I Explored 7 Towns In Rural Nebraska 

I was born in Omaha in 1972, and have lived here my entire life. I had always wondered why I didn’t go to “a more interesting” place in the world. After 2020 happened, I’ve never been more happy to call Nebraska home

And that is why the Nebraska tourism board's motto is "Nebraska, it's not for everyone." I spent 18 years trying to get away from there, but it is the only place I can go back to and feel really refreshed and relaxed.

Just back from a family reunion in central Nebraska (my Mom grew up there). Genuine, honest, hard working, friendly, intelligent and family oriented. The people in Nebraska are what make it special.

I'm from New Jersey, but for about a dozen years, I traveled to Nebraska for business. I've been all over the state. I'm a major fan of Nebraska. The people are some of the most friendly and kind of any I've met. For family reasons, I'm stuck in NJ, but if I had the option, I'd move to Nebraska in a heartbeat. Nebraska may indeed be in a "bubble", but It's a bubble I'd love to live in. Its a wonderful place.

Nebraska native here! It was actually so entertaining to watch an outsider talk about my state for 30 minutes, it feels like everyone forgets about us😅 I feel like you really captured the small towns, you can drive through a hundred of these tiny towns here, but there’s so much more to this state. If you ever come back, there are some really underrated medium sized towns like Grand Island, Norfolk, and even Lincoln, the state capitol. There’s also some really beautiful countryside and rolling hills (not a cornstalk in sight), wooded areas, rivers and lakes that are kind of tucked away and often get missed. Also you can find way better brisket here!

One big issue with urban people moving in is that they drive up home values and Nebraska has extremely high property taxes. So suddenly your property taxes jump 30%-50% for no other reason than the guy next door had so much money that he didn’t care what he paid for the house.

In December 2019, I had to drive from North Platte, NE to Rapid CIty, SD in the middle of the night in between Christmas and New Year's. It was a windy blizzard the whole way north on US 83, but I gassed up in Valentine and continued north, on thankfully dry roads. Upon turning out of town, suddenly I drove into a wall of deep snow (snow drift) that I couldn't get out of. There were trucks, cars, SUV's, and everything else strewn across the road. I opened my door and tried to will myself out, to no avail. The howl of the wind, and the speed with which the snow was falling was like something out of a movie, and by far the most intense snowstorm I've ever been in, and I've been in CO for 15 years. Phone service was spotty, and nobody else stuck could even get to each other if they wanted to. I managed to reach the local Valentine police on the phone. They told me to hunker down until morning (it was about 11:30pm, and Valentine is near a time zone line and I wasn't even sure what time it was). I went to sleep. 2-3 hours later, a smiling policeman was at my window. He had a big smile on his face and said, "We're here to get ya!". He didn't mean my car though, he meant: me. I walked literally 40 feet from my car to dry road, and he put me in a police car (first time EVER) and dumped me in a hotel with inflated rates. He told me somebody would be calling me about my car in the morning. 2 hours later, I got a call from a plow driver. He told me to meet him downstairs to go get my car. I got to ride in a PLOW that moved snow in a circle around my car enough out of the way to get it back to Valentine. I went to the hotel for breakfast and met a couple from Fargo who also got stuck, and a guy from Omaha who was on his way to the Rapid City to go party with his wife who was already there (he totaled his brand new Infiniti in the same snowdrift). Omaha guy was looking for a rental car to take him to Rapid City, but Valentine was sold out of everything, including U-Haul trucks. I offered to give him a ride, he accepted, and we spent the morning prowling the icy badlands on the way to Rapid. I have pictures to share, if you're interested!

Born in raised in small town Nebraska. I never seen any beauty here until traveling the country for my job. I was then in Georgia getting ready to fly home for a couple of weeks vacation to see my family. A couple of elderly ladies that did my laundry every week had heard I was going back to Nebraska for a bit. These ladies told me they would pay a million dollars to see a sunset and a sunrise. I thought what ? You can see that here. No they could not. Because of the hills and the lay of the land , they never saw a sunrise or sunset in that area of Georgia. So while I was on vacation I got up every morning ,climbed to the top of a silo and recorded the sunrise and back at night to record the sunset. When I went back to Georgia I handed the recording over to the two ladies . They were so happy. The next time I seen them they had tears in their eyes and said they would never forget the sunrise and sunset. I went back to Nebraska with a different outlook on my state.

Born and raised in Los Angeles 35 years. South Texas for 5. Hartington, NE. the last 11. And it felt like home from day one. I am not leaving.

Great talking with you Nick! Glad you enjoyed Nebraska.

This channel shows the real America 🇺🇸.

I lived in Nebraska I lived in Nebraska for 14 months before suddenly being transferred back home to Utah. We all literally cried. We loved our time there. The people, the vibe in Omaha, it was wonderful there.

I'm 7th generation Nebraskan. If you are from a big city, don't come here. You will hate it. Nebraska. Honestly, it's not for everyone.

Grew up in rural Kentucky and joined The Navy. Lived in big cities and medium cities and recently lived in rural Ireland where I was born. We moved to West Omaha 3 years ago and will NEVER leave. The pace of life, cost of living, the people, the ethics, the values...there's no beating it. GBR!

As a truck driver I have for a long time thought Nebraska was an underrated state and now that I’m getting close to retirement and can go anywhere me and my wife have been looking at it more

Small town America is probably the most authentic part of this country left

Was born and raised in Nebraska,Fremont and ainsworth.joined the Marines right out of high school in 1966.traveled around the world while a marine including that oriental jewel of Vietnam once out of Marines ,lived in Idaho,California for one winter and colorado.moved back to Nebraska and been here ever since love it.

As a native Nebraskan I did my best to leave and lived on the East Coast and Tokyo. I returned when I inherited property and now appreciate Omaha for the super great city it has become. It is a hidden gem. Our other bigger cities are equally great. Thanks for the video.

I grew up in a small rural Nebraska town, which was the county seat. Population was about 1,500. This was back in the early 70's, before smartphones, car navigation systems, and paper maps were the only navigation tools. Times were pretty boring, but that just brought out the creative juices. Gasoline was cheap, so we made a game out of driving on rural roads, many gravel, and just taking random choices of turns and deliberately getting lost amongst the never ending farm fields. But, it never failed that we would end up in a familiar rural village. Then we reoriented ourselves and knew how to get back to home base. It was the journey and the comradery that helped us cope. These ride-alongs were good fun.

From the age of eleven, I grew up in Sterling, Colorado. Sterling is a small farming and ranching community in northeastern Colorado, a scant twenty miles from the Nebraska border. Go another ten or so miles and your in Sidney, Nebraska, the birthplace of Cabella’s where the first store is still in operation. Sterling is Nebraska with Colorado license plates. Growing up in Sterling gave me a good morale compass and taught me that friends and family are worth far far more than things.

I'm from Blair, NE and everyone loves Casey's pizza so much that it's a tradition at Blair High School to bring Casey's breakfast pizza or the local bakery's glazed donuts to homeroom for Food Fridays.

We don't just hunt. We also fish, camp, and hike. 🙂

Crops and husker football the topic of most discussions

I live in a town of 75 people 45mn from Murray NE. As a truck driver I travel the country. Including some of the biggest cities. Its literally a relief when I get to my little town. Safe quiet. Everyone gets along. Granted I have to drive 20miles to get a good meal or groceries but 20 miles is 20 min on a low traffic hwy.

I’m from little town Illinois. A year ago I was asked to do a 3rd interview for a company whose headquarters were in western Nebraska. They said “we will fly you out” I asked if I could just drive…I wanted to see the same things you did. Great state and the people were so friendly! I could live there. Thx for the video

Many Czech immigrants (arrived 1860-1910) in NE. Try some kolace, people.

We'd love to have you in the panhandle! The landscape is really stunning. Elsie is absolutely representative of the older women in Nebraska. They are tough, tiny, and suffer no fools!

Hey Nick. You haven't seen all of Nebraska until you've been out to the Sand Hills. Pictures don't do it justice. You should go to Halsey and the national forest just west.

This is a Fantastic channel I always enjoy the video's Nebraska looks very peaceful and it has no traffic. I am so tired of New York City traffic it must be nice to drive on Nebraskas peaceful quite roads.

I’m from Dublin, Ireland. My boyfriend is from Nebraska and this summer I went to North Platte and Omaha to meet his family. I loved it. A very relaxed feel about it and the people are lovely. I look forward to going back.

Nebraska is one of my favorite states. Much of the Midwest and Great Plains is very underrated because people think it’s boring and while there is some truth to that, the region isn’t as boring as people think and it’s a great place to live.

Hell, I even thought I was dead 'til I found out it was just that I was in Nebraska.

Nick thank you for your videos. I work a rather stressful job in accounting/finance. Listening/watching your videos is therapeutic to me and helps calm my anxiety.

"SUPER SUPER AWESOME VIDEO!!! 🔥I love the way you put it together!! I think this is one of the best ones yet !! ❤ Looking forward to your next one! It's awesome!!

the way you put the videos together with humour . never stop brother enjoy watching all your videos lot to learn

I long for the day when we stop judging others by their politics. Community is community - its what people make it. And quite honestly, these little towns look like a complete slice of heaven compared to the inner city ghettos. 'Middle of nowhere' is gonna appeal to a LOT of people for all the reasons you listed.

Elsie probably had no idea what a Zoom call is. She might have thought you were wanting to come to her home. 😂

I live in Lincoln and I can tell you Nebraska is maybe a little boring at times but the trade off is low crime and friendly people. The schools are very good and the cost of living is good. Some times you find some of the best eating places in small town Nebraska. Sometimes I wish I lived in places like Orlando, but honestly Nebraska isn't bad at all. BTW Omaha may have the best zoo in the Country!

What a great episode Nick ; it’s so much fun seeing all the small town stuff through your eyes . What FUN !!!!!!!

Thanks for the great video. I’ve seen some of ur other stuff and I think u ndo a nice job. Appreciate all the nice things u had to say about my home state. I left when I was 20 now I’m 60. Since leaving I’ve lived in NYC , LA, San Francisco, Nashville. Santa Monica now. But the Only place I can still really relax and feel recharged is Nebraska. Heading back tomorrow to visit the folks for a couple of months. Your vid got me in a good frame of mind. Thanks man.

Another great relatable video Nick! I have lived in both Omaha and the city of Columbus Nebraska. Been through Blair and Plattsmouth both several times many years ago. I’ve been across Nebraska on Interstate 80 so many times I can’t count them. Again, eastern Nebraska reminds me a lot of southeast Iowa where I live and am from. I’m south of Iowa City 30 miles. In many ways one can’t beat living in the Heartland of America. Well don Sir! Mark in Iowa.

Been through the state many times always going somewhere else never taking time to stop and take in the beauty and peace thanks for an uplifting video for a change 👍

New favourite channel. Love love LOVE your work! 🍿🩷 (Sending joy from the Whitsundays, Australia -- married to a small town Nebraskan)

I currently live in Omaha, but grew up around Murray and Plattsmouth. I know those towns and back roads well. This was over all a pretty accurate video, with Nick’s classic way with words. The vibe here is definitely very different from the states around us. Even on this very far eastern part of the state, people almost give of a… western or cowboy vibe. Go 5 miles to the east into Iowa and people act like a Wisconsin dairy farmer. Will be exited to see a video with Nick’s thoughts on Omaha itself.

Excellent again Nick!

Family is from Fremont. It’s hard to visit because there’s just nothing to do. But there is a simplicity and honesty there that is definitely desirable. Property taxes and car insurance is insanely high though.

This video was tremendously helpful!

I've been in Nebraska a few years now, the people here are great and down to earth, very affordable too. Sadly with Omaha growing comes overdevelopment like anywhere, they're starting to spread outward into the surrounding towns here. Makes you appreciate the smaller towns for its natural landscapes and open skies.

I'm 24 and have lived in Omaha my entire life and love it here. I want to travel, but Omaha will always be home base. I just hope people from the coasts dont move here and ruin it

I love Kansas and Nebraska! Thank you Nick!

Being from the other end of Nebraska and currently living on the Iowa/Nebraska border (not far from Blair Ne) and I drive for a ride share in Omaha/Council Bluffs. I've also been all over the states. the Blair getting a resurgence was more about Wal-Mart moving in. people stayed in Blair cause it wasnt far from Omaha and could commute while still living somewhere quieter. the Wal-Mart made everything much more convenient as it attracts business from the smaller towns north, east and west of Blair. Omaha is hitting a new growth spurt, having talked to a lot of the people coming into the area via the airport I've learned that its becoming the new tech place to be. many people in the tech business are calling it "Silicon Prairie". lots of tech start ups and hubs filtering in. Taxes, cost of living, and what they need to pay for workers is much better for businesses to succeed. and its not "unfair" pay at all, going back to cost of living. it really shines when it has all the amenities of larger cities and much less crime rate. that did for a short period change in 2020 during the riots, but its mostly cooled back off since then. Measuring Omaha size one must take into account that there are several smaller towns/cities involved. Omaha is connected to Bellevue, Elkhorn and a few other that are considered part of Omaha. there is also the Air Force Base and the Army Base here as well. there is also a lot going on scenery and nature wise through out Nebraska. large lakes that are great for fishing, and some with interesting stories like the town that's at the bottom of a lake. plenty of great hiking "hills" the Wild Cat hills are amazingly beautiful, then you have oddity type art such as the "Carhenge" around Alliance Nebraska. The Ethanol part is actually a huge downside, while economically it's helped. Ecologically its actually worse than regular fuel. takes 131,000BTU to create 77,000BTU of ethanol. we spend more energy to create less effective fuel. conversion is around 1.29 gallons of gas to make 1 gallon of Ethanol which doesn't burn as well. and the "rich farmer" this isnt as simple as "they sold $500,000 in crops this year" that half a mill would be mostly used up in the next years production between equipment, fuel, seeds, fertilizer/pesticides, insurance, taxes, any farm hands they may have, etc, then they have to live off that and one season can see a farm go "belly up". if Nick ever wanted I could take him on an actual tour of Nebraska and show the good, bad, and the ugly of the state.

Omaha Nebraska is a pretty cool city!-love that you can see for miles over the fields:) great vid Nick! The Casey’s pizza contest is amazing😂

Not related to Nebraska, but I’m actually driving from Nashville to Chicago for Thanksgiving, and this video inspired me to take the backroads and explore a little bit.

Nebraska is the best place on earth, people are welcoming, in Omaha some supply shops do cookouts and anybody who wants stop by gets to eat like if you’re part of the family we celebrate our Nebraska football no matter the outcome, it’s about having fun! Good meat, beer’s and local Wineries, yup here we live the good life! Go Big Red!!!!

I really like your videos Nick, I'm planning on road tripping across the country in the next couple years, and your videos get me excited to do so. Thanks for showing everyone the REAL America.

Lived in Nebraska as a child, so when i get bored i go on google earth and visit some of my old childhood homes … all still there

You missed the panhandle - the most beautiful part of the state! Try Chadron, Crawford, and Scottsbluff next time. I’m in Omaha - I saw you filming in front of my shop! I’ve watched your videos for a long time but didn’t wanna bug you. Thanks for visiting

After living in SD, CA & NV, I'm happy to be living back in Neb where its quiet, safe and comfortable place to live. Appreciate the Video.

This video made me miss Nebraska more than I thought I ever could. The people, places, sights, smells, and the overall beauty. Always love my time when I visit family. Go Big Red!

You never mentioned all the good things in Nebraska, the parks , or sightseeing like Chimney Rock , Bayard Nebraska . The railroad town of Alliance Nebraska. The Courthouse and Jail house Rock, Bridgeport Nebraska. Scottsbluff Nebraska with Scotts Bluff National Monument. The Ashfall Fossil Beds of Antelope County in northeastern Nebraska .There are rodeos , county fairs , square dancing . Can't forget McConaughy Lake in Ogallala Nebraska. Etc... I love Nebraska .I can't understand most of what you are talking about, with the bubble , It's a quite , peaceful, calm area, We never wore mask around Nebraska city either.

How are the internet and wireless phone services like in rural areas like these?

“They’re not assholes” means more than all the good reasons to live in the rural Midwest.

I'm from a small town in Colorado that is 7 miles from Nebraska. I can relate to all of this. Lot's of wide open spaces, lots of people knowing everyone in town, and very little crime. I moved to the big city when I graduated from high school. I miss the community we had. I miss people helping people and sharing things with others. I don't miss the isolation. Now I can live either I the country or in the city, but I prefer the country.

When you sang the Nebraska song, I cracked-up!! Good to see Mappy too!

I grew up in Nebraska and left in 1983. I was tired of the tornados and the snow blizzards .. it’s expensive to live there now and not where I want to be

I'm from Nebraska. I got super excited to see you did a video on Nebraska. Can't wait to see what you include!

No used to such a calm comforting review!!! I live in the western mountains of Maine and really feel lucky!

Nebraska in the summer is amazing! Way to capture its good Nick!

Love your videos!!! Keep up the great content!

Omaha is actually quite a nice city. And about 1M people in the metro. Omaha is not inexpensive to live in at all. Housing prices are high, property taxes are high, auto license is ridiculously high, and everything else is pretty high priced. Not NYC high, however, plenty high priced to live.

Thanks for the video!

It's great you interview a person who grew up there and then moved away so now they have a real perspective on the area. I grew up in Kansas. But moved away in my twenties then now have lived overseas for the last 20 years. The charms, the good and the bad are all very apparent to me now that I have an outside perspective (to Kansas and the US as a nation).

I grew up in rural Nebraska (corn and towns with under 1000 people) and my family still lives there. They were all fully aware of Covid, but didn't mask up due to common sense precautions, not out of ignorance. Covid rates and deaths there were usually far less severe than larger cities where masks were required everywhere.

I went through the heartland for a few weeks and it was the best trip ive ever taken in my 48yrs.

I grew up in NE and what makes it boring is that the land is so valuable that it's almost all private property, so there are very few places to roam. It's not like the west with the huge amounts of public land you can explore.

You ought to do a lot more of these small town series through out the country! As far as I'm concerned if it has a Fd, Pd, hospital and grocery stores maybe a restaurant it's perfect!!!

Loved this one Nick! seems like somewhere I might be able to retire and have a good life!

You just saved my mom $5! I grew up in Fremont, but my dad's sister & her husband & daughter live in Blair; so I shared this video with her. Mom was talking about getting taco pizza to take to a friend's house on Saturday for the Husker game; thanks to your appraisal of Blair's Casey’s Pizza compared to Sabetha’s, I suggested she should get it at Casey's. Fremont’s Casey's has taco pizza for $17, compared to $22 at the other place she was looking at!

Nebraska born and raised. Extreme Southeast Nebraska are my old stomping grounds. Moved out of state 25 years ago, but it still feels like home to me.

If you want to know more about the communities you are looking at wait until next summer and plan to go to their County Fair. It will give you a pretty good idea of what the people are like that live in the immediate area. Maybe you'll find some places that are more to your liking than others. I think what scares people from rural America more than anything is having people from the big cities move and watch their neighborhood and their schools turn into the same thing that you read about in the news in the big cities. Not saying that the small towns don't have problems but it's a hell of a lot harder to hide when you're in a community that is small because everyone knows you and they will figure out what you're up to if you are up to something no good.

I live in longpine nebraska, a small town and has a nice spot called hidden paradise. Really beautiful here!

It is a time for the simple life. I have passed through many places like this across the country, stopping in the local diner. A peaceful, easy feeling.

Life long Omahan here, I know this video is a year old at this point but just wanted to say that I feel like you missed the western portion of the state, Chadron, Ogallala, Scottsbluff, it's really a different state completely out there. Also I love that living in Omaha we're in the perfect sized city (just over a million people in the area) but anywhere in the city you're 30 mins from nature. Growing up us kids always wanted to move to a bigger city but end up coming back or never leaving bc after experiencing other places you realize you have it alot better in Nebraska. Lastly on the point of Valentine, one of the biggest industries out there is tourism. They have a massive wildlife reserve out there with all kinds of naturally roaming wild animals as well as the Niobrara River which has a ton of different waterfalls flowing into it and has a massive river rafting and tubing industry attached to it. Going through there in the summer the Niobrara is covered in people on giant interube rafts and canoes with a major stop on the route being Smith Falls state park, host of the biggest natural waterfall in Nebraska, great summertime Nebraska trip

i live in omaha, but frequently visit small towns in nebraska/ iowa. everyone is so friendly. and i think omaha is a fantastic place to live

I just love places where people are able to respect each other!!! If I were American I would definitely choose to move to Nebraska for the rest of my life. The gal in the end of the video said the older folks there live "in a bubble" and don't wear muzzles. Boy, it's just because they're not as gullible as the younger generation moving out to big cities!

Im from DC and moved to Nebraska 30 yers ago. I have never seen a tornado but two of those sideways wind storms in the past three years. The three months in winter DEC, JAN, and FEB are brutal and summers can be horrible like 105 for a whole month and then flirting with it the month before and month after. I like Nebraska because I dont have to be amongst seven thousand people when I go shopping. I avoid all Walmarts because you know who shops there. I go local or small when shopping for food. If it wasnt for the schools here, Nebraska would probably be the reddest state in the union. ANd they are building like crazy. The older people are genuine and they dont look at color (im black). How many times have I gone to a farm and left with a bushel of corn or twenty watermelon. Good people.

Great video. Funny that Elsie hung up on you. I’m sure she gets solicited for interviews all the time. You may have driven right past where I grew up and my parents still live. Basically half way between Monowi and Valentine on Hwy 12. Your interviewer touched on alot of things that are true. I do want to add to her comments about “nothing to do”. That statement is all a matter of perspective. I loved on a ranch as a kid outside of a town with 100 people and felt like there was plenty to do. I did always get excited to go to the bigger towns or cities on trips and liked the convenience of city life. I think that is what pulls most people away from small communities. Convenience and jobs that aren’t just ag based. I think there is also an element of seeking anonymity. When you grow up in a small town everyone knows who you are and you can’t go anywhere without running into somebody you know. In the city you don’t feel obligated to acknowledge every person you run into.

On a quiet night here, you can hear the bluegill fart.... Your eloquence is only surpassed by your willingness to share your narrative. I love it 😂👍. 48 years I've lived in Lincoln nebraska, every morning I wake I think is this the day I'm going to drive away and never come back LOL

I spent the first 10 years of my life in Nebraska. Lincoln. North Platte. Kearney. I went back for a visit after I graduated high school. Hot and humid. Bugs. Hailstorms and tornadoes. Nope. Not going back there again.

I don't miss the winters ,but you are very accurate on the rest.My fathers family came over from Sweden around 1890 and had a farm in Malcolm and a blacksmith shop,my cousin Pat ran the boat and camper show in Lincoln for 50 years,he also ran Crazy Cracker fireworks for 50 years and they had over 30 locations. My dad's brother was head supervisor on Lincoln city water dept in the 70s ,I have been to Blair nebraska .

This is a really enjoyable and informative video. Thanks.

Great landscape, great vid

Lots of people move to places like this because they don’t like where they are. Small towns are proud and welcome others as long as you don’t try and change how it’s been for many generations.

I'm very glad you enjoyed Runza! There are two Runza locations in CO, two in IA, one in KS and one is actually opening up in WY soon otherwise yes all of the rest are in NE but not all are in NE and they are actually slowly growing also try a burger if you come ever back to a Runza location as they are also good.

great video man i love small town nebraska life

Nick, love your videos, keep up the great work

I love the Midwest. Looks really nice to me out there.

👏 Thank you Nick!

Hey there. I stumbled on your website as I’m homesick for Nebraska. Born and bred here from Lincoln Ne. I was married and lived on a farm 2004-2016 near plattsmouth!! I divorced and left for cali. However, my heart is in Nebraska and I hope to come back!! GBR. It’s the good life and trust me. I wish I could be back!! I’m 58 years young!! ❤❤❤

Anyone notice the commercials from few companies lately about families selling land to become a big shot by “helping people” Great video! and the jingle in the beginning good stuff 🤣 said with legit respect