ERIE, Colo. — Seth and Eliese Varner, travel and history authors with Wandermore Publishing, are visiting every incorporated town in Colorado as part of what they call the largest town documentation project in Colorado history.
The couple, both in their 20s, are working their way through all 273 incorporated towns in Colorado. When they finish, they plan to publish "Wandermore in Colorado," a travel guide, history book and living photo album under one cover.
Mike Castellucci caught up with them in Erie where they were trading their usual road trip for something a little different.
"We're on a rail bike at Erie Railbike Adventures," Seth Varner said.
Seth launched Wandermore Publishing after visiting every town in Nebraska — his home state — during the COVID-19 pandemic and his time in college. The project grew from there.
"It's a combination of all my passions. It's writing, it's travel, it's photography," Seth said.
Since then, the couple has documented every town in Nebraska, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, and Minnesota before turning their attention to Colorado.
"We've covered all the Midwest states right — corn fields, alfalfa fields, Kansas plains, the Land O' Lakes in Minnesota, but we've never done a mountainous state. It's so different," Seth said.
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Their goal is to showcase each town's food, art, and history, and to shine a light on communities that might otherwise go unnoticed.
"When people see our posts on Facebook sharing town spotlights, where their business would never be featured otherwise, it's cool to show off that every place matters," Seth said.
That mission resonated with Bob Rummer, owner of Colorado RailBike Adventures in Erie, who welcomed the couple to his business.
"It's not just a bedroom community here. There's history, there's coal mines, railroads, people that have lived and died up and down these railroad tracks, and if we can tell that story, it's not just another subdivision," Rummer said.
The stop in Erie also included trying a Colorado beignet — the kind of local detail that will likely find its way into the pages of "Wandermore in Colorado."
Wandermore Publishing describes its mission on Facebook as "Documenting Midwest history and promoting small-town tourism one community at a time."
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