U of R student wraps up his wandering

Posted: August 16, 2011 1:00 p.m.

Saskatchewanderer Andrew Konoff is back home after a summer on the road.
Saskatchewanderer Andrew Konoff is back home after a summer on the road. U of R Photography Dep't

Andrew Konoff had a summer job many of us will envy. Since May, the University of Regina philosophy student has racked up thousands of kilometres on the road as the "Saskatchewanderer," a pilot project launched by the Ministry of Tourism, Parks, Culture and Sport.

"It's been incredible. I've traveled over 12,000 kilometres all over Saskatchewan. I took in a lot of events, and saw a lot of great places," said Konoff. "You can live all your life and have an idea of what Saskatchewan is, but after this summer it will never be the same place for me. It's such a big province with so many things to do and so many places to see that it's hard to capture it all in one summer."

The project involved using social media to tell the story of Saskatchewan. So far, it has resulted in more than 173,000 page views to the project's website (www.saskatchewanderer.ca). The visits were from as far away as The United Arab Emirates, Finland and Japan. Konoff says the job allowed him to gather memories he'll treasure forever.

"One of the ones I'll always remember is when I got to fly over the Athabasca Sand Dunes all the way up to Uranium City, in the furthest northwest corner of the province. It's just shockingly beautiful. It doesn't look like anything you've ever seen in Saskatchewan, and I even got to fly the plane for a minute. It all combined into one ridiculous adventure. It was something else."

After spending the summer traveling to virtually every corner of the province Konoff has some sage advice for first-time visitors to Saskatchewan.

"Even if you're just driving through it on the TransCanada Highway, through the grain belt, go a half hour in any direction, find a provincial park, find somewhere, and you'll find a whole bunch of friendly, incredible people willing to talk to you about what you should check out next. The most amazing events will be just around the next corner. Get out of the ruts that we all end up in and enjoy the province. Saskatchewan's all about adventure and I got to have some great ones this summer."