Tara Kearsey
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Jun 26/00) - Donna Nash believes in living life to the fullest.

Born and raised in Moose Jaw, Sask., Nash accepted a teaching position at William McDonald school in 1981 after graduating from the University of Saskatchewan.

She decided a move to Yellowknife would be a wonderful opportunity. After all, she had always enjoyed camping and canoeing in Northern Saskatchewan, so she thought, 'Why not head even further North?'

"After two years of university I went to Red Deer and I didn't know anyone at all and I had a really good time. I liked to go places that I had never been before -- I guess I was a bit adventuresome," said Nash.

After only four months in Yellowknife Nash met her future husband, Dennis, an electrician who also hails from Saskatchewan.

Even before she began working at William McDonald, Nash had it all planned out: she was going to teach for two years and then take some time off to travel.

And that's what she did. Donna backpacked through Fiji and New Zealand for four months by herself and then met up with Dennis in Australia where they were wed. The couple's honeymoon consisted of a voyage to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong and China.

"We loved China; it was our favourite. It had just opened up and in a lot of places they had never seen Caucasians before," said Nash.

"Their culture was very fascinating".

Despite that, Nash said communicating with the Chinese people proved very difficult for the newlywed travellers.

Stay-at-home mom

She returned back to Yellowknife and began teaching at J.H. Sissons school. But after giving birth to her first child, Tess, she decided to take some time to be a stay-at-home mom.

"I think that it's really important to have a parent at home with your child if you can afford it, especially when they're young. That's why we had kids, to be with them -- not have someone else raise them," she said.

Tess, now 13, was the first of three kids to bless the lives of Donna and Dennis. They have a son, Shea, and another daughter, Jill.

When Jill was a year old, the family moved from their tiny downtown home to a larger home situated on the waterfront of Great Slave Lake.

The couple decided to transform the basement of their new home into a suite, which has since become The Waterfront Bed and Breakfast.

The early years of their marriage were not easy. Donna and Dennis were so busy raising their children that for a three-year period neither had an opportunity to take advantage of the exciting Yellowknife social scene.

"It was hard being at home in the winters. I was glad I was home but I just felt like I could never get anything permanent done: it was always laundry and cooking, then two hours later it was laundry and cooking," said Donna.

Husband stayed home

That's when Dennis volunteered to take time off from his job as an electrician to be a stay-at-home dad, which meant his wife could go back to work again.

"He loved it and he was fantastic at home," she said. "Dennis was great. He did all that stuff plus he had so much extra time that he got tons of things done."

Dennis would make puzzles for the children, spend time in his workshop and do all the laundry, cleaning and cooking.

"I think it will be interesting to see what kind of partner Jill picks when she gets older because she was at home with Dennis since she was six months old. She's so much like Dennis and Tess is so much like me," said Donna.

While Dennis tended to the little ones, Donna was hard at work with other people's children.

She was instrumental in setting up Structured Success -- the Yellowknife Education District program for children with behavioural problems.

A few years later, the couple decided to make another dream become reality -- to travel around the globe with their children.

"When we were travelling when we got married we said if we are lucky enough to have children then we would like to offer them that experience," said Donna.

Family hits the road

So the couple planned their family voyage three years beforehand, ensuring that all three children were neither too young nor too old to spend a long period of time away from home.

Then in 1998, Donna and Dennis took a year off from work, rented out their home and suite and headed out to experience the world.

They travelled to Saskatchewan, eastern Canada, Britain, Turkey, Athens, Indonesia, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand -- backpacking and catching buses all the way through and teaching the kids on the road.

Of all the countries the Nashes visited, Turkey was the family favourite.

"It was very interesting travelling with children. People open their hearts up more -- Turkish people love kids and we met some really nice people ... it's beautiful. I would love to go back there," Donna said.

Although many parents begin to sweat over the thought of an extended family vacation, Donna and Dennis didn't have any troubles at all.

"It was a holiday; it was wonderful," she said.

In fact, Donna and Dennis hope to be able to travel with the kids as much as possible.

"I would like every time one of our kids finishes Grade 11 to go on a really good trip with them ... I'm hoping we can do that," Donna said.

She believes it's very important to spend quality time with her children, after all, you only live once.

"You have to decide what are your values and what is really important to you, and really go for it. Do the things that you dream about."