“Why are there so many pubs in Benidorm?”
“Why do adults like sitting around being drunk all day?”
These were just two of the questions raised by my 8 year old during our recent vacation to Benidorm.
Now, I’m not one to criticise anyone for drinking (on holiday or anywhere else) and in fact I’ve spent two previous holidays in Benidorm - neither of which I remember much of But trying to answer his questions proved somewhat of a challenge.
Benidorm is in my opinion a beautiful place. Perhaps not conventionally beautiful - but I often find that to be the most alluring type of beauty.
I started my answer with, that’s fun for some adults Caleb, they come on holidays to relax and that’s how they’re choosing to do so.
Now, anyone who knows my son will attest that he rarely accepts an answer that makes no sense to him (anyone who knows me, would say he gets it from me) so he continued…
“But they’re sat in the same pubs, with British flags and they’re missing all the lovely sights. Couldn’t they just do that at home?”
I looked into his big brown eyes and had to concede. I saw more of Benidorm during these three days that both my previous visits combined. We walked the entire stretch of levante beach. We walked around the ‘old town.’ My children played with local children on the beach, I chatted to stall owners who I could only presume were happy to see a family out enjoying themselves in the beautiful February sunshine.
Not once during this trip did I feel envious of the huge amount of drinking going on around me. If anything I felt a little sorry for those who were missing out on the beauty all around them.
We can and do recover.
And when we do, the world is a much more beautiful place. Sometimes it takes a child’s perception to remind us how lucky we are
