In early August, my editors came to me with an idea: Go around the country and ask Latinos whom they plan to vote for and why.

I said no.

Politicos and the media have long been obsessed with the so-called Latino vote. I didn’t need to drive around aimlessly and ask people whether they support Kamala Harris or Donald Trump to know that Latinos are as diverse in their political opinions as non-Latinos, if not more so.

This series isn’t that. And that’s why I eventually agreed to do it.

Over seven days, across seven states and nearly 3,000 miles, I checked in with Latinos across the American Southwest about where they are in their lives, not where they’ll be on election day.

We discussed politics, of course: How could you not, as we near a presidential election that could be the most consequential ever? But it was mostly background noise as people spoke about their hopes, fears and dreams as Latinos in a country that hasn’t historically made things easy for us, in a year we can make or break democracy, depending on whom you ask.

These are their stories.