors gives special attention to single parent needs in all of their family trips. Call them up and request a free brochure. When you do, please tell them Single Parent Travel.net sent you!

II. LOS ANGELES- FROM TACKY TO TRENDY

My last business trip to downtown Los Angeles and the Hollywood area was about ten years ago. I left with the impression that the pimps and prostitutes and tacky retail stores had become permanent fixtures. Last February, as a guest of the Educational Travel Conference, I visited Los Angeles as a featured speaker on Family Travel. To my surprise and delight, I found the downtown and Hollywood areas to be clean, safe and quite lively, not with pimps, but with trendy stores and restaurants. Redline Tours took us on an interesting walking/Metro tour. Yes, Los Angeles has a fledgling Metro system now! Check out the Web site: http://www.metrolinktrains.com/.

The Hollywood and Vine train station has musical notes on the railings and old time movie cameras in the landing areas. The trains operate on an honor system and it seems to work. The plush movie theatres have been restored to their former glory, at the cost of millions, including the Disney-owned theatre, which featured "The Lion King" at the time of my visit. Even the historic old Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel has been spruced up. Across the street from the hotel is the famous Mann's Chinese Theatre. Did you know that the concrete blocks are removable? When a celebrity slips down the rungs of stardom, his or her block is unceremoniously moved toward the rear of the courtyard. Redline Tours did a great job. The guides spout a running commentary of trivia and interesting facts, especially for a lifelong celebrity-struck movie buff like me.

Chinatown is another area that is working hard to entice the tourists to visit. We had a very authentic dim sum lunch at one of the local restaurants. We also checked out the herbal medicine stores. Free consultations by an herbalist are available.

One of the outstanding family attractions we visited was the Autry Museum of Western Heritage. Don't let the title fool you. This is not some ordinary cowboy museum; rather it is a stunning array of interactive displays that are fun and educational at the same time. Check out their schedule of special programs. Their Web site address is: http://www.autry-museum.org.

III. BY POPULAR DEMAND - NIAGARA FALLS

This month we received an unusual number of requests for information on Niagara Falls so we are providing information about Niagara below. The text is an excerpt from my forthcoming book, "The Single Parent Travel Handbook." Niagara is a great fun family vacation whether your kids are tots or teens. Enjoy the read!

"Oh, I can hear it now. "Niagara Falls? You gotta be kidding! That's sooo commercial and full of tourists." Think about that statement for a moment. Why would a place always be full of tourists unless it had something very special to offer? What makes Niagara Falls so special is not merely the falls, but the fact that you can get so up close and personal with the falls in so many different ways. Before I was married, I traveled throughout Europe and South America. Every time I would visit some spectacular array of falls on these continents, the brochure would compare them to Niagara Falls - twice as high, three times as wide, four times as much water. No matter what was said, the comparison was always with Niagara. After I became a single parent, I decided I would visit the Mother Lode. Our trip turned out to be fun, lots of fun."

To continue the article click on http://www.singleparenttravel.net/Writing/NiagaraFalls.htm

IV. UNCOVERED - TWO SINGLE PARENT SPECIALS

Once again, we have found specials that don't discriminate against the single parent family. You may contact your travel agent to help you book any of the specials below.

SP Special #1 - The Franklyn D. Resort and FDR Pebbles, Jamaica

Both these resorts are beachfront all-inclusive Family Properties in Jamaica. Each family is assigned a Vacation Nanny who will care for the kids (feed, bathe, play with them, etc.) from 9:00a.m. - 4:40p.m.daily. Baby sitting is available after hours at US$4.00 an hour. Each property has a children's mini club with supervised activities. All meals, drinks, non-motorized water sports and scuba diving with equipment and instructions are available. Also included are off property tours, live nightly entertainment, airport transfers, hotel taxes, etc. Best of all, up to two kids under 16 are free of charge.

From June 15th to December 19th 2002, both resorts have waived their Single Supplements, so all their promotions apply to Single Parents. For example, FDR Pebbles has a Special Summer Rate that can be booked by a Single Parent for US$145 per night, which includes two children under 16 free. Reservations can be made through your local travel agent or by calling 1-800-654-1FDR. More detail on the properties can be found at http://www.fdrfamily.com.

SP Special # 2 - Jamie Carson-Velasquez's Canadian owned B&B in Holguin, Cuba

Quote from the owner: "My B&B's room rates are a ridiculously low $US 20 a night." (That is per NIGHT, not per PERSON.) "We are 15 minutes from the airport, close to shopping, and less than a 5 minute walk to a charming children's park with merry-go-rounds, pony rides, etc. (We encourage parents to have their kids treat Cuban kids to these amusements as the cost is next to nothing. We also encourage parents to take their kids to a Cuban school to drop off pens, papers, etc. It's a very good educational and memorable experience)." Please see Jamie's Web site http://www.devoted.to/holguin or contact him at Jamie.Carson@statcan.ca"

"You need only book an air only charter to Holguin (via Toronto, Montreal, Nassau, or Cancun, among others), which currently sell for $250 US return or so. Also of note is that we're a top listing in the newly-released Lonely Planet Cycling Guide to Cuba."

Special note to U. S. Citizens: Our government has made it illegal for an American Citizen to spend money in Cuba and the way the law is written is that you are guilty until proven innocent. That is not to say that - ahem - some of us haven't gone there. We suggest you do some research on the legal ramifications of going there. Until then our Canadian, British, Australian brethren (and probably every other citizen of this world) has the freedom to travel to Cuba that American citizens only talk about.

V. GLOBAL BRENDA IN THE NEWS

New York Times, Sunday Travel Section One Sunday in June, the New York Times Practical Traveler Column will have a piece on Single Parent Travel. The journalist, Martha Olson, really did her homework. She read our site from top to bottom and then prepared a series of questions for me. We can't wait to see the article and are thrilled by this type of exposure.

Travel Smart with Jackie Wolfer This weekend, Saturday, June 15 at 10:00am EST, 7:00 PST, I will be the guest of Travel Smart hosted by Jackie Wolfer. The show can be reached live via the Internet at http://www.TalkAmerica.com or via radio in Portland, OR on "The Money Station" AM 1410 / KBNP 7:00PST

VI. WEB SITES YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT

* ParentingForOne.com
One Heart, Twice as Much Love...
Parenting For One is a free online magazine devoted to single parents everywhere! With activities, money saving tips, and advice from our resident expert Catherine S. Cain, Ph.D., Parenting For One informs, educates, and inspires single parents. After all, single parenting doesn't have to mean parenting alone! http://www.parentingforone.com

* Elliott.org
Elliott.org provides irreverent news and commentary from Internet travel columnist Christopher Elliott. It features columns that help you save money when you travel by air, land or sea. These aren't ordinary tips you'd find in your Sunday newspaper travel section. They tend to be rather controversial and therefore, don't show up on the mainstream media. http://www.Elliott.org

VII. SUBSCRIBERS SPEAK UP-REQUESTS, INQUIRIES, COMMENTS
P.H. writes, "My sister is a single parent travelling from England (she is British as am I) and will arrive with her 4 year old daughter in July (she is 36). She will stay with myself and my family for a week and then intends to have a week's vacation on her own with her daughter. If she were in the UK she could find a water sports oriented resort that offered half and full day care for her daughter. They even have listening care devices so that she can dine at a preorganised table with other single parents she may be meeting for the first time! She is looking for anything remotely similar here in Northern or Southern California. Can you give me some advice?" This request stumped us. Any sort of resort that caters to the single parent is hard to come by in the U.S. If you know of any, please contact P.H. directly at PDHeyworth@aol.com and copy me at brenda@singleparenttravel.net.

In our last two newsletters, we have maintained that a notarized letter is often required to ENTER the country, but not to LEAVE a country. One of our readers had a different experience LEAVING the UK. A.C. writes, "I'm American and my passport-holding American son and I were trying to get back to his father (at the time my husband) from vacation, and I was hassled for not having a letter from him. I was told technically they could hold me there until they got needed evidence of who I was and where daddy was, but after some talking we got through, mostly, I was told, because I was going home and not leaving home. Had I, on the other hand, run into this woman whilst traveling to England, I might have missed my flight and been held back for questioning or whatever."

Thank you A.C. for the feedback. It just reinforces our statement to err on the side of over documentation.