Single parent holidays

[CherryadeLemonade]

Has anyone gone on a holiday with other single parents you don’t really know? I want to take my children on holiday but not sure I would be confident to do it alone so I just haven’t done it and probably never will (not whilst they are children anyway) a few people suggested looking online for other single parents to go on holiday with but I can’t help but feel a bit.. uncomfortable with this, I’m not sure I would want to be on a holiday with someone I didn’t know well, what if we didn’t have anything in common or our kids didn’t get on, just seems too much potential for things to go wrong and I’d hate to be trapped on holiday with someone I didn’t really know. Has anyone ever done this and do you have a good / bad experience of it? I remember my sister going on holiday with a work friend she didn’t know well but was friendly enough at work and she ignored her the whole time they were away (literally wouldnt even respond to anything she said) I wouldn’t do it personally just wondered how many people have actually done this and am I weird for not finding this appealing?

single parent or just single person I wouldn't want to go on holiday with people I didn't know! Even with people I know I'm selective about who I'd go away with - some people enjoy spending their holidays in different ways or at different speeds to how I tend to move, and don't get me started on the 3 generational family holiday from hell!!

Thanks I thought I was being uptight by the amount of people that suggested it ive seen holidays break up friendships that were years long!

oh gosh, not at all uptight! I even know couples who take separate holidays because their idea of what's a good holiday is so different.
If you wanted something to do where you might meet other adults and your child(ren) would make friends then I'd recommend something like Mark Warner or Neilsons beach club which are activity based resorts and the kids club is basically a week long activity adventure for them, but there's also plenty of things for the adults to do, or you can do together. They also have tables set at dinner to join other singe diners or folk willing to have a chat.

Do they mean finding a random single parent online or are they referring to organised group holidays, which would be like any group holidays and designed to be sociable but not too intense?

Gingerbread have good info on this, I considered it at one point (but in the end I just went on my own, it was easy with a bit of planning).

https://www.gingerbread.org.uk/find-information/family-life/going-on-holiday/

Depends on your personality to an extent. My friend went on adventurous trips with her dc and chose itineraries which were for single parents so she had adult company and crucially wasn’t the only single parent there. Not cheap mind you and not sure that company survived covid. Others choose solo holidays like cruises (especially once kids are old enough to do their own thing including being alone in the cabin) where there’s others to hang around with if wanted. A friend of mine paired up with another single mum to go on holiday last summer and they got a two bed apartment, partly money reasons

They suggested some Facebook groups to me

God sounds awful!
But I was a single parent and absolutely loved going on holiday just me and dd.
Thinking about it is a lot more stressful than actually doing it!
Could you start off slowly with a short break in the UK then work up to holiday’s abroad?

What do you feel under confident about?

No unfortunately not in a position to alone for various reasons just wondered if anyone had actually done this.

Been a lone parent for 15 years.
At one point I did consider https://singleparentsonholiday.co.uk/

But what I ended up doing in the end was using Scott Dunn for a few years who had the best kids clubs and got some downtime myself too whilst on holiday.

I think it depends on you, I have a full on job and decided I just wanted time with my DC but also time on my own. They had a blast and I got to read books in the shade for a few hours.

I think the good thing about a decent tour operator is all the things you might worry about when travelling on your own with kids is pretty much taken care of.

Interesting, I don’t think they meant an official travel group but they mentioned teaming up with another mum and suggested some Facebook groups

Honestly, I would take them on your own. When I was a single parent I took mine to Spain on my own aged 5 and 7 and we had an amazing time. I planned it all myself, chose kid-friendly activities that I enjoyed too. I let them stay up a bit late for dinner (in Spain there are loads of children in restaurants anyway) and then enjoyed a glass of wine and a good book on the balcony when they were asleep. They still talk about it now ten years later!

I’m not planning a holiday no chance of me taking them away on my own was more intrigued by the suggestion and if this is something anyone has done.

I did this a few times when dd was younger, I think we went with ‘single with kids’.

The holidays were good, I had someone to chat with and dd had other kids to play with so 🤷‍♀️

I recently went alone with DD4. Like someone else said, the thought of it was way worse than it was in reality. Everything went smoothly & she played with other kids in the pool. Would happily do it again.

I've done group holidays as a single person, and they have always been fab, I have done many of these, but your are booking an itinerary e.g. trip to Peru walking the Inca trail, and you tend to get very like minded people on these trips. I would absolutely do a family version of this with the kids. The idea of teaming up with a random other family for a holiday with no set itinerary would not be for me.

Yeah I think a travel company that arranges it and it’s organised is a bit different to finding someone online and randomly booking a holiday together

There used to be companies like explore, exodus etc that offered family group holidays. Not sure if they still exist. I did a couple as a solo traveller and they were great but they were a walking tour. They had lots of variety though and you got to meet others. I'd definitely consider a family holiday like that.

Is there a specific reason you don't feel confident, OP? Over the last ten years I've taken my 3 dc all over Europe. I've done Single with Kids Holidays, all inclusive, villas, city breaks... I've tried all sorts. It was stressful when they were tiny but I was determined they would get the holidays if I could afford it. Last year was the first year I could sit and read a book! It's been great for the kids. I think there are some UK activity centre holidays that have specific weeks for single parents. You'd have your own room and it's a large group so you wouldn't be stuck with a stranger you didn't get on with.

My children have Sen so wouldn’t manage abroad alone with them.

I saw a newly single influencer on instragram went camping to a place called Campmates the other weekend. It is solely for single parents and you can book to have the tent all set up for you. Could something like this maybe work? I've just looked on their website and they organise all inclusive trips to Spain too.

Ah I’m not into camping that would be my idea of hell personally I like a hotel!

I’ve done 2 city breaks with my child which were fantastic, but they would much rather be with other kids. I don’t think I could find a stranger online to holiday with though.

It’s completely out of my comfort zone and a week seems a really long time to spend with strangers, but I’ve booked a summer holiday with Single Parents on Holiday (as linked above) so my child has others to play with. I’m looking forward to it but I’m a bit nervous!

I used to do these. There was a really good single family holiday company, that sadly doesn't exist anymore. I used to do one week a year with them and do our own stuff on other holidays. It wasn't because I didn't like travelling as a solo adult with children, it was just that sometimes it was really nice to have other adult company in the evenings. Not everyone would be my cup of tea, but when it is only for a week, it doesn't terribly matter. Both me and the DC have really fond memories of those holidays. We did them for about 8 years.

Yeah having thought about it I couldn’t do it, just to be clear again they weren’t talking about holiday companies that arrange single parents it was joining Facebook groups and looking for a holiday “buddy” it’s not for me really and my kids have siblings so don’t need the company for them.