I spent six months driving all of America. I visited all 48 states and saw many of the beautiful and even profound things that this country has. You name it, I saw it.

But, I also saw the beauty of America in a way I didn't expect.

It was the television show "Friends".

Allow me to explain.

Up until this point in my life I lived a pretty busy, pretty typical, American life. So, I had known about the tv show Friends and had watched a few episodes over the years. but I didn't know it that well.

As I spent my six month adventure around the country I stayed in various motels all around the country, in every state, in small towns and in big cities. My stay in each place was usually between 2 and 3 days. That gave me time to research what I wanted to see and experience locally. That was either the museums, city centers, famous buildings, tourist sites, etc.

And I developed a nice routine. Each morning I would wake up in my motel and while performing my morning rituals of showering, shaving, packing, (or unpacking) and researching, I would turn on the television for some basic information about weather or news.

Everywhere I was in the country, no matter how small or how large the community there was always a channel that had syndicated re-runs of the television show "Friends".

The show ran for ten years and they made 236 episodes.

I got familiar with the story arc of the show and followed along with it as I traveled the country.

It's a light sitcom about six friends in their twenties simply trying to make their way through life. In a light and not very heavy way they faced all the common challenges that we all face as Americans. This includes friendship, dating, relationships, career, success, failure, money, family and more.

The show is simply Iconic light America. They did Christmas episodes, Thanksgiving episodes, New Years episodes and more.

We spent time with various friends at home and also at their places of work. And of course, we spent lots of time in the local coffee shop.

And after a while I came to the realization that as I traveled around the country seeing the magnificence of America I also got a very wonderful and often very funny look at the beautiful thing that the American people are - not just by meeting them, seeing them and observing them in real life but also by watching that quirky and light-hearted television series entitled "Friends".

In some small way, as I followed the story arc over those months these six quirky characters became my friends.

On this map I kept track of my progress around the country.

If you want to learn more about this adventure you can see pictures, watch videos and read all about it here: Will's adventure around America