Tuesday we leave for the Bahamas.   It’s a five day trip with no real educational or cultural value.   We are going to Paradise Island’s Atlantis Resort.   The same place we went last year – in fact it will be exactly one year to the day that we leave.

Atlantis is one of those places where you spend your day in the resort waterpark, on the resort beach, in the resort restaurants.  (There is a Starbucks in the hotel.  Need I say more?)  You don’t venture into town, you don’t absorb local customs or culture and you don’t really learn much about the Bahamas as a country.  (Except that their currency is on a 1:1 exchange with the U.S. dollar, which can be used interchangeably on the island.   Very convenient.)   The only glimpse you get of local life is on the bus trip to and from the airport.  15 minutes of Bahamas trivia from the bus driver, and what everyone remembers most is the glimpse of the private island owned by Eddie Murphy.

And for the purposes of this trip, that is 100% ok.

See, I think sometimes fun stuff should be just that.  Fun.  For pleasure only.  With no ‘educational’ value whatsoever.   No strings attached that say you must come back having learned anything other than the Leap of Faith slide is seriously high, steep, scary… and massively fun.

This is probably why I enjoy pulp fiction and romantic comedies.   They’re fun.  They’re not high art, they aren’t going to win any awards, but they make me smile.   And that makes them eminently worthwhile.

Atlantis does, of course, offer an educational experience for kids.  (Is there anywhere where that is NOT a requirement?)   They have some sort of ‘club’ where kids can learn about the flora and fauna of the sea.    We won’t take part in it, of course.   That would detract from the fun, because it would mean having to be somewhere and do something at a given time.

In less than 3 days we leave, and by this time next week, we’ll already be back.   It’s a quick, intense infusion of fun.

Exactly what every bleary January needs.