As Coloradans from around the state flock to the mountains and beaches during summer vacation season, one Denverite has gone above and beyond with his travels. Daniel Zimny-Schmitt is the newest member of the Extra Miler Club, making his way to all 3,143 counties across the United States. He recently finished his cross-country journey and sat down with Bucket List for the July edition of our podcast.
“I’ve always had a case of the travel bug, and I’ve heard trying to visit every county as a very organized form of wanderlust,” Zimny-Schmitt said. “Sooner or later, I was going to find out about this group of people who have made it their goal to make it to every corner of the United States.”
His journey began after the 2016 presidential election when he was shocked by the division across the United States. In response, he made it his goal to traverse his home country on a quest to better understand it.
“I thought that perhaps there’s something more to America that I’m missing, that I haven’t had a chance to fully explore,” Zimny-Schmitt said.
For the last five years, his journey has taken him on Alaskan cruises, through Appalachian hollers, and long stretches on scenic southern highways. After finishing his journey a couple of months earlier, Zimny-Schmitt was able to better grasp some of the U.S.’s most misunderstood places and the people who live there.
“I think it’s a lot easier to be dismissive of places when they’re just places on a map and not places you’ve spent a lot of time traveling to and interacting with locals,” he said. “[Traveling across the country] was a chance to almost fully humanize other people I had maybe thought of unfairly before because of where I grew up and the types of media I consumed.”
Zimny-Schmitt’s extensive travels have given him a better understanding of not only America but also the state of Colorado. Colorado is known for its pristine woods and mountain towns, but the traveler learned there’s much more to the state than that.
“A lot of time when people think of Colorado, they think of Denver, Colorado Springs, Boulder, and then their favorite ski towns and mountain towns,” he said. “That’s a very limited way to look at the state. Forty percent of the state is east of Denver. What’s going on on the Eastern Plains? Driving through those counties taught me a lot about parts of the state that don’t get as much attention.”
Despite the heavy time commitment and lonely drives, Zimny-Schmitt said joining the Extra Miler Club is a worthwhile investment for dedicated travelers. Denver’s location in the center of the country and its massive airport makes it a perfect hub for travelers, which he said gives Coloradans an advantage if they seek to join the club.
Perhaps most importantly, Zimny-Schmitt feels more connected with his home country than ever before. By visiting the medium-sized towns and agricultural sites between big cities, his big picture of America has vastly changed over the last five years of his journey.
“To me, [this journey] was a chance to better understand the country by getting a full appreciation of what those places in between were because everywhere is home to somebody,” Zimny-Schmitt said. “I think we need to remember that not everyone lives in just a few big places that get more attention.”
