Steered the road trip to Brooklyn, New York, to talk to Swedish trumpet player Oskar Stenmark, about life as a Swedish musician in the world's biggest melting pot, and about finding your voice through your roots.

Because Oskar comes from a family with generations of musicians behind him, some of whom already toured the United States during the middle of the last century - a discovery that has given him unexpected encounters and an opportunity to go full circle on his family's musical legacy.

I met with Thomas McIntyre Schultz, Communications at Volvo Cars USA, at their headquarters in Mahwah, New Jersey, to talk about Volvo's 70-year history in the United States, how it all started, and the footprints of the company's innovative spirit.

But halfway into this journey, this was also a good opportunity to get to know Thomas as one of my key partners in this adventure. So we got to talk about his Swedish connection, life in New York City, road-tripping in a Volvo - and the weirdness of a Swedish Pizza.

There's a building at 2900 K Street, Northwest, in Washington, DC, overlooking the Potomac River. It's designed by Swedish architects and built from materials reflecting Swedish roots and traditions, and in 2006, it was inaugurated by the King and Queen of Sweden as the home for the Embassy of Sweden - making it the official Swedish footprint in the United States.

It is known as the "House of Sweden" - and it all started with Swedish-born Kate Novak.