As a student of human nature, I often wonder why anyone goes on family holidays. I pondered the matter again recently, when we took the kids to southern Italy. Naturally, it rained almost solidly every day. There were moments familiar to any parent, like the deflating sound of an exhausted child waking up at 6.20am; the attempt to explain Pompeii to a three-year-old; or the evening we walked forever to the restaurant we’d read about, ordered food, and then watched the children fall asleep at table before the meal arrived. Yet by the time easyJet landed us home, I think I’d figured out why people take family holidays – and, by extension, why they have families.
作爲一個對探究人性感興趣的人，我常常想不通一個問題：爲什麼會有人舉家出遊？最近，我們帶幾個孩子去義大利南部度假的時候，我再次思考了這個問題。幾乎每天都下雨，這是意料之中的。還有每個家長都很熟悉的事情：比如早上6點20分，本來筋疲力盡的孩子就已經醒了，吵得你無法繼續睡；比如跟一個三歲的小朋友解釋龐貝古城；又比如晚上我們長途跋涉，來到書中介紹過的餐館，點了菜，卻眼睜睜地看著小朋友們在菜上來之前就倒在桌上睡著了。然而，當易捷航空(easyJet)載著我們回到家的時候，我想我已經知道爲什麼會有人帶孩子出遊了，我甚至理解了他們爲什麼要孩子。