Rediscovering America

I've lived abroad for 50 years. On my road trips I set out to rediscover America. I grew up in the America of the 1960s – things are different now. I explored America, travelling across the Lower 48 meeting and talking to folk who told me what had changed, what America is like now, and what the future holds. These conversations shape my book, The Country I Left Behind: Conversations Across America.

About Me

My name is John Deffenbaugh, and I’ve lived outside America for 50 years. My frame of reference is the 1960s when I grew up in Peoria, Illinois. I’ve travelled back to the US frequently since moving abroad in 1971, and these travels have reinforced how much America has changed – it’s no longer the country that I knew.

I therefore wanted to rediscover America, so I set out on long road trips that reflected my personal journey of discovery. The resulting memoir is a socio-political historical travelogue, The Country I Left Behind: Conversations Across America.

My interest in history and politics framed my exploration. I visited places that I’d been before and new places that interested me. I listened to what people said, their views, and what underpined their thinking. I visited old friends to renew connections, shared stories and got their take on what’s happened over the past 50 years. I found out what’s changed and explored what caused this change. I got a glimpse of the future too.

My challenge was to listen, not to advocate. I wanted to hear all views, all perspectives from across the country. I took trains, buses and planes, rented cars and rode bikes, cadged lifts. But unlike my travels in the 1960s, I didn’t hitchhike.

My road trips from 2022-24 came at a momentous time – the convulsions of a contested election were still working their way through the system; 50 years of abortion precedent had been overturned; the economy and wars were causing Americans to question the future as they became more divided.

Through all this, I wanted to keep an open mind – to understand people and circumstances I encountered, and to see what this told me about both America and me. I blogged under the broad categories of the conversations I had, the history I explored, and the travels I took. I also wrote daily diaries on Facebook, offered comment on LinkedIn, and published my pictures on Instagram.