I drove the Volvo and Airstream to Lindsborg in Kansas - a town still proud of its Swedish heritage - to talk with Ron Michael, Director of the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery, about the Swedish artist who put Kansas high on the American art scene.

Birger Sandzén was born in Blidsberg, Sweden, in 1871. He studied art in Stockholm with Anders Zorn and Richard Berg and in Paris with Edmond François Aman-Jean. At the age of 23 (1894), he left Sweden for a teaching position at Bethany College in Lindsborg - where he remained for the remainder of his career.

- Only 100 years apart!

What makes this extra special is that Birger Sandzén's birthplace, "Blidsberg" is in the southern parts of the County where I was born (Skaraborg) almost 100 years later, and that this museum in the middle of Kansas shows a series of motifs from where I grew up: Skara, Läckö, and Kinnekulle.

Sir Donald Glenn Peterson's family history starts with his grandfather, Enoch, leaving Sweden at age 19 for a life in the United States, immediately signing up to fight with the US Army in France during WW1, only to return after the war to start a newspaper in Denver, Colorado, building a communication hub for Swedes and Americans alike that stood for three generations.

And it culminates with Donald receiving the Swedish Royal Order of the Polar Star medal for his long-standing service as Honorary Swedish Consul by His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.

- This road trip podcast stopped in Denver, Colorado, to hear him tell his family's epic story.

Between the 1850s and the early 1900s, approximately 10,000 Swedes left their homeland and emigrated to the United States to join the fast-growing movement of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) around Salt Lake City, Utah.

- Lars Ronér's family was one of those who came.

Hear him tell the story of his family being a part of the Swedes who settled down at "the end of the world" and how a lucky move to San Francisco made him an icon in the advertising world - and how language can define 'home'.

The search for Swedish footprints within the United States diverted my road trip to the University of Nevada in Reno, to speak to basketball player Hanna Jolinder, who recently arrived to take the position as Guard in the Nevada Wolf Pack after years in the highest basketball league in Sweden, including a position in the Swedish National Team.

We sat down in the Airstream and talked about the importance of support from older teammates, the differences between Swedish and American players, and about embracing your talent.

The all-American road trip led me to the many wineries of Sonoma Valley, where I met up with Swedish-born Katarina Bonde at West Wines, the vineyard she founded with her husband almost twenty years ago.

We talked about stepping into the winemaking industry without really knowing what to expect, about how grapes teach you patience, and about what it was like to have the first American wine selected for the Nobel Prize banquet.

- And what is it about this ancient beverage that makes it so special?

Listen to her story on what to expect when buying a small vineyard - years in the waiting, years in the making - and if there's a Swedish way of growing grapes.

Mr. Shelgren is a movie producer, writer, and director for the world-renowned Ojai Film Festival, north of Los Angeles, California. He is also 'Sven' to most people who've met him, a nickname he took in honor of his Swedish heritage.

We met in the Airstream as the podcast tour passed Ojai, and we talked about the spirit of creativity, the changes in Hollywood, and being proud of who you are - and about rollercoasters, the myth of the Swedish Blondes, and not finding polar bears in Stockholm.

Gudrun Giddings is a movie & TV producer based in Los Angeles, California, and she's also the Honorary Consul of Sweden in LA - and in my mind the perfect guest when Letters from America visits "La-La-Land".

But Gudrun had another plan and wasn't all up for questions about an industry that, in her mind, tends to be overexposed. Instead, she turned the tables - literally - and sat me in the guest seat to answer all her questions about the road trip tour.

This is the "Malibu Coup"!

Ingrid Hagelberg (or "Vismaya") stumbled into this tour by chance while I was visiting Sedona, Arizona, where she has lived for many years. Her life story takes wild turns, making it hard to keep up, but it all comes back to one thing - her passion for singing.

Ingrid is an International Jazz Singer and award-winning actress, born in Trelleborg, Sweden, with a career that stretches from Tokyo to Los Angeles, South Africa to Poland, and Sweden to Germany, alongside international recording sessions, TV shows, and award-winning stage performances.

“Letters from America" is a road trip podcast in search of the Swedish heritage in the United States - stories from a country built with bricks from all parts of the world.

- It’s the letters from America, about America, to America.

I am Martin Wærn, and in partnership with the Embassy of Sweden in Washington, DC, Volvo Cars USA, Volvo Trucks USA, and Airstream Inc. , I'm on a twelve-month tour to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence by exploring the people and places of Swedish America through a series of interviews and short stories.

It’s a coast-to-coast (and back) assignment, through Swedish American stories found in New Sweden, Maine, the Bronck House, Coxsackie, Mount Rushmore, South Dakota - and everything in between.

We’ll meet both well-known and everyday voices, sharing their stories alongside daily posts of all the mishaps, fortunes, lucky strikes, wrong turns, and right mornings that will shape us throughout the year.

I met with Pia Nilsson, the former Senior Head Coach for the Swedish National Teams in Golf, co-founder of Vision 54, and the coach behind multiple victories on the LPGA Tour, PGA Tour, European Tour, and Japan Tour, including several major winners and top-ranked world players, outside her home in Scottsdale, Arizona - to speak about everything I don't know about golf.