While Scotland took on Argentina, Samoa and the All Blacks in the autumn series, Donnie was cruising up America's Pacific Coast, imitating the Beach Boys.
Donnie loved it, taking in the sights of San Diego and Los Angeles in his Dodge Ram, watching a top basketball game and, generally, taking his mind as far away from Murrayfield as was possible. More pertinently, however, it provided the platform for him to turn around a year of injury hell and no-one who knows what Donnie suffered in 2005 would grudge him the enjoyment.
Having injured his knee in a training incident at Glasgow's Whitecraigs base on 3 January, 2005, Donnie intended to return to action at the start of the Six Nations, but didn't. He then hoped to make a late bid for the Lions tour, but broke down. Then, the target was the start of the season, but that didn't happen. September and October came and went with promises dashed by pain in that last step from training to full-out match practise.
"The physios at Glasgow and doc, Gerry Haggerty, sat down with me and we were all really fed up," explained Donnie in The Scotsman, "so they said 'go off for a couple of weeks. You've been training brilliantly all year, rehabbing incessantly, but it's not got you back. Maybe it's time to take a break from rugby.'
"It was very, very strange, heading off on holiday not long into a new season and on your own; it was the first time I'd been away like that without any mates. It was a bit sad really. But it turned out to be a great experience. I always wanted to drive a Dodge Ram Jeep, and so I hired one and drove up to LA and went to an NBA game - LA Clippers v the Milwaukee Bucks - which was great.
"The fantastic thing about it was that, even though the knee didn't seem to be getting any better while I was away, as soon as I returned it started responding to treatment. It seems now that the idea they had to give me two weeks away was exactly what my body needed."
What really pained Donnie was the frustration of agreeing a comeback date only to have it dashed, time after time after time. It got to a point where he was sick to the back teeth of people enquiring when he would be fit again, and even now, though close to returning to the field, refuses to talk about any dates.
"That has been the hardest thing to come to terms with. It has been a cycle of 'almost got back, almost got back, almost got back' and each time 'break down, break down, break down'. I've discovered that few no-one runs perfectly, and we all have little discrepancies which only show up when other parts of your body are weak. I developed problems with tightening muscles around the knee, and it just went from one thing to another.
"I remember reading the comments of Tom Philip, Edinburgh's young centre, when he retired last year, which was very sad, and he said one of the worst things for him had been the pressure of people asking 'when are you going to come back?' It's a miserable pressure to be under.
"You never want to say to anyone 'I don't know'. The players here wind me up because I would always say two weeks, and that went on for months. But, then, it would be a worry if people didn't ask anymore. At least they still care about you."
Donnie said: "It was annoying that I was just starting to find my feet and play well at international level, and to get the injury then felt demoralising, but, on the other hand, if I hadn't been going well then it may have been tougher to get through this. Playing for Scotland is an amazing experience, the build-up, the game and everything, and through my nine caps I always appreciated how big a deal that was. So, I've always had that to aim for.
"I pride myself on being someone who is very, very positive and can always find positives out of the worst situations, so I know when I get back I'll be so much more mentally strong than I was before and I have benefited from a year working in the gym, which you don't get to do with so many games, and I'm lucky that I enjoy that."
He added: "I never ever thought I'd quit, although there were tough times. I think I realise now how close you are to losing it all; there's no point in waiting for tomorrow. Not that you did before, but this has brought home to me that you have a great opportunity and you have to make the most of it.
"My progress has been fantastic since I got back from California, but I am not rushing anything and we are not talking about a comeback date. It will be this season if things continue to go as well as they have in the past couple of months. Soon - that's all I will say."