She carries an optimistic attitude, infectious laugh, a strong post-secondary education and a lot of wanderlust.
That’s why Ashlyn George fits the mandate for the Saskatchewanderer.
George was in the Energy City on July 29 and 30, assisting with the grand re-opening of the Canadian Automobile Association’s Estevan office, since CAA is the exclusive sponsor of her wandering ways.
The job entails hitting as many provincial highlight events and regional hotspots as can be accommodated during a very busy year.
George visited several Estevan events while in the city, which are recounted in a feature article that appears in last week’s edition of Lifestyles which will be out this weekend.
It is noted in that article that George has a history of travel, having visited no fewer than 37 countries already.
When she’s finished with the Saskatchewanderer gig, she’s setting her sights on a visit to Antarctica, the final continent on her “to do” list.
“It will probably be an in and out trip, but I want to do some kayaking there and some scuba diving,” she said. George is a fully certified scuba dive master, a skill-set she has acquired during her treks around the globe.
Asked to list her favourite places, outside of Saskatchewan, of course, and she quickly reels off the countries of Madagascar, Malaysia and New Zealand as the best … so far.
She also really enjoyed the time spent in the Philippines, doing a lot of diving there islands.
But in Saskatchewan, as the official ambassador of travel, with the four partner agencies the Ministries of the Economy; Agriculture; Parks, Culture and Sport; and Tourism, along with her CAA sponsors, she said she’s never stuck for an idea or an agenda as to where to go next.
“They all have ideas as to where I can go. I have a few on my personal list, too. Last night, in that big storm, I was in a teepee in the southwest grasslands after hiking with a group of youth ambassadors who were going across Saskatchewan, checking on our highlights. We went looking for the rare blackfooted ferrets that had been reintroduced in that region, but didn’t come across any,” she said.
Fortunately, she doesn’t require a lot of sleep or down time to re-energize. In fact, four or five hours has been the norm this summer, as she’s making the best use of the daylight hours, and a lot of the nighttime intervals too.
Some provincial highlights have included unexpected visits to out-of-the-way spots and also a hitch-hiking experience with the famous Canadian Forces aerobatic team, the Snowbirds, headquartered in Moose Jaw.
“Ya, I threw up,” she admitted, with a laugh. “But you don’t need to put that in your article.” Then she relented, once it was explained that most Snowbird passengers experience the same default reaction, so there was no real humiliation in admitting to what is almost inevitable for inexperienced jet riders absorbing a few additional Gs while rolling through the skies of Saskatchewan.
When she’s finished with the Saskatchewanderer program on Dec. 18, she said she’ll head to her family home on a farm outside Saskatoon to spend Christmas there, before heading to Antarctica.
George said that although she travels solo, “I never get lonely, and I end up being around a lot of people a lot of the time.”
She hasn’t experienced any vehicle failures during her half-year on the road either, except for one unexpected blown tire.
She’s proud of the fact her travel blogs, Twitter accounts and Facebook postings are being picked up at a solid rate. The Saskatchewanderer used to have 10,000 followers, now it has 21,000, and growing.
“The analytics people tell me that’s a huge increase in followers compared with the previous four years, so I’m pleased with that.”
George comes equipped with a couple of degrees, one in English and another in Education from the University of Saskatchewan, but she’s not ready to settle into a traditional classroom setting just yet. The future will probably see her doing more travelling, nationally and internationally and doing some freelance writing and videography work.
She has learned how to travel inexpensively and takes full advantage of the travel bargains. “I was in Vietnam for 35 days and spent less than $800. I keep pretty close track of my pennies. I can tell you how much I’ve spent on ice cream since 2010,” she said with a big laugh.
But even with all this travel experience behind her, George admits to something we’ve all been accused of at one time or another.
“I still pack more than I need. I was getting better at it, but now I can take it with me in the car, so I’m hauling more again,” she said with another chuckle.
What is her objective through all these provincial adventures?
“I would like to think I help people do things they might not know a lot about. Anyone interested in doing a little travelling around Saskatchewan, I can help them. I’m seeing and doing a lot.”
