A Hay River teenager is working hard to make his international travel dreams a reality.
In April 2025, 14-year-old Donavin Rodger-Evans aims join his classmates at Diamond Jenness Secondary School on a plane to Hawaii, and after a visit to the American island state, continue on to Australia and New Zealand.
The trip is expected to cost nearly $10,000 when the flights, accommodation, and bus rides to and from Edmonton are factored in.
Rodgers-Evans works as a cashier at Super A Foods, a Hay River grocery store, and also helps his father deliver groceries to residents.
“I like it,” he said. “It keeps me busy.”
While his part-time job has been his main source of savings, he also recently organized a 50-50 draw to help cover the costs of his trip.
Tickets were $2 a pop, and he ultimately sold “more than expected.”
“It went really awesome because a lot of people bought tickets,” he said after school on May 21. “I ended up making $800. The winner got $400, but they donated $250 to the fundraiser.”
The big trip is being organized by Jacquie Richards, an educational assistant at the school. It is not the first trip Richards has been involved in. She has previously helped students, including Rodger-Evans’ older cousin, visit other countries like Italy and Greece.
Rodger-Evans said his cousin’s trip was life-changing experience, and he hopes for a similar experience himself.
“It changed her world and opened her mind right up,” he said, noting that another cousin will be joining him on the trip to Hawaii, Australia, and New Zealand. “I’m hoping that will happen for my [other] cousin and I.
“I’m hoping it changes me to be more open minded and make more friends.”
Rodger-Evans said he is most excited to visit Australia. He and his peers will spend time on the country’s east coast.
“I’m mostly excited for Australia,” he said. “I’ve been hearing that it’s like a really warm Canada there, and I’m excited to meet new people.
“I’m mainly excited to go to the coastline and go to the beach,” he added. “I’m excited to go the [Sydney] Opera House [too].”
Rodger-Evans already has his passport, and is working on obtaining the necessary visas for his trips. Once that is done, and his fundraising is completed, it will just be a matter of making the long journey to Hawaii and on to Australia and New Zealand.
He’s aware that the flights might be uncomfortable — he plans to watch Netflix on his iPad to beat the boredom — and acknowledged that jet lag is a possibility. However, all of the hard-work and long flights will be justified when he steps off his plane into the Hawaiian sunlight.
“For me it feels like I’m going to a completely new place that’s not even part of the North American continent,” he said. “It will probably be jaw-dropping for me because I’ve never been out of the country. I’m excited to see a new culture.”