Recently, a friend of mine had an opportunity to go on vacation with her boyfriend. The idea seemed to have much to recommend it. The two, who are very fond of one another, live in Baltimore, which gets terribly hot in summer, and they were invited to a July wedding in Newport, Rhode Island. Since neither had been on vacation in years, they leapt at the chance.

After renting an Airbnb — which was expensive — my friend ended up having to work (remotely) every day. When the couple had time to go to the beach, they had to get creative. If you read Edith Wharton or listen to Taylor Swift, you know that Newport is a longtime favorite destination of the monied classes. The rich in that area own much of the land, so vacationers struggle to get reservations or parking permits for the beach.

Among Americans, this couple is fortunate: they could afford to go to a beautiful place for a whole week, away from any physical workplace and from the urban heat. Despite its shortcomings, I’m guessing theirs was probably one of the better vacations enjoyed by Americans this year.