All Aboard!

Our first day on the Imagery II

(If you would like to hear me read this essay, just tap the play button below.)

---

October 22, 2025

Somewhere in Slovakia…

We are finally on the boat AND I have my suitcase, hallelujah! We met 2 other couples at the airport who had just arrived in Budapest. My luggage arrived and I have never been so happy to see a (beat up) suitcase in my life! The cruise line sent a driver to pick us up in a van. The 1 1/2 hour drive was absolutely beautiful!

The original plan was to board the riverboat in Budapest but, because there had been less rain than was typical, the river was too low for the boat to make it into the city safely. It worked out perfectly, though, because it bought us time to get my luggage. The drive also allowed us to see more of the Hungarian countryside up close as we whizzed through scenic farms and villages while enjoying lively conversation with three other couples who were just as excited to be there as we were.

Autumn was at its peak in Europe, and it was glorious.

We crossed the Danube river in the middle of nowhere into Slovakia and turned left along a road parallel to the river.

There she was, the Avalon Imagery II.

We boarded the ship and took a moment to get our bearings. We could feel the excitement in the air as the crew bustled about, helping everyone get acclimated. We found our room right away and we were not disappointed!

It felt good to finally unpack and stow our luggage for the week.

Once everything was put away, we joined the rest of the passengers in the lounge to enjoy a cocktail and meet a few people. After some time, there was a slight shudder and creak as the view from the ship’s many windows begin to slide past us.

We were moving!

A cheer went up throughout the ship as we pulled away from the dock. Kyle and I looked at each other and took a deep breath. Here we go. After over a year of planning and dreaming, the cruise had finally begun. We would sail all night and arrive in Vienna, Austria the next morning.

Below is 20 seconds of our view as we cruised down the Danube on our way to Vienna.

You’re welcome ;)

The next section is straight from my journal. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? The words I wrote in the moment were from the overflow of my heart as I took in the beauty of Austria.

October 23, 2025

Thursday 9:40am

I am sitting on the top deck of the Imagery II, soaking in the morning sun and breathing the cool Autumn air. We are 2 hours from Vienna. On both side of the river are tiny cabins built on stilts that appear to be fishing cabins. Some have nets stretched across metal poles, hovering over the water.

We saw a man sitting among rocks on a jetty with his line in the water. Just a few feet away from him floated a pair of beautiful white swans. Swans. On the Danube River. Pinch me.

(A quick aside: When I was a kid I was fascinated by swans. They were the stuff of fairytales, lands where princesses and kings lived. Seeing these beautiful birds in the wild surrounded by such beauty made seven-year-old Jeanine positively swoon!)

As we get closer to Vienna, the number of fishing cabins grows. We have been cruising through a national park all morning, surrounded by trees in various stages of Autumn glory. I’m not sure what type of trees they are, but some are tipped by white blooms. Others appear frosted, with silvery leaves shimmering in the sunlight.

We are only on the first full day of this cruise and have already pondered the idea of selling our house, downsizing (way down) once the kids are all launched, and spending the rest of our lives traveling like this. Sign. Me. Up. Seriously–I need no convincing!

My goodness, Europe is just so beautiful. What a blessing to be able to experience this! I want to soak it all in.

I wish I could describe the emotions that surge through me as I go back and read these entries. There are so many things I would have forgotten. I even wrote about impressions of people and snippets of conversations I overheard, which made me laugh because this trip took us far out of our comfort zone. We sailed with a group of people we had never met who share a common love for Glen Phillips’ music (this was his fan cruise). Besides Glen’s music, we didn’t have a lot of other things in common with many of our shipmates. Most were from the West coast, like Glen, and my southern accent was a surprise to many of them. Being a Christian from Tennessee felt, at times, like being from a different planet. Over the course of the week, there were a handful of uncomfortable conversations that stretched us, opinions shared with gusto about you-name-it that we didn’t always agree with or want to engage in while on vacation.

Now, this wasn’t a surprise. We knew it would be a unique experience for us going into this trip. We were prepared and, honestly, excited to get to know people we might have never otherwise met. So, we listened and learned. We were careful to answer questions gently and with humility. We wanted to understand and find common ground as much as possible. And, you know what? It was possible. In fact, it wasn’t hard at all. It was life-giving and humbling to step outside our southern, evangelical bubble for a solid week, 24/7, and truly engage with a boatload of God’s eclectic beloved who bear His image. There were a few couples we were truly sad to leave at the end because we grew to love them over the week, savoring lively conversations and good-natured banter that were an unexpectedly sweet part of the experience. We learned a lot from them, and I think they would say the same.

In the words of Brennan Manning, “All is grace.”

Not a single person on earth is always good and never sins. Eccl. 7:20 NLT

If anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only; but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:1-2 NLT

For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another. Galatians 5:14-15 NLT

Looking back:

I’ve believed this for a long time, but a week with people who think quite differently than I do and can intelligently explain why only solidified it: Being a Christian and living in the United States does not make me better than anyone else. Being a conservative or liberal or wherever I fall in between does not make me more intelligent or valuable than those who hold different views. Seeing people we disagree with (or who make us generally uncomfortable) as “other” or “less than” puts up a wall, making it impossible to connect at a heart level and love well.

Beloved, let’s love one another; for love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. By this the love of God was revealed in us, that God has sent His only Son into the world so that we may live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4: 7-10 NASB 2020

When I look into the eyes of any person, no matter who they are or where they are from, I am looking into the eyes of someone Jesus died for. They may not realize it, but they are loved. (John 3:16) When we allow the Spirit to love people through us, we are acting as a conduit for the self-giving, other-centered, sacrificial love of God; participating with the Trinity who desires for every human being’s eyes and heart to be opened to the reality of their belovedness. Father, Son, and Spirit exist in an unbroken dance of Trinitarian love in which all the world is gathered in the very center (Colossians 1:17). We, who are learning to follow the way of Jesus, are given the holy task of emulating that love and inviting every human we meet to join the dance.

What a privilege.

Thanks be to God.

---

---

Next week…

I’ll share our adventures in Vienna! (There were bikes involved. If you know me in real life you are probably laughing already.) Thank you for joining me as I relive this beautiful experience.

More soon!

~Jeanine