I
hope you’ve all been enjoying the
festive season
and that your 2013 is off to a terrific
start! For those of you who have made them, I trust that you haven’t fallen off the New Year’s
resolution wagon yet. If you haven’t made any, but think you’d
like a challenge
,
check out
the ones readers have submitted for this month’s “In your opinion” page inside.
Speaking of which, have you ever wondered where I get those opinions? When readers write
to me – to
suggest a story
,
comment on a story, enter a giveaway, or just to say hello – I add
those email addresses to a list I call “Friends of
Playtimes
.”
Each month, I invite those Friends to
share their thoughts. If you’d like to get in on that, along with the other opportunities I occasionally
send out – like an invitation to our anniversary party back in November, or the chance to participate
in last June’s Reader Fitness Challenge, for example – then please drop me a line. Simply email me
(
tracey.starr@ppp.com.hk
) and tell me that you’d like to be
on the list
and you’ll start hearing from
me directly. I seldom email more than once per month, and I NEVER share the list with anyone else.
This month is
the perfect time
to start thinking about the trips you’d like to take
throughout the rest of the year. And do we have some
fun and interesting ideas
inside!
How about a month in Russia riding the Trans-Siberian railway … with a toddler? Or, perhaps
you’d be more interested in
a chic and cosmopolitan holiday
in Manhattan. Are you
wondering if your family is starting to stray a bit too far from the values you want to live? Then
perhaps a holiday spent volunteering is in order.
The results are in from our second annual travel-writing contest and the winning entry from
Jill Mortensen
is inside. I’d like offer
huge thanks
to everyone who submitted a story. The
entries were truly inspiring, and it was difficult to choose just one winner. Look forward to seeing
several more stories from finalists in the coming months.
Thanks for reading,
Tracey Starr, Editor-in-Chief
welcome
Tracey and models Louis and Maggie
8
Playtimes