Childhood idea sparked a man's journey to visit, document small towns across U.S.: "Every town's got a story"

A Nebraska man is on a mission to tell every small town's story.

Seth Varner, a 25-year-old historian, roams the Midwest for his publishing company, Wandermore, which he started in 2020 after just graduating from high school. He documents landmarks, things to do and places to eat. Then, Varner posts his findings on Wandermore's Facebook pages and sells his self-published travel guides.

"Doesn't matter if it's 10 people, a hundred people, a thousand people … every town's got a story to share," he told "CBS Mornings."

Childhood idea sparked journey

Varner's journey evolved from an idea he had in elementary school. He told his dad he wanted to go to every town in Nebraska.

"And he's like, 'Oh haha,' like, 'Yeah, maybe someday, Seth,'" Varner recalled.

Years passed. Then, when Varner was home from college during the COVID-19 pandemic, he found his third grade scrapbook.

"I was flipping through it. I'm like, 'I can fulfill that dream I had as a 10-year-old,'" he said. "So I recruited one of my best friends and I was like, 'We're gonna go to every town in the state. Are you in?'"

Over the last five years, hundreds of thousands of people have followed Varner online as he's highlighted the historic, quirky and unique parts of small towns.

"There's a town in Nebraska that has one person, and it's this, like, 90-year-old lady. Her name is Elsie and she's the mayor. She's the bartender. She's the librarian. She's even an honorary sheriff of the local county," Varner said.

He's been to every incorporated town in Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Kansas, North Dakota and Minnesota – which he just completed over the weekend.

Each state Varner has visited has its own Wandermore book – with each book's sales funding his next adventure.

He's now traveling with his wife, Eliese Varner, who said it took seeing her husband in action to convince her he was serious about visiting every town.

"I was just kind of in … awe, maybe, 'cuz it is really truly like a lot of work. I could not be more proud of him as his wife and the person who's kind of with him all the time. People really have no idea," she said.

Varner said the Minnesota book sales will be put toward the next goal: visiting every town in Colorado.

Community impact

Varner's travels highlighting small towns has had an immeasurable impact on the people who live in the communities.

"A lot of us don't have a huge advertising budget to get the word out," said Sarah Ferguson, the Chamber of Commerce executive director for the city of Blue Earth, Minnesota. "So when Seth offered to highlight what we have here, I was thrilled."

Blue Earth is home to the Jolly Green Giant, a 55-foot-tall, 8,000 lb. tribute to Minnesota's homegrown canned vegetable company.

Just 15 minutes away in Frost, Minnesota, Varner found the town has added new members with two births in recent weeks – bumping its population from 198 to 200 people.

"Just can't beat the small-town living," said fire chief Nick Olson. "Everybody, you know, can stop and talk to anybody at any random time. And if you need a favor or help with something, everybody will step up."

Varner said he feels like he's "doing something important."

"I can take a small town and then I immortalize it in a book where people a hundred years from now can go back and be like, 'This is what my grandparents' town looked like,'" he said.