The Most Beautiful Views in the World

By Nikki Wilson

I like to travel. I love to go to far off lands and explore the views, the cultures, and the history. But alas, I've never been out of the country. The main reason for this? I'm a mother of 4 children (and unofficially adopted mother to 1). There usually isn't time or money for trips. But a year ago, after my mother in law passed away, my father in law decided he wanted my husband and I to go on a cruise with him to Alaska and Victoria, British Columbia. We scrimped and saved and finally we booked our cruise. I was so excited! This was my chance to see some beautiful scenery, to experience a cruise for the first time, and to finally go out of the country. My excitement level was through the roof. So were my expectations. I just knew I would see magnificent views that would take my breath away. Not to mention I would be kid free for a whole week. This trip was going to be life changing. And it was, just not in the ways I thought it would be.

 I made arrangements for all my children to be cared for while I was gone. Even sent one child to spend a month with my sister who lives in Alaska. (Though not where our cruise was going.) I was so ready. First we flew into Seattle and this was my view on the airplane of  Mt. Rainier (and if you look to the right of Mt. Rainier in the faint distance you can see Mt. St. Helens.)

How beautiful is that view? I got to spend a whole day in Seattle before boarding the ship. And from there I saw even more spectacular views:

A mountain seen on the train ride from Skagway, AK

View from the ship in Tracy Arm Fjord

The straight line in the middle of the picture between the two mountains is a glacier

View while zip lining in the rainforest of Juneau, AK

View from the boat of the little town of Ketchikan, AK

The capitol building in Victoria, B.C.

The Empress Hotel in Victoria, B.C.

While these views are all beautiful and they did instill awe and amazement in the creations of my Father in Heaven, they weren't life changing. The thing is, while I enjoyed these views on the trip I found myself hungering for these views instead:

Yes these images are all of my children and I think I almost wore out my phone looking at them through out the trip. The life  changing part of my trip was realizing that the beautiful views of the world have been there for hundreds of years and will probably be there for hundreds more. But these views of my children of growing up are so fleeting. I only have so much time to capture those views and I suddenly didn't want to waste any more precious minutes and I was home sick.

But while I missed my babies, I was able to focus on the most beautiful view I saw on the whole cruise:

I realized the best part of my cruise was spending time with the love of my life (my husband, just in case any of you were wondering! LOL). And the thing is, I don't have to go to Alaska to do that. Though it was a fun experience to share with him and I hope to continuing sharing many experiences with him for all eternity. I would have to say the best view I came back with from the cruise is this one:

I will treasure the memories from this trip because I got to spend time with my eternal companion and I learned some valuable lessons about myself and what is truly important to me. I learned that I don't have to travel to enjoy the most beautiful views in the world!!