The Trans-Canada, the world's longest national highway, comes to life in words and pictures.

Russia has the Trans-Siberian Highway, Australia has Highway 1, and Canada has the Trans-Canada Highway, an iconic road that stretches almost 8,000 kilometres across six time zones.

In the summer of 2012, on the highway's 50th birthday, Mark Richardson drove its entire length to find out how the road came to be and what it's now become. In his daily account of the 10-week road trip, originally published as a blog on macleans.ca, he follows the original "pathfinders" Thomas Wilby and Jack Haney, who tried to drive across the country before there were enough roads, he discovers the diverse places along the highway that contribute to the country's character, and he meets the people who make the Trans-Canada what it is today - the road that connects a nation.

Mark Richardson is an automotive journalist who contributes regularly to the Globe and Mail's GlobeDrive. He is the former editor of the Toronto Star's Wheels section, and the author of Zen and Now and Canada's Road. Mark lives in Cobourg, Ontario.