If I had time to write my next book it would be called “I’m so Busy.” Not just because I have been so busy this past year, but also because everyone I know is “so busy” too. In fact, it seems people are seriously competitive nowadays about who is the busiest. One friend’s date book was so jammed with appointments I finally grabbed it out of her hand to find out why she was so busy. On one day, she had written, “Daylight savings time--Change Clocks.” She admitted she likes to look busy, even when she is not.

I must confess, however, that I really have been busy and can’t wait to not be busy come August, when the weekly New York Times ‘In Transit” column I have been writing for the travel section for the past year finally comes to an end. I then plan to get back to what I really enjoy--writing another book and writing about family travel.

As an American who has lived abroad for the last sixteen years (my husband told me we were moving to London for a mere two) writing for the Times has given me a place to unload all the strange things I have learned raising three children in Europe - like where to find the best playgrounds from Prague to Paris!
Last year I had to write about how a family of five could visit London (the third most expensive city in the world) for four days and five nights on a budget of only £1000 (about $1750). I also did a web video for NYTimes.com featuring me hanging out at all the cheapest places in London interviewing visiting American families. This year I took two big trips for the New York Times, one to Vietnam to write about art galleries in Hanoi (an amazing trip, particularly because it was the first time in fifteen years I took a big trip without my kids), and another (with my kids) to Greece to see ancient ruins.

In the meantime, I hope to still promote The Perfect Parents Handbook, which one reviewer called “the Spinal Tap of parenting books,” though it is hard to do living on the other side of the pond from most of my readers. Feel free to spread the word to friends that my humor book stereotyping parents is still available on most book buying websites. I will now finally admit to being a bit of all nine different parent categories I described in the book - though I am mostly Neo Trad (the parents with interesting but badly paying jobs!).