Courtesy of Seth Varner
At just 25 years old, Nebraska-based Seth Varner has visited all 856 incorporated communities in Minnesota as part of his Wandermore Projects—from Ada to Zumbrota and everywhere in between.
The adventure unfolded over nine and a half months and was split into 12 “legs,” beginning in the southwestern community of Steen and concluding in the city of Montrose, about 45 minutes west of Minneapolis. As for why someone would take on such a feat—especially a non-Minnesotan—Varner’s answer is simple: for the love of wandering more.
A travel writer by trade, Varner is the mind behind the Wandermore Projects: a series of books and social media content aimed at documenting Midwestern history and promoting small-town tourism. Each project highlights every incorporated community in a given state through a collection of write-ups and photos shared on the project’s Facebook page. In an effort to capture the town’s present-day character, Varner highlights everything from unique architecture and community sites to restaurants and other local businesses.
Once a project is complete, Varner compiles his material into a physical book—equal parts travel guide, history book, and photo album—published through his own company, Wandermore Publishing. With the help of his wife and travel partner, Eliese, Varner personally packages and ships every copy sold.
Today, the Wandermore Projects are successful enough to be Varner’s full-time job, but that wasn’t always the case. In 2020, he was a college freshman newly sent back to his hometown due to the pandemic. Bored and drawing inspiration from a series of childhood road trips with his father, Varner asked his friend a simple question: “Want to visit every town in Nebraska this summer?” The idea stuck, and after a bit of rebranding and redirection, the Wandermore Projects were born.
After checking Nebraska, Iowa, the Dakotas, and Kansas off his list, Varner completed Wandermore in Minnesota in late November, marking his sixth (and most ambitious) project to date; along the way, he met around 700 people, ate at over 200 local restaurants, toured nearly 70 museums, and took approximately 115,000 photos. The book chronicling his journey across the Land of 10,000 Lakes is now available to purchase online.
Recently, we caught up with Varner to learn about the highlights of his travels, the value of exploring your home state, and his advice for fitting more adventure into your life.
You have a goal of encouraging people to explore their home states, and you started this journey in your own home state of Nebraska. What were some things you learned during this trip that inspired you to keep the projects going?
When you’re a kid, you’re kind of in your own bubble. All I ever knew was Wahoo, [Nebraska], and the country and small towns around it. There’s this 20- to 30-mile radius that was my world. So, when I started Wandermore in Nebraska, what we started realizing was that even if your town only has 50, 500, or 5,000 people, there are these little quirky things that still make up every town … every town has something unique, and a little story to tell. It evolved into being like, Nebraska is a state that should be celebrated, and we should do this and share it with the world.
‘Never stop wandering more’ is a phrase you frequently use as a slogan. What’s the value of wandering more in a place you’ve lived your entire life?
As you’re growing up, you know about these towns [in your state], but you don’t really think to actually go and do things there. You kind of stick to your local bars, stick around the hometowns. But when you go out and wander more, you get a different perspective. There’s this town that’s the same size an hour away, where they have their own lives, their own bars, their own little attractions and museums and stuff. It’s literally right down the road, and you would never think to do it if you didn’t go visit for yourself. I really try to get people to see that there’s more out there than just your little bubble.
Especially if you live in a big city like Minneapolis, there are a million things to do. But if you give yourself another two hours, you open up a lot of doors … you don’t have to go very far for a day trip to go see and do something super fun.
When you look back on the last five years, how has Wandermore evolved since your first project? How do you feel about where you are right now?
It has changed so much. It was April, 2020, so we had just been sent home because of COVID-19. When I got this idea to start visiting all the towns, that’s really all it was. We weren’t really taking a lot of pictures; we weren’t sharing on social media. It was just me and my buddy, like, hey, we’re bored, we just want to go to these towns and see what’s going on … that’s all it was for a while.
I started putting it on Facebook so my mom [could] see, and then suddenly, the media started showing up—newspapers, radio, even a TV station. And it kind of turned into people being like, ‘You should share more pictures. You should share a little history stuff, too.’ We started sharing all these spotlights, and the project ended, and people said ‘Hey, we want to relive this over and over again. This was a cool project.’ So, using my high school yearbook experience, I threw together this book … it was rough, but it still did pretty well. It got me thinking: What if we try every town in Iowa and do something similar, but I know I’m going to write a book ahead of time?
By the time Minnesota rolls around, I shoot and document 95% [or more] of the town. So, to put a bow on it, it basically went from not knowing what to do for a summer during COVID to documenting the history of every town and promoting tourism. Over those five years, I learned more and more each year that this is really important, and people actually care a lot about their hometowns. It’s cool to give every town their chance in the spotlight.
What assumptions did you have about Minnesota going into this project? Did you find that your takeaways aligned with them?
I think there are two points: the topography of the state, in general, and the people themselves. I’ll start with the people. Here in Nebraska, we say “Nebraska Nice”—everyone’s willing to lend you a helping hand. In Minnesota, it was much of the same. Before each trip, I would ask [on Facebook], ‘I’m going to these 70 towns over the next eight or nine days; what are the highlights of your communities?’ Over the course of the year, thousands of people sent messages, emails, and comments. I’m just some dude posting on the internet, and that many people flock to the page and follow along to see if I did their suggestions or ate at their restaurant… it’s kind of just a Midwest thing. It’s “Midwest Nice” in general.
As far as differences go, the first five states I did are the five least forested states in the entire United States. In Minnesota, it starts in the prairie, and I was like, okay, this is really similar. Then, when you start going north, suddenly these forests start appearing and just continue. I totally was not expecting that; I had no idea that was a thing. The North Shore, same thing … I knew Lake Superior was there, but I never thought there were fishing villages, ports, and freighters.
I have to ask about the highlights of your trip. What were some of your favorite attractions you visited?
It’s really hard, because so many things happened on this trip. I ate at, like, 250 restaurants, went to 70 museums, went to all the state parks but six. But off the top of my head, the things I’ve talked about the most to people have been the trolls in Detroit Lakes—ever since Thomas Dambo put those there, that’s been a huge thing. I loved that area.
Then, there’s the World’s Largest Pelican in Pelican Rapids, the World’s Largest Loon in Vergas, just all kinds of crazy things. Otherwise, everyone talks about the North Shore, but it’s really hard not to. Especially being from Nebraska, it’s just cool that that exists in the Midwest. We loved seeing the waterfalls. We went into Canada for a bit too, to do the loop around to High Falls in Grand Portage State Park. The Northwest Angle was another big thing, just getting to do that and say I was the northernmost person in the [contiguous] U.S. for the five minutes I stood by the buoy.
Courtesy of Seth Varner
What does the future of Wandermore look like?
We want to do every town in at least 10 states; that’s the goal right now. We’re going to Colorado next year, kind of switching it up. Otherwise, we’ve talked about Tennessee, because we love the Smoky Mountains.
What advice do you have for people who want to start fitting more exploration into their daily lives?
Just think about what you’re into. Don’t be afraid to have a ‘throw a dart at the map’ mentality. You can target your own interests, take advantage of your hobbies. If you love fishing, pick a lake you’ve never been to before, go fish that lake, and then go to the local town and see what they offer at the bar, go to the local museum … whatever there is in that particular area. Focus on interests first, something you can center the trip around, then go from there.
Or even flip a coin, and if it’s heads, you turn left, and if it’s tails, you turn right. See what you run into. You don’t always have to have a game plan. If I could just be on the road all the time, I wouldn’t have an itinerary. I would just go for it.
Courtesy of Seth Varner
To learn more about the Wandermore Projects and order the “Wandermore in Minnesota” book, visit wandermorepublishing.com. A full archive of Varner’s travels can also be found on the Wandermore in Minnesota Facebook page.
Editor’s Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
