Taffy Brodesser-Akner realized she had never taken her son Ezra on a real vacation just before he left for college. Throughout his childhood, Ezra had been dragged along on her work trips across the globe - from Rome to Israel to Los Angeles, where he was born. These weren't vacations but rather magazine reporting assignments where her son tagged along.

At 18, Ezra was accustomed to the hustle of work travel: navigating airports, understanding hotel logistics, and even mastering the art of efficient living. His mother had taught him everything from how to fly standby to why the middle seat deserves both armrests. But as they arrived at their Bahamas villa, she faced a sobering truth - she had never taught him how to truly relax and vacation.

The irony wasn't lost on her: while ornithologists tracked birds heading for extinction and scientists monitored potential pandemics, she was trying to teach her son how to unwind before he left for college. Their trip to Elbow Cay, a five-mile island in the Bahamas with roughly 400 year-round residents, represented her final chance to show Ezra what a vacation actually looks like - no deadlines, no interviews, just time to watch the ocean's turquoise stripes and drive golf carts past houses named Yellowtail and Tahiti Hai.