Welcome to the September 2002 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. OUR SPONSOR: WOMAN'S LIFE INSURANCE SOCIETY
III. FALL DAY TRIPS
IV. BUY "THE SINGLE PARENT TRAVEL HANDBOOK" NOW; SAVE $$$!! V. UNCOVERED - SINGLE PARENT SPECIALS
VI. TOOTING THE HORN - GLOBALBRENDA IN THE NEWS
VII. SUBSCRIBERS SPEAK UP-REQUESTS, INQUIRIES, COMMENTS

I. GLOBAL BRENDA'S MESSAGE

As we approach the fall season, and kids head back to school, we thought it appropriate to feature day trips as our theme for our autumn newsletters, rather than one-week vacation destinations. We hope you find our suggestions useful, as well as enjoyable. As always, we welcome reader feedback especially any new and different ideas that you may have for a fall family day trip.

My book, "The Single Parent Travel Handbook," has been fully edited, typeset, and is now on its way to the printer. The printed book should be in our hands by the end of October. My daughter and I have been promoting (and selling!) the book on a daily basis - on the Internet, on the bus ride to work, at the coffee shop, and even while waiting for the elevator.

Until October 15, we are offering copies of "The Single Parent Travel Handbook" at a special pre-sale price of $11.67 for our readers. That is 35% off the $17.95 cover price! It makes a great Christmas present for yourself as well as all your family-oriented friends. See details below in the newsletter or on our Web site http://www.singleparenttravel.net/book/index.htm.

Happy Travels,

Brenda Elwell

II. OUR SPONSOR: WOMAN'S LIFE INSURANCE SOCIETY
(Paid advertisement)

Since 1892, the mission of Woman's Life Insurance Society is to help support women and those who depend on them. Today, Woman's Life is one of the most financially sound insurance organizations in North America. Woman's Life provides affordable family life insurance protection and annuity products. Call us for an insurance quote and we will send you a free magazine subscription and our Travel Safe brochure. Learn more about the benefits of membership including scholarships. Contact Sheryl Lord, General Agent at skimlord@worldnet.att.net or (914) 375-0017 to learn more. Woman's Life Insurance Society(R), 1338 Military Street, Port Huron, MI 48060. http://www.womanslifeins.com.

Previous sponsors: http://www.singleparenttravel.net/ads/Sponsors.htm

Founder's Note: Time and time again I have been told by financial advisors that woman are traditionally underinsured. As a single parent, you bear an added responsibility of seeing not only to your financial needs, but often to those of your children as well. If you do not have insurance, take the time to do some research on this important topic and make your first stop Woman's Life Insurance Society.

III. BUY "THE SINGLE PARENT TRAVEL HANDBOOK" NOW; SAVE $$$!!

Until October 15, you can still buy "The Single Parent Travel Handbook" at a pre-publishing discount of 35% of the cover price, or $11.67. The book will retail for $17.95. Why the discount?

Two reasons:
* You are purchasing the book directly from us. (No middleman distributor).
* Book pre-purchases enable us to gauge how quickly our first edition will sell.That information is valuable so we encourage the pre-sales by offering a substantial discount.

This price is a limited offer; we urge you to buy your copy quickly. "The Single Parent Travel Handbook" will be printed in October and in your hands by November. Why not order some extra copies as Christmas gifts for family and friends? The book is a comprehensive start-to-finish guidebook to travel for non-traditional families that is both informative and entertaining. It appeals to both the novice as well as the savvy traveler.

HOW TO PURCHASE THE BOOK

WHAT IS THE BOOK ABOUT

IV. DAY TRIPS

Here are five family day trip ideas to get you started on fall fun. Check out your local newspapers for more ideas in your area.

#1 - Corn Mazes
My kids and I have been doing these for years. Each of us brings along a few friends, thus adding to the excitement. For corn maze novices, a commercial corn maze takes about an hour to navigate. Large crowds can divide into teams and, if you get lost, there is usually a helper or two located on a high deck above the maze. Admission fees run about $5 and up. Group rates are often available. Oh, and yes, there are outdoor spot-a-pots as well. Bring water and a camera into the maze. You will need both. To get you started here are some informative Web sites with corn maze locations throughout the U.S. as well as a few in Canada. http://cornmazes.com/ http://www.cornfieldmaze.com/ http://www.roanokecornmaze.com/ (Indiana only)

#2 - Apple Picking & Farm Festivals
Picking apples every fall is a family tradition with us. It's fun, it's a healthy food, and apples picked fresh from the tree stay crisp for 2-3 weeks if refrigerated. Remember to bring your camera; apple orchards are very photogenic places. Check your local newspaper for pick-your-own apple orchards or do a Web search. Try www.google.com or other search engines. Some helpful search phrases are: "apple picking New York" or "apple picking Hudson valley. I can personally recommend two orchards in New Jersey that have excellent Web sites: http://www.johnsonsfarm.com/pages/groupfarmtours.html (South Jersey) http://www.terhuneorchards.com/ (Central Jersey)
I also recommend Conti Farms in South Jersey but I could not find a Web site for them.

#3-Animal Parks & Zoos
The summer heat is gone and the animals are more active. What better place for an outing with your kids? Here are a couple of Web sites with national listings of the more prominent U.S. animal parks:

http://w3.gorge.net/cannon/zoo.html http://family.go.com/travel/activities/feature/famf0700best/famf0700be st.html
And for our readers in the UK: http://www.uksafari.com/animalparks/

#4-Amusement Parks
The crowds have gone, the waiting lines are short or non-existent, and often, the prices are reduced for the fall. If you live near a major theme park or even a small "down home" amusement park, this is a fine time to be a kid for a day with your children. Some Six Flags parks offer both an animal park and an amusement park, making a great combination fun day.

International Association of Amusement Parks http://www.iaapa.org/
http://users.stargate.net/~rollocst/amuse.html
http://www.SixFlags.com
http://themeparks.about.com/

#5- Renaissance Fairs
Although all the suggestions mentioned in this newsletter are great for kids of all ages, Renaissance Fairs are particularly fun for teen-agers. They are all day events and include activities such as brief presentations from a Shakespeare play and medieval jousting contests (employees only). The "actors" stroll about in period costume, frequently including passer-bys in their raucous activities. You can try your skill at the medieval slingshot or crossbow. Admission discounts are often awarded to those who arrive in costume. For a worldwide listing of Renaissance Fairs check out this Web site: http://www.faires.com/choices.htm

V. UNCOVERED - 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 book any of the specials below.

SP Special #1 - Euro Camp

EuroCamp offers a reduction of £65.00 for single parent families staying at one of their camps. Their camps are located all over Europe and according to Tilly at EuroCamp you can either fly and then drive to the camp or drive and then ferry there. The organization offers a fun station club providing activities geared toward a specific set of ages. They also offer Activity Plus, a new service for parents and families to join in together with activities such as go karting, visits to theme parks, quiz nights and quad biking. (Activity Plus is available at select camps in France.) The base price for a 14-day trip starts at £275.00 for tent accommodations and £449.00 for a holiday home. Children up to the age of 18 go free.

They are currently running a special: new customers who book before the end of October for the early season (May, June and early July) will receive a 10% discount. For more information contact + (0) 870 3667 558 or http://www.eurocamp.co.uk

SP Special #2 - Mark Warner

Mark Warner Offers a fall/spring special for single parents. For the low season May, June, September and October (so you can still take advantage of it the month and next) one full paying adult will get the child share price for their trips. For example, for September 25, their club, Lakitira Village, in Kos, Greece costs £587 per adult and £352 per child (instead of £499.) That price includes round trip flights from London Gatwick, transfers to hotel, seven nights accommodation, all meals and childcare. Childcare is available for those aged 4 months to 17 years for its summer programs.

Mark Warner also has skiing programs during the winter season, although it does not offer any deals for single parents. Child care for its ski programs are for those kids aged 4 months to 12 years and includes breakfasts and ski lessons. During this time adults can choose to ski by themselves or enter into 'ski hosting' groups to meet other adults.

Liz, from Mark Warner, was quick to point out that all its programs are designed flexibly for families to spend some time together, apart or any way they chose. One compelling feature of their tours is that single parent families can request that the maitre d' seat them with other single parent families during meals. Contact Mark Warner at [44] (0) 870-770-4222, www.markwarner.co.uk or your high street travel agent.

SP Special # 3 - Jewish Y of NJ Summer Camps

Unfortunately, we didn't find out about the Jewish Y until after summer, but at least we can mention it now so you can think about it for next year. The Jewish Y of NJ offers a single parent retreat in the Poconos twice during the summer. This past summer their prices were $140 per adult and $120 per child. The camp offers adults activities such as softball, yoga, tennis lessons, aquatics and discussion groups while your children participate in morning camp programs. In the afternoon, family oriented activities that promote bonding, such as challenge course events, scavenger hunts and talent shows, are organized. Babysitting services are provided at no additional cost in the evening so parents can schmooze in a non-threatening environment. If your child is under 5 years old you may bring a babysitter for FREE! Call Carrie Belinfante at (973) 575-3333 x127 or visit their Web site http://njycamps.org/families/html/single_parent.html for more information.

SP Special #4 - Club Getaway CORRECTION

On of our readers, L.O., pointed out that Club Getaway is nowhere near Philadelphia. It is in Connecticut, not too far from Danbury. As such, I decided to rerun this special below.

Although all their weekends are sold out this year, I still wanted to tell you about Club getaway for next year. In the summer of 2003, they plan on scheduling three family weekends. These weekends are advertised as single parent weekends, but Elaine at Club Getaway told me that they attract double parents, grandparents and other sorts of families. Club Getaway is an all-inclusive resort in the Berkshires in Kent, CT. Elaine explained to me that they charger per-adult and per-child, so you don't get slapped with the single supplement. Their brochures come out in August and she recommends booking at least a month in advance. Their Web site is http://www.ClubGetaway.com. Book through your local travel agent or call 800-6 GETAWAY. The single parent specials have become a collaborative effort. If you find any special that meets our criteria (see http://www.SingleParentTravel.net/Specials/suppliers.htm), then please let us know. We will research it and list it as a special. Also, if you have a recommendation for a place (even if it doesn't fit the criteria), we'll list your feedback in our comments section.

VI. TOOTING THE HORN - GLOBALBRENDA IN THE NEWS

Parenting Magazine just interviewed us about the documentation needed to leave the country with a minor. You can see the article on page 245 in the September 2002 edition (bright red cover). To find out more information about this topic, read the Documentation section on our Web site http://www.SingleParentTravel.net/Writing/Documentation/index.htm

Our French readers will be interested to find a mention of our site in Largeur.com Latitudes section. The article is entitled "Familles monoparentales, on vous néglige" and can be found at http://largeur.com/expArt.asp?artID=1136 . Merci, Largeur.com!!s

VII. SUBSCRIBERS SPEAK UP-REQUESTS, INQUIRIES, COMMENTS

L.B. writes, "I'm living in the Raleigh, NC area. I'm planning a trip to Disneyworld OCT, 2002 and was wondering if any other single parent would like to go in with me, then the kids could do free. I have a 5-year-old boy and am looking at Oct 10-16 time frame. Would love to have a second adult with one child to enjoy the parks. Please e-mail me at trex804@aol.com. One of our readers, B.A. asked if we had a schedule of single parent weekends worked up. We thought that was such a great idea, we are going to create one!! Look for it this January/February as resorts send us their summer schedules.