50 years later, Bill Steigerwald of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is retracing the journey of John Steinbeck's American travelogue, Travels with Charley: In Search of America.
http://communityvoices.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/arts-entertainment-living/travels-without-charley
Travels with Charley was enjoyable, as was William Least Heat Moon's Blue Highways, written about 20 years later. I'd recommend a visit to your local library for either or both.