Arrival in Key West meant two things: plugging into dock power (air conditioning!) and lounging poolside with cocktails. I should feel guilty—tough adventurers don’t need A/C and swimming pools. But by the second drink (a Bahama Mama in honor of Vicki, who made me my first one), I forgot all about feeling guilty. We kept looking at each other and saying sarcastically, “This is SO terrible! What a hard life!”

While my clothes magically washed themselves in a machine, I sat around and ate the French fries from Jay’s burger platter and watched the kids swim under the waterfall at the far end of the pool. The same amount of laundry took me three days to wash by hand last week! The lesson: it’s hard to appreciate your life if you’ve never been uncomfortable. We always took cool air and hamburgers and washing machines and swimming pools for granted, but now they bring us unimaginable pleasure. Life is sweet and keeps getting sweeter!