After World War II, many women in the United States returned to domestic life to make jobs available for returning soldiers. While some housewives thrived making happy homes and families, Esther Bubley found joy on the road behind the lens. Bubley was a documentary photographer, inspired by the photo essays she saw in LIFE magazine as a teen. In 1942, she was hired by Roy Stryker as a darkroom lab technician at the Office of War Information and was promoted to field photographer the following year. She captured everyday scenes in Middle America, photographing stories for magazines including LIFE and the Ladies Home Journal, and for corporate clients like Pepsi-Cola and Pan Am. Bubley did not drive, so she initially photographed within the Washington, DC area. Stryker next assigned her to document increased bus travel resulting from gasoline and tire rationing. She set off on a month-long trip across the United States by Greyhound Bus, photographing along the way to encourage Americ...