It turns out that children don't much like sitting around reading yesterday's papers or being taken on long walks with nothing to look at but haystacks in fields.

Kids huh!

Yes, it's week two of my guide to surviving the six-week holiday as a single parent/part-time dad.

After extolling the merits of a typical seaside holiday resort on the Norfolk coast, this week I'm weighing up the pros and cons of taking the kids abroad.

Taking children overseas must rank up there with divorce, moving house and running out of loo paper with no one at home when it comes to mental torment.

But with a few helpful tips from yours truly, there is no reason why you can't enjoy the experience.

Firstly, avoid exotic locations abroad as these are basically glorified sun, sea and sand holidays without the convenience of the Red Lion pub and the all-day breakfast which can be life saver for the budget-conscious single parent traveller with two growing lads.

Besides, there aren't too many exotic locations left that haven't been invaded by cruise ship passengers, gap year students and rich German tourists. If you want somewhere really unspoiled by progress, try Skegness.

Then you have to decide whether you are going to go all-inclusive, full board, half-board or self-catering.

All inclusive is when never set foot outside the hotel but consistently pass out on the sun lounger from too much "house" rum while the kids run riot; full board is where you rarely leave the hotel but moan about the price of the "house" rum and you decision not to go all-inclusive; half-board is where you eat giant breakfasts and steal half the buffet to tide you through to dinner; and self-catering allows you to spend half your holiday cooking and washing up while bemoaning the lack of Heinz baked beans at the local supermarket.

Let's face it, being a single parent on a holiday abroad is tough going.

There are only so many inflatables, beach towels, sun hats, high factor sun creams, insect repellents and assorted bags that the average human being can cart down to the beach.

Why else do you think some people never move away from the sanctity of the hotel pool area?

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter how many hours you spend watching them hold their breath under water or how much money you give them to fritter away on the slot machines, they'll always discover something they haven't moaned about yet.