In 1988, I made a pitch to my bosses at the Star Tribune for a special assignment: to retrace the route John Steinbeck took as he roamed the country in 1960, resulting in his classic book, “Travels With Charley.”

The journey took me through 36 states, and each Friday for nine weeks I pulled off the road, made camp or got a motel room and wrote an essay for the Sunday Star Tribune.

Over the years, people have asked to see the series, and it has been difficult to share clips or links – until now. And I’m thinking there might be interest now, as we’re facing another presidential election, another chance to ask (as Steinbeck did), “Who are we, we Americans? Where are we headed?”

Others have embarked on similar journeys in the years since, and my friend Clay Jenkinson, a great American humanities scholar, is traveling the country now and producing reports inspired by Steinbeck’s account.

It’s just my Travels series here now, but I may add other favorite stories in the future.

The photograph of me surveying a part of my beloved North Dakota was taken by my friend and colleague, Brian Peterson, one of the best newspaper photographers in the country. The scene is just west of the Missouri River, on lands of the Mandan, Arikara and Hidatsa people, in summer 2004. We were marking the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition passing through on their way to the Pacific in 1804 and returning in 1806.

Safe travels, and good reading!

Chuck Haga