Last week Ann-Christine asked us to share our alone time images. I picked an aviation selection, one of my more enjoyable flying activities. This week Tina asks us to share the ways we find peace. There are certainly times when my aviation activities bring peace, but the quick turnarounds of glider towing and frequent takeoffs and landings most certainly leave little time for peaceful feelings.

For this challenge, Tina writes, “So this week, let’s take Ann-Christine’s challenge one step further, and address the ways we’ve learned to Find Peace in today’s ever-more busy world.” You can read her entire challenge post here.

I find peace in listening to 70s music and working on photos at the computer, and I find peace in writing this blog. Journeys with Johnbo has been around for a decade this month, so I must find something peaceful about its creation. Unless we are traveling, I spend at least three hours a day in my “work week”.

What truly brings me peace and relaxation is being on the ocean, enjoying the fresh sea air, and taking in beautiful views. There are sunsets and sunrises aplenty to photograph and the rest of the day can be spent relaxing, sitting on the deck, and just enjoying the day. My opening photo features a view of the harbor at Puntarenas in Costa Rica. We were departing from the harbor and the setting sun gave us a beautiful “goodbye” view of the harbor.

At the other end of the day, we sailed into the harbor at Saint John’s. It was late in the blue hour with the golden tones of sunrise just starting to brighten the eastern sky. The lighthouse at the harbor entrance was still in operation and I waited patiently until the light directly faced the ship.

I can watch waves crash against the high cliffs of the shoreline for hours. I take lots of photos in hopes of capturing large waves breaking high on the cliff as it did in this shot. One of our first cruises brought us to the Hawaiian Islands. Actually, we flew to Hawaii, then boarded a cruise ship that traveled to several islands on a grand tour. It’s a great way to see Hawaii. Your hotel room goes with you every night and each morning you wake up in a different city and maybe on a different island. You leave the ship and explore. Just be back in time to board for your overnight journey.

I was up early on disembarkation day in 2019. The ship was sitting at the dock and we were almost all packed and ready to walk off the ship. I was sitting on the balcony when the Celebrity Equinox sailed by on its way to the Celebrity berth. They move slowly in the narrow channel so I had plenty of time to watch and capture a few photos of the floating city as it went by.

There are people who tell me they don’t like the crowds on big cruise ships. I can’t argue with the fact that some of the venues on the ships can be very busy, especially at certain times. We’ve found, though, that there are retreats that are lesser used, and as long as we avoid the pool decks, we can usually find a place of relative peace and quiet.

One place that’s always quiet is the balcony of our cabin. When we started cruising, we first chose cabins with sea views as they are cheaper than balcony cabins. We came to learn that the cost difference is worth it to us to have a more private outdoor space to enjoy the sea views. The Pearl is the ship on which we have spent the most time in our cruise history. In 2013 we spent 14 days on the Pearl in a Panama Canal transit and the next year, a 7-day cruise from Seattle to Alaska.

Leaving the Panama Canal we had a sea day capped at the end by a beautiful sunset after our first cruise day on the Pacific Ocean.

As we set sail earlier this year from Saint Thomas, we found peace on our balcony after spending some time on shore. We have one more cruise coming up in just a few days, our most ambitious yet. Fifteen days from Rio de Janeiro to Barcelona. There are a total of six sea days and plenty of time to enjoy the sights of new cities, new countries, and those oh, so peaceful sea days.

Thanks to Tina for allowing me the chance to share some photos of our cruises over the years. Next week it’s my turn to host the challenge. That’s only two days from the day of this publication, and just a couple of days after that, we head off on our transatlantic journey. I am looking forward to sharing my challenge and seeing your responses. Given the limited Internet time available to me on the ship, please forgive me if I don’t respond to your comments right away. You can be sure I will read and comment as I can… between finding all that peace on those sea days.

All of the images are available to view in HD on my Flickr site here. If you’d like to join in the challenges but aren’t sure how to get started, check the how-to info here.

John Steiner