As the torch is passed from one traveller ready to take a deserved rest, a new one is eager to pick up where the last left off.

The Saskatchewanderer program is quickly becoming a staple of Saskatchewan, discovering all that the province has to offer. After starting his journey in the role last January, Kevin Dunn is now helping 2019's Saskatchewanderer, Zane Buchanan, prepare for the experience.

Dunn spoke about his year-long journey around Saskatchewan.

"I put on about 44,000 kilometres last year, which was a lot of travel. I met a lot of people along the way, and small communities, and also the cities, and attended quite a few events as well."

Beginning in 2011, the program financed by the Saskatchewan Government saw Dunn travel as far south as the Swift Current-Cypress Hills area, and as far north as Missinipe.

He said that his experiences along the journey, as well as the journeys themselves, were very unique to his Saskatchewanderer experience.

"So last year I put a lot of effort in doing a few trips that were very out of the ordinary, and really caught people's attention throughout the year."

Some of the trips that Dunn made include a biking expedition in northern Saskatchewan, a bike and boat tour of Meadow Lake Provincial Park, and hiking the Douglas Provincial Park sand dunes.

One thing that Dunn also said would be unique to his expedition was his use of drones to capture his adventure to post on social media. He said that due to amendments to drone legislation, if future Saskatchewanderers wish to capture their trips in that way they will have to jump through hoops Dunn did not.

"I knew that it was going to probably be changing in the future, and I was like 'Okay, well this is an opportunity to actually try and do as much as possible before there are changes,' but it will be interesting as time goes on, because I'm sure there will be some more in the future happening, but not at the same amount of it perhaps, because it would take more time to produce it."

Speaking on the social media which the drone footage was posted on, Dunn said that as they enter their ninth year of the program, they see exponential growth each year.

"Today it's at over 90,000 followers for all social media platforms, which is Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, even Youtube. There's also the website as well that's run by the Sask wanderer, and so last year, for Instagram, I was able to gain over 11 to 12,000 new followers, which was a huge increase for one year, and each year they see even more of an increase and the popularity has grown."

Dunn said that without the social media platforms, they might not be able to convey the experience of Saskatchewan as well as they do.

The most surprising thing that he experienced within Saskatchewan's 651,900 square kilometres were the hidden gems of the province, using the upscale restaurant Rawhides in the small town of Stenten as an example.

"What really surprised me about this place was it was off the main highway, and I was not expecting to see a restaurant that size or that glamorous in this specific location. It was a restaurant that I would swear it would blend right into a city."

Speaking on his time in the southwest portion of the province, Dunn said that he went a few places including the Saskatchewan Landing and Beaver Flats.

"The message is across that Saskatchewan is not flat, because that area is like miniature mountains, and you don't get the feeling really, most people are driving through, but when you stop and you actually go hiking on the trails and then actually have the chance to fly the drone around to get that perspective from the air, I made sure to make that trip count."

Something that Dunn said is new to this year's program was that he was able to take 2019's Saskatchewanderer with him in the closing month of his journey.

He outlined a piece of advice that he gave to his successor.

"It's just to kind of take it all in, because it's a one-year gig and the one year goes by super fast, and so you really have to try and make sure you enjoy the moment, because it's going to be going by like the blink of an eye."

Now that Dunn's journey around the province is over, he's looking forward to being able to sit back and relax for a while.

"Right now I'm actually in a little bit of personal retirement," Dunn said, taking a second to laugh. "Because it was a pretty crazy year, and so I'm taking the time off right now to kind of re-adjust to things and get going with the new chapter."

For 2019, Buchanan wants to use his platform as Saskatchewanderer to showcase the province's diversity.