Holiday dilema

[DeeLerious]

I am still coming to terms with being a single Mum of 2 DDs 14 and 8. Having never organised holidays on my own & the girls begging me to go abroad (Spain, Italy or Malta!!???), I would like to make the effort as my eldest won't want to go away with us for much longer, & I won't have the money to do it in future (I still have some of "our" life savings left which was agreed I'd keep by for emergencies, but this is one!!)
My dilema is that I am worried about being away with them on my own & us all getting on each others nerves! We all need SOME space & different people to meet.
I have been looking at Single parent holiday sites but they are quite expensive & a bit contrived/organised (Not a package Holiday family usually!)
Does anyone know where we can go that's not isolated, but not making us join Mini Olympics & eat apart? I DON'T WANT TO BE MADE TO BE A DONKEY,I'VE PLAYED THAT PART ALL MY LIFE! IS THAT UNREASONABLE?
All suggestions welcome!

Could you rent a cottage somewhere? there would be lots of space so you wouldn't be driving each other nuts.

It's a nice idea but the three of us are at home together all year. I don't have much family & all my friends were 'our friends' so contact with the outside world abit shakey at mo. Thought it'd be nice to be with lots of different people for a change & none of us are great icebreakers. We all like to have fun, though, just a little shy of putting ourselves forward.

Could you go on a typical package deal (Thomas Cook etc) to Spain, Italy or Malta? If you stay in a complex or hotel there is usually entertainment provided and you can join in to whatever degree you like (it really is all optional, I don't do the mini olympics thing either!). I have been on a few holidays like this (Ibiza (not the party resorts!), Menorca, France, Italy).

The holiday reps often set up a meeting on your first day to let you know about the trips available in area (sight-seeing etc) and these usually include the local water-park day trip which would probably suit your dc. They leave you alone after this if you are not interested, you don't have to sign up for anything at all if you prefer to hire a car or bikes and make your own arrangements.

Your youngest dd might be able to go to a kids club for a morning / day and make some friends there too.

In these kind of holidays you generally see the same people by the pool, eating dinner, at the bar etc etc and you can just smile and make small talk if you feel like it, or read a book if not!

It's daunting going away on your own but I bet you'd have a brilliant time with your girls (my ds is only five and we don't really want to do the same things on holiday yet!).

Good luck .

Hi

Why not join Single Parent Travel Club.

It's a travel club where you can advertise what sort of holiday you are looking to go on and what age group your children are....or there could be someone advertising a holiday that you fancy and therefore you can join them....all holiday's are arranged by members at cost...so you don;t pay any extra. The beauty of these holiday's is that there is adult company if you want it...or you can go off and do has you please ...you could share villa costs or car hire costs...completely down you!

There are a small group of us going to Majorca 1-15th August ...we are paying 40 euros a night at a 3* hotel hb (you arrange your own flights) So very cheap..it was a special hotel deal that was on offer in feb but I can add another roon to the booking if you are interested at same rate (it's now 85 euros).

Membership to the group is just £10 per year.... worth a look!

Hey thanks for all the help.

Lottysmum - Interestingly enough 1 - 15th August are my holiday dates! Wouldn't be able to do the whole 2 weeks away, though. Shame, but thanks for the offer. Have a great time.

Oh go here - I went with my dc last year as our first holiday as a single mum and it was fantastic!! very friendly and there were other single parents around too so I wasn't th only one! made loads of frineds as it's a very sociable type of holiday - sitting outside mobile homes in the evenings with a BBQ and bottle of wine. Pools and beach are fab and there is organised stuff you can choose to get involvd with or ignore - i.e. it's not in your face and finishes early. I went with camnvas - and am going again this year (14 -28 Aug) cos it was so fab!! Fly into Marco Polo and get the bus! Bus stops at campsite and you can walk into local town or get bus to a bigger one with a waterpark. venice is fab for a day out. Highly recommend it - your dcs would love it!

I'm also a member of the Single Parent Travel Club and it's fab! For example, if you wanted to join the people going to Majorca for just one week, you could do that! We also have people going camping in France, to a villa in Spain, centerparcs, Haven in Cornwall, Egypt next Easter, New Year breaks, wigwams in Northumbria - so much going on!
We also have weekends away and days out.
Have a look at www.sptc.org.uk. For £10 per year, it's worth joining to see what's available.
Heather

Forgot to say - it's a non-profit making club so you NEVER pay over the odds and no-one gets a free holiday by organising a trip where others pay, unlike some other commercial groups around.

Hi was just looking at the single parent travel club website. I would love to take my 2 boys away to spain or somewhere hot for the summer, but is it really that much cheaper? Can you sort of give me an idea of how much i would pay for something like that or would i not just be better going on a last minute package holiday?

I'll join the SPTC, worth a try. thanks Heather. Will pass on the Majorca trip this time. missylea, if you paid the early booking fee on the holiday mentioned above (presumably per night for all travellers not each one?) then would be very cheap - & bargain flights are plentiful. Sounds promising.
Leslaki that Italian campsite looks fab - my eldest would detest it, though - not a happy camper!

Hi,
I went away with Single With Kids holiday site on a camping trip recently, we had a ball I'm trying a longer trip and going to Cornwall with them in summer, I'm pretty certain they have overseas holidays too.

I met a number of mumsnetters at the Shell ISland camping trip (there were over 300 people there total) so they're obviously popular around here.

thanks for the link Leslaki, really fancy Venice! Something to look at for next year perhaps.

i joined the single parent travel club a few yeasr ago and was a bit disapointed as its just a yahoo group no different to the gingerbread VG groups that are totally free. Don't know why they charge and gingerbread don't?

If you want to find mates for a holiday try www.singleparentfun.com, its free adn there are a lot more people on there.