 Christmas is my favorite time of year. The world has a magical sparkle to it that I absolutely love. People smile more, they hug more, and the spirit of generosity is contagious and real. I always feel full of hope during this time of year. Anything is possible. You ready? Mom's excited for the big trip! This white-haired smiley woman is my mom. My fitness tracker on, so I get some credit today. And Christmas has always been very important to her. We didn't have a lot of money growing up, but she always managed to make the holiday special for me and my siblings. She sacrificed a lot to raise us. Life wasn't easy for her. And as a kid, I was aware of the hardships that she went through to provide for our family. Mom is my hero. And now that I'm all grown up, I get to pay her back. Ten days before departing for Europe, I surprised her with the news that we'd be going on a seven-day trip down the Danube River. Hey, Mom, how's it going? Good. Ryan, how you doing? I have some news. Oh, what is it? Back your bags! We're going to Europe! You're kidding. Nope. Seriously? Seriously? We're going to go all the way to the Mississippi. Mom, sight! Sight! Sight! We've never been on a fancy trip before. For starters, we're not going to be camping. What are you doing, Mom? Well, I'm trying to get the air out of my air mattress that you recommended that I get on. Nice, big, thick air mattress. This past summer, I somehow convinced her to ride a bike 450 miles across Iowa. She was a great sport and certainly enjoyed it. But a luxurious riverboat is more her speed. This is some kind of losh. I don't know if it's goulash. I'm pretty excited about trying this. This is a trip made to spoil a mama. I'm cheering the vineyards for creating this wonderful wine. The cool thing about riverboats is that they're pretty small and intimate, and you see a new city every day. This Viking longship will take us about 400 miles from Budapest, Hungary to Vienna, Austria through the beautiful Vakau Valley and ending in Nuremberg, Germany. Look how cool that is! Wow, look at there. We can watch the world go by. Free entertainment, big screen TV. The older I get, the more I cherish our time together. It sounds cheesy, but life is short. I'm 40 years old, my mom is 65. Who knows if we'll ever get to do something like this again? This is special, and we both know it. Good night, mom. Good night, Ryan. Good night. We wake up to snow our first morning. The kind of fluffy snow that you see in Christmas movies. It's perfect. We're trapped inside a snow globe, and there's no place we'd rather be. It's snowing! It's a Christmas barricade! So cozy. Our ship is all dressed up for the holidays, and the atmosphere is very cheery. Every night, there were games and shenanigans that brought us all together. Mom and I are playing Family Feud here on the ship. Every day, we wake up in a new and exciting place. Europe is an absolute fairy tale, and the cold weather adds to the mysterious beauty of these ancient towns. The Danube is Europe's second longest river, and meanders through 10 countries, more than any other river in the world. Our long ship travels at about 10 miles per hour, the perfect speed to take in all the beauty. Life is good. Life is good. Alright, here we are getting our daily exercise on the little walking track up here. It's a beautiful day. Yeah, even though it's cool temperatures, the sun is shining. So it is just fabulous. It is fabulous. Mom just said this is a good way to spend a day. Yeah. Drinking wine on the deck of a boat, going down the Danube, not bad. It's crazy looking around at all these old castles and churches. They're hundreds of years older than anything in the USA. We really need to up our castle game back home. Okay, back to Christmas. The main draw of this journey are the famous Christmas markets. This is why I brought my mom here. This is her dream come true. Every day we go on historical walking tours and then spend hours wandering around these cozy market villages. It feels like going back in time to how life used to be. We love the simplicity of the decorations, the classic wooden toys, the sparkly ornaments, and all the handmade goodies. This Christmas market is in the basement of a monastery and I gotta say the handmade stuff in here is some of the best I've seen out of all of the Christmas markets. Following my mom around these markets, watching her have the time of her life brings me a lot of joy. I imagine it's similar to when she would chase me around a toy store when I was a kid. She's an absolute mom heaven. From Budapest through Austria and into Germany, each market has a different style and most importantly, a different flavor of mom's favorite treat, Mold wine. I just found my mom and she's drinking more hot wine. How you doing? Skull. Which mug is this? This is the Regensburg mug. I like it. I'm incredibly grateful that we have such a tight bond. Mom and I are looking at some German clothes here. As you can see, I've got some Leda Haasen. Looking good. And I credit that with our upbringing. She was always there for us. Through thick and thin, we could count on mom and her love and devotion to the family. I hate to say it mom, but this is our last day. My last blue wine. Your last blue wine. I just cannot believe that things this old can be this beautiful. This was really incredible. Thank you so much for coming. Well, thank you for including me and bringing me along. Of course. This is your trip. Been the trip of a lifetime. I cannot thank you enough. Do you want to go again next year? Yes. I want to go every year. This is Christmas, man. This is amazing. Wait. Before I go, I'm going to take this opportunity to find a good man for my mom. She's single and I'd love for her to have an adventure partner. If you'd like to meet this incredible woman, send me an email at ryanvanduzer at gmail.com and I'll start the screening process. Merry Christmas, everyone. My mom is really easily entertained. She's sitting on the porch watching a brick wall. And her bare feet and pajamas in a snowstorm. Watching the boat go up the block. Here we go. Here we go. Look at that. How's it going to get cold? There's the outside world.