courtesy: Kendra Smale

Whether you are looking for a high-end vacation, a weekend camp outing, or a local meet-up group, with a bit of research, single parents can find the travel resources designed specifically for their needs.

By Christal Phillips

Like so many single parents, Kendra Smale is accustomed to juggling many things at once.  She’s a single mother to eight-year-old Violet and has a successful career as a Creative Director. When it comes to family vacations, she doesn’t have the time she’d like for the trip-planning. And she’s not alone.

The Smale family is just one of a burgeoning number of single parent households who are outsourcing the hassle of planning the complicated details of a vacation to travel professionals.

So when Smale decided to work with a tour operator that could meet her needs as a single working parent, she chose Austin-Lehman Adventures, a company she traveled with before she became a mother.

Austin-Lehman Adventures co-founders Paul Lehman and Dan Austin estimate that one in four of their family bookings are single parents or grandparents. Dan Austin was a single parent himself for ten years and understands the role his company plays in creating a memorable trip for the entire family. “In this economy and the stresses of being a single parent these days, you don’t want to have the additional stress of planning a trip.”

The Smales went on an Austin-Lehman trip to Yellowstone in 2008 when Violet was just six-years-old. Yellowstone is Austin-Lehman’s most popular destination for families because of its diverse wildlife and history as well as the effect it has on the kids. “They forget about their iPods and cell phones. By magic they realize they are immersed in this amazing environment with these cool things like geysers and grizzly bears,” says Smale.

Last summer they traveled to Alaska with another family they met on the Yellowstone trip and this past spring, to Havasupai, Arizona. The number one factor that has Smale coming back to Austin-Lehman is the knowledgeable guides who place safety first, but leave enough room for fun. “They are sincerely interested in connecting with each guest, and do a great job of it with the younger ones.”

Austin-Lehman trips are high-end, limited to eighteen guests, with a six guest to one guide ratio. Prices range from $1,698 to $7,998 for adults and from $1,528 to $7,198 for children.

Single Parent Travel is the first and only travel company to specialize in single parent travel. Single Parent Travel offers year round group trips that appeal to a variety of budgets with a heavy focus on summer vacations. They have been running a best-selling weekend trip to the Rocking Horse Ranch in Highland, New York for over ten years that is between $615 and $1,015 for one parent and one child. Cruises and resort stays are more expensive with prices ranging from $2,500 to $4,500 for parent and child. This year, parents can reserve their spot on the Harry Potter trip to the UK for Summer 2011 which will include visits to the filming locations, banquets in castles, storytellers, and much more with costs estimated to be between $8,000 and $10,000 including airfare and expenses.

Parents can also find single parent resources on the web and groups close to home that offer inexpensive weekend getaways or free single parent family activities in town. The Boston/Providence Single Parents Meetup Group charges $5 a year to local single parents. Some of their upcoming events include whale watching, cycling, dinner in Providence, beach day, karaoke, and a full-time solo parent families get-together.

In the New York and New Jersey area, the Center for Jewish Family Life created a single parent weekend program at their New Jersey “Y” Camps that cost $250 per adult and is free for kids under 18.

While the kids are in camp, single parents can choose from mountain biking, athletics, and archery or relaxation activities like yoga, arts & crafts, or just reading a book on the beach.

Hudson Valley resident Jeff Levine and his 11-year old daughter have been attending single parent weekends for the past few years.  “It’s nice to know when you’re talking to another adult at the camp that they are going through the single parenting thing, too,” says Levine.

For tips on Single Parent Travel, see our related post here