We had a toddler and a toddler wannabe. We’d moved six times in six years, following the corporate something-or-other. We’d just sold our house and were moving to I-forget-where-now.

In between frenetic demands — leaky diapers, new jobs, snowstorms, moving boxes, plants that arrived dead — we decided to take a break and leave the kids with Grandma. I felt a little guilty about it. But we needed a rest. We’d go to the Caribbean and relax for a change. We didn’t yet know about a credit card problem that would render us temporarily insolvent.

The airport was bedlam, our frame of mind as well. That’s probably why we forgot to notice the crucial error: The bags went to Aruba; we went to Antigua. Lots of miles in between. Oh well.

We were quick to adapt to the new reality once we'd absorbed the facts: We had a pre-paid hotel stay, a bogus credit card, the clothes on our backs and the kits full of toiletries we’d had the foresight to carry on board the plane. Nothing else.

It was simple. We took the paltry sum the airline had given us for clothes and sundries, and marched to the local tourist outfitter for supplies. (No need to risk the questionable credit of the credit card; the bags would arrive any day now, we thought.)

A bustling market in Antigua

Then we began the daily rotation: the clothes just worn were given to the maid to wash, the new threads were on our backs. Next day: the opposite. Nothing to worry about there. No worries about theft because we had nothing to steal.

We had a lot of fun lying under the palms by the pool, lolling in the caress of the breeze. Here we composed the nasty letter we would send to the cheapskate airline which is now out of business.

Dear So and So, How you feel we can get by with one bathing suit and one pair of shorts and a shirt each is beyond us. We bet you never had to put up with this crap. No sir, you're the CEO. Mr. Big Shot. Everything goes swimmingly for you. Blah, blah, blah.

I did the backstroke while designing our diatribe. My husband slathered on the tanning lotion; we’d put the charge on our hotel bill and would see what the iffy credit card would do on departure day.

One day, we drove around the island in a rental car. I forget now how we had the financial wherewithal to finagle that one. We stopped at various lookouts for a view of this splendid place.