Single in summer

As every singleton corporate slave in need of a summer holiday knows, it’s pretty hard wrangling some vacation time in June when there are always the married colleagues with children who absolutely must travel during the school holidays. They block book their leave waaay in advance, making it almost impossible to beat them to the roster. And even if you did manage to scoot away thanks to an unfortunate case of chicken pox in your colleague’s family, you’d be subjected to higher air fares and destinations crowded with other people’s children.

Still, there are some ways to get around the school-holiday hurdles — starting with some strategic planning on your part. Here are five simple steps to the single person’s summer getaway.

1 June bugged

Why muscle into a super-peak period? Summer’s, like, three months long in most temperate countries. If you and your travelling companions are flexible, would it kill you to travel anytime other than June? Fares and packages are likely to be slightly cheaper towards the end of May, when the weather is just perfect, or even in July or August. For example, a six-night package to Tokyo inclusive of travel on Scoot costs S$1,048 in June from Expedia. But the same package is priced at S$988 if you travel in the last week of May.

2 Look out for deals

Alright, say you’ve already got your heart set on travelling in June. For better deals on flights and accommodation during that period, subscribe to travel, credit cards and hotel site newsletters, Facebook and Twitter pages; and constantly scan the papers (like our very own Insider section) for the latest promotions. Cheap Tickets.sg recently ran a S$70-off Lufthansa discount code that was valid for departures up till June 30. Citibank has a tie-up with Agoda.com that gives you 7-per-cent off hotel rates with its Citibank Clear or Premier Miles cards.

3 Travel out of the box

You know where the families are usually headed: Kid-friendly beach resort spots such as Penang, Phuket, Bali. They also love heading for generally fail-safe cities, preferably with a theme park near by, like Hong Kong, Tokyo, Paris, the Gold Coast and Los Angeles. Destinations that come with an easy connection and a myriad of family-friendly activities — think Perth, Taiwan and Korea — are popular, too. The simple solution? Go somewhere else. Duh.

Since your choices aren’t limited by travelling as the Brady Brunch, go for more exotic options. Want a great beach vacay? Choose Lombok or Boracay. And Europe isn’t just made up of Paris, London and Rome. For those load-up-your-suitcase-with-hot-buys trips, there are exciting cities with equally awesome shopping. Stockholm is the place for Swedish labels like Acne, Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair, H&M, Monki, as well as hottest fashion sensation & Other Stories. Outlet shoppers would also have a field day in Spain, with Chic Outlet Shopping in Madrid’s Las Rozas Village and Barcelona’s La Roca Village.

If it’s sights and culture you’re after, you can’t do better than historically rich spots Athens, Istanbul, Syracuse or Berlin. In Asia, off the beaten paths (aka not so family-friendly) are ideal. Myanmar’s Bagan, India’s Hampi, Laos’ Luang Prabang, just to name a few. They may be a tad more troublesome to get to, but the pay-off and the lack of screaming children at the hotel pools more than make up for it.

4 Sign up for specialised tours

Specialised tours in the form of cooking schools, cycling tours, yoga retreats and adventure holidays are probably where you’ll be safe from three-generational family tour groups. Local adventure travel company Shangri-la Adventure (www.shangrila-adventure.com) organises cycling, trekking and peak-climbing tours, including a 14-day Silk Road cycling tour spanning Xinjiang to Kyrgyzstan from June 16 to 29. Boutique travel firm Eco Adventures (www.adventures.com.sg) arranges for scuba trips, as well as more unique getaways like longhouse stays in Sarawak, and visits to festivals such as Phi Ta Khon Ghost Festival in Thailand and the Naadam Festival in Mongolia.

Contiki caters to younger travellers between 18 and 35, which is especially great for those looking to make new friends from around the world. Speaking of friends, solo travellers needn’t fret — there are all sorts of packages tailored for you. Culinary tour agency Gourmet On Tour (www.gourmetontour.com) gives foodies travelling on their own a chance to gather, explore vineyards and cook with Michelin-starred chefs from California to Chiangmai. Active types should check out Backroads (www.backroads.com), which offers more than 60 trips for solo travellers across 25 destinations, from ice-walking on glaciers in the Canadian Rockies to kayaking on Lake Rotoiti in New Zealand’s North Island.

5 Train it

Most families want to get to their destination as fast as possible. Why not make your journey part of the experience? Try a rail holiday instead. There are wonderful, luxurious rides — picture the romance of the Venice Simplon-Orient Express as it trundles through Venice to Istanbul, or a stay on board the Arctic Circle Express to view the fjords in Norway and the mountains of Sweden. There are rail options in Australia and India, too, like the Great Southern Rail taking you from Darwin to Adelaide, or the Maharajas’ Express going from Mumbai to New Delhi, passing through sights like the Taj Mahal and the Fort town of Jodhpur. Best of all, you’ll have your cabin all to yourself. No noise, no mess, no Brady Bunch.