You Should Choose the Ending to Your Story
A Review of ‘Traveling Solo’ by Diana E. Williams
Before I dive into my thoughts on the book, I would like to share with you an edited version of the book summary, provided by the publisher.
For three decades, Diana Williams has searched for a cure to her endless maladies, from multiple sclerosis to Lyme disease to toxic mold exposure, and she dutifully follows any health regimen and prescription given to her, all in the hopes of relief. However, after years of this, she still has no concrete answer from the various specialists and experts she has consulted. Seeing no other option, Diana Williams chose to end her life. Published posthumously, Traveling Solo was written to inspire meaningful conversations and compassion for those who choose to die rather than endure continued suffering. It raises questions about What makes life worth living? How much can one person bear? Most of all, should we afford humans the choice to end their lives on their own terms?
The title is misleading, but also apt. When I first requested this book, I initially thought it was about loving solo travel and how to do it safely, despite reading the immediate subtitle beneath the main title that kind of gave it away. I still thought it was about living the good life by traveling and having that life cut short by an unexpected, but well-thought-out twist. So, I guess I was half right because Diana Williams did get to travel, and by all accounts, live a good life. She took a year off with her family to travel through Asia, she birthed a program that would help former prisoners transition back into the workforce, and found businesses willing to take these former inmates on as potential employees!; she led interesting alumni travel packages and got really into her community hiking group, all hallmarks of a good life, in my opinion.
Upon actually reading the book’s contents, I found that Diana Williams is truly traveling alone, feeling like an outsider within the communities she holds so dear. Her pain, her anguish, and her medical maladies put her on an island. Her family can’t understand, doctors can’t narrow it down, and her friends just can’t relate, causing Diana to feel adrift as her world gets smaller and darker.
Diana Williams is a testament to why people should continue to be the shepherds of their own ship, rather than society dictating the life path they should follow. Amid the continuing controversial debate about life, i.e. abortion and assisted medical suicide, Diana demonstrates that no matter how bad things can get, it can get worse with no end in sight. As a familiar saying goes, “I’m here for a good time, not a long time”, and Diana tried her best to have a good time for as long as she could, but in the end, life became an endless rollercoaster of false starts that she just didn’t want to continue on with; it is hard to have unrelenting hope in the face of uncertainty when it comes to your health and ability to take a step each day. You should be free to release yourself from the cycle, rather than continue on. However, in the United States, this is still a controversial topic, and a complex action to take, especially if you are not deemed terminal, that is why Diana sought help abroad, in Switzerland, through a Swiss nonprofit called Dignitas.
In the United States, there are a few states with a ‘Death with Dignity’ Act, such as Oregon, Washington, and Vermont, to name a few. Death with Dignity refers to an “end-of-life option that allows eligible individuals to legally request and obtain medications from their physician to end their life in a peaceful, humane, and dignified manner; state legislation codifying such an end-of-life option”, as explained by the Death with Dignity, a national leader in end-of-life advocacy. Choosing to end your life is obviously a difficult choice to make, but it should be just that, a choice. This choice shouldn’t be shamed or disparaged because you can never really know the pain someone is in, no matter how empathetic and understanding you attempt to be. Choices are personal and many times the personal choices of others are dragged into the spotlight because everything is open for discussion, however, changing the choice of an individual should not be the ultimate goal of the discussion. What works for them may not work for you and pushing your preferred reality onto another is just another form of oppression, not evolution.
When I finished the book, I was a bit annoyed with Diana, to be honest. She began to get on my nerves as the chapters got closer and closer to the end. I’m not sure why I felt annoyed with her, or why I continued to ask, “how can she afford to live in this expensive city, in this big house when a few years ago she was so worried about finances??” I took a few days to think it over and see if I was still annoyed with her or if it was just my mood at the time and found it was my mood and the sudden life circumstances I was in. Upon reflection, maybe my mood was just a mirror of Diana's as she began to get more and more aggravated with the medical professionals and get-healthy-quickly schemes that seemed to abound and bombard those desperate for a respite from their pain. I am not sure, but I am curious to learn how others felt about Diana at the end.
