More than a decade ago, Donna Lynch wrote the book, 50ish: A Journey to 50 Countries in 50 Weeks Interviewing Women in their 50s. The self-published title chronicled Donna’s in-depth conversations with 39 women from distinctive nationalities, religions and socioeconomic and educational backgrounds. It received critical acclaim, attention and praise.
Now, at 62, Donna remains a vibrant go-getter, travelling the globe. But at 59, her world began crumbling apart. Donna’s spirit was crushed when her 36-year-old stepson suffered a massive heart attack and died. The pain was gut-wrenching. Somehow, she had to lift herself out of the fog that surrounded every thought. She did what she knew best: she immersed herself in travel and writing and, at 61, she published her third book, More Vancouver Island Versus The World.
This book and its predecessor, Vancouver Island Versus The World, are brilliant photo essays contrasting Vancouver Island to over 75 countries while steadfastly maintaining Vancouver Island as the most beautiful place on the planet.
Donna’s method for creating her last two books was time consuming and intricate.
“My process for the picture book was to go over 35,000 photos from my journeys and think of places on the island that were similar,” she says. “For the first book, it was a slow process and probably took me about a year of random evenings. For the second book, I was intentionally taking pictures and it took me about two-and-a-half months to finish.”
Donna’s first monumental trip was to Europe at age 21. A four-month vacation turned into a year-long stay. Donna had caught the travel bug and needed to earn money to continue to see the world, which motivated her to spend five summers working as a poker, blackjack and roulette dealer in Dawson City, Yukon. Her pay cheques financed trips to Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and safaris in seven East African countries. For Donna, this was the opening act of a life that would be filled with adventure, travel – and heartache.
The curtain rose on the second act of Donna’s life when she found love and decided to settle down. Instantly, Donna became a stepmom to two kids and eventually gave birth to a baby girl, Carly, who was born with a muscular disorder. Tragically, 10 months later, the joy of bringing a baby into the world turned into a nightmare. Carly died of pneumonia. Overwhelmed by paralyzing sadness, Donna and her stepdaughter, Brooke, could barely breathe. Carly was gone, but they had to continue living.
“After Carly died, the hospital offered counselling sessions, which Brooke and I attended. When they concluded, we both felt Brooke could benefit from further counselling,” says Donna. “In doing research to find counsellors, I had a difficult time finding anyone for teens. Ultimately, I ended up writing an entire book of activities for teenagers, including counselling.”
Writing I’m Bored, Donna’s first book, clearly helped take her mind off her loss. Inevitably, she provided copies to local schools for free as her mission was to help as many teens as possible. Two years after Carly’s death, Donna’s marriage ended. Regardless, she remains in close contact with Brooke.
In 2007, Donna turned 50 – a time when many celebrate and reflect on a life well lived, but tears of happiness quickly turned to tears of sadness when her 88-year-old mother was diagnosed with lung cancer. That night, Donna had a dream that changed her life forever. In her vision, she travelled to 50 countries, but not as a sightseer. In fact, she saw herself interacting with women all over the world.
A few months later, Donna’s mom passed away. Perhaps it was an aching to transform her dream into a reality when Donna decided to take a working vacation and write her second book. Writing had been therapeutic for her in the past and she hoped this time it would help ease her emotional pain of having lost her mother. Using her inheritance to pay for the five-continent voyage, Donna immediately quit her job as the manager of a dentist’s office and headed to her first stop, Mexico.
Over 50 weeks, she visited 50 countries and interviewed 39 women over age 50. On her journey, she formed relationships that will last a lifetime and observed how different the rest of the world lives compared to her relatively secure, serene and predictable life in North America.
Donna recalls a few of her amazing experiences. “I jumped out of a plane, rode a camel in the Sahara, rafted the rapids of Costa Rica, ziplined in Nicaragua, went on safari in Namibia and was able to meet people and got invited into homes in many countries,” she says. “It made me feel the world could be one big global family, if we really tried.”
One of her most colourful encounters happened while visiting Kenya. “I stayed in a village in Kenya where we had to go down to the river to get water, bathed from a bucket and used an outhouse that was way out back beside the goats,” she recalls. “Meals were prepared on open fires and I was gifted a live chicken that I was meant to kill and pluck. Luckily, I was able to beg my way out of that. The family was lovely, and I have helped them out a few times in the years since.”
Memories forever etched in Donna’s mind are of the lives of woman surviving in war-torn countries. “I met women who lived through the Khmer Rough, the Vietnam War and the bombings in Laos, who were all willing to meet a complete stranger and share their lives with me. All seemed a bit haunted but expressed their joy when it came to their children.”
Donna admits there are many countries in the world she wouldn’t want to be a woman. “I wouldn’t want to have to do the physical work women do in Laos, Cambodia, Kenya or Uganda,” she says. “In Laos, all the little boys were playing, and the little girls were working, hauling water and selling vegetables. In Uganda, I stayed in a religious home where 32 girls ages five to 30 lived. Most of them were married off as child brides. One girl was sexually abused by her father.”
After travelling to 91 countries, Donna has learned a lot about herself and the world. “Since the death of my daughter Carly in 1992, I learned you really have to live every day to the fullest because life is short. Most people say it, but they don’t do it. I also learned that Canadians, and Victorians especially, are the most fortunate people in the world. We live in paradise.”
To learn more about Donna’s books, visit her website online at www.donnamarielynch.com
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