1959 Airstream World Traveler: Family of Six Plans Global Adventure

Name: 1959 Airstream World Traveler: Family of Six Plans Global Adventure
Uploaded: 2026-11-10T13:07:37+00:00
Duration: 20 min 8 s
Channel: New Jersey Outdoor Adventures

00:00It's just a crazy story. There are people all the way in their 70s that were doing this crazy

00:05adventure, crossing through the deserts, digging themselves out of stuff. We just want to do

00:10something similar. We want to go out there into the world. We just want to do something fun.

00:14This is Patrick with New Jersey's Outdoor Adventures YouTube channel. I have a very

00:17special episode for you today. You know how much I love Airstream Travel Churros. While I'm here

00:22at the Airstream 68th International Rally in York, Pennsylvania, there's about a thousand

00:27Airstreams here and this one caught my eye. I just bumped into Oliver here. He has a pretty rare

00:33Airstream Travel Trailer with an awesome history and he's got some big plans ahead and he's going

00:38to give us a full tour inside and out. So join us. How's it going guys? I'm here at the

00:4468th and I

00:45just met Patrick and I just wanted to show him my trailer, my Airstream trailer. It is a 1959 World

00:55Traveler and it has probably seen many, many parts of the world and it will be seen a lot more,

01:03which

01:03is awesome. So come on in. We have the usual door here, but one of the cool things about the

01:10early

01:11ones is that they have the door in the door. So you can open it up and you can close

01:16this one

01:17and then you can latch right here and then you're good. So here in the front, we have the fresh

01:26water tank inside. This is the fresh water fill. We have a battery inside of this compartment. We got

01:33two gas tanks, LP gas tanks, a new hitch and everything else here. Initially, this is supposed

01:42to be where we put an antenna, but we haven't gotten an antenna quite yet. We have the windows

01:48here with the drip edge and right here, and I'm sure you've probably heard about it, but

01:53these are the big red numbers. This is my grandparents number from the early seventies. I'm trying to

01:58get my great grandparents number as well, which is less than a thousand. So hopefully we can

02:02make that happen. But yeah, coming around this side, all the taillights and everything are new

02:08and they work perfectly fine. We got two windows, the kitchen and the living room area.

02:17Over here, we got the normal power hookup. This is actually a 110 or 125, so 30 amp. We have

02:24the water

02:24spigot and then we also have tandem axles. So this is something that's weird about this trailer in

02:31particular. This is a 22 foot trailer, but it has double axles and that's really rare for this.

02:39This is very similar to Wally Byam, who founded Airstream when he went to Africa and did Cape Town to

02:47Cairo. This is exactly the model that he used. Here on the back, we got the backside, the bumper,

02:56of course. The numbers again, as you can see, temporary registration. Just got it about a month and a half

03:02ago. Tail lights all work great. Here on the side, we have some storage access to, you know, the back

03:11near the bathroom area. We have near the front where the refrigerator is, side window near the bunk beds.

03:20And this is really cool. And then we also have a really old outlet that I will not be using

03:27up here. I don't even know what a few of these are. I think someone added a light on the

03:33outside.

03:34We also have like the exhaust, the heat coming out through there. A really big, I forget what they

03:40call it, but it's a drip edge above the door. And then here, what's really cool is these original

03:46decals for the World Traveler and Airstream as well. And then right here, we got the step. It just pulls

03:55down and pulls back up. So all you have to do is pull it and then it latches. So that's

04:05cool.

04:07So let me get this door closed. It's a little windy. So when you come on in here,

04:14this is super cool. So you're basically in the living room and the bedroom and everything all at

04:20once. So my wife and I, Sarah, we, uh, we have four kids as well. We're going to be living

04:25in this.

04:26This is where my wife and I will be staying when we go on our around the world trip. Um,

04:33so yeah, the sofa was this original color, but the guy who restored it, Kenny Rizika out in

04:39California, uh, he has done over 300 Airstreams, vintage Airstreams, and he does amazing work.

04:45And he's the one that did this. So underneath the bed slash sofa, we have three storage bins.

04:55Uh, and behind those, we also have the freshwater tank as well as some additional stuff and storage.

05:02Uh, over here, we have the original wax paper in front of the lights, which is awesome.

05:09We have storage up top, and this is probably where we'll store some of the, you know,

05:14Starlink and other internet type things on the road. Um, down below on the floor,

05:19we have the marmoleum. So this is basically what they would have put in the trailers back in the day.

05:25Uh, but of course this is a renewed version of it. So up top, this is a really awesome sconce.

05:31So, uh, Kenny and his team actually bought all of the Airstream parts when, uh, Airstream Inc. left

05:38California. So this is an original sconce, which is great. Uh, we have Skylight up here. Just twist

05:47them to open it up, and that works all great. We also have another one here, two others in the

05:53middle. Uh, this one has the fan. Turn it on. Normally works. Um, and over here, back in this

06:03section, we have the heater. Um, we have some outlets, which are great. Um, and then we have

06:10upper storage and the window. This is probably where we'll put our table when we get a table,

06:14um, for eating, for doing whatever we need to do. So, but yeah, here we have a Dometic. This

06:22one's, uh, really nice. It's practically brand new, but it fits in really well with the space that we

06:28have. Um, over here have some awesome magazine cabinets. Got to have the bucket list family

06:35travels. Uh, and what's really cool, this book, Thank You Marco Polo by McGregor Smith. This guy

06:43and his family traveled around the world on the original around the world Airstream caravan. So

06:49up here, I'll have to play this later on, but this is an original dealership, um, adventure

06:56sweepstakes record. My great grandparents started burning trailer sales in 1952, uh, and they actually

07:04sold the first Airstream out of Jackson Center in Ohio, which is really cool. So that's why Airstream's

07:11in my blood. So over here, this is something pretty cool. So you have your normal storage for the

07:19kitchen area. Um, but something that is pretty unusual for back in the time is the lifetime warranty

07:25is still intact. And if you see down below, it's signed by Andy Charles, Andrew Charles, uh, who actually

07:32led the around the rip around the world trip. So here we are in the kitchen. Um, and this is

07:42awesome.

07:42I just have a life magazine of the 500 when they went down to Mexico. I hear they don't want

07:50to ever

07:50do that again because it was a nightmare logistically. But here we have our stove top

07:59and it just flips up and then you latch it up here. And then normally this would have grates,

08:07but you turn it on. The oven works fine. And there you go. There's the grates. So we'll put that

08:13back

08:13down. Down here, we got another storage compartment. Just kind of shove stuff down there with the old

08:23latches. Here's another one. Oh my gosh. These things. So we got plenty of storage. I mean,

08:31that's the thing. It's only 22 feet, but it's got plenty of storage drawers. This one's for utensils,

08:40Excedrin migraine. We got a double sink, which is really cool. Um, and it works fine. It's all

08:48connected to the water. And here is something pretty unique. It's a filter. So you'd put your

08:53charcoal or whatever in there. Uh, and that allows you to filter your water. We have the water heater,

08:58uh, over here, the controls. Uh, we also have the lights up here with again, the original kind of wax,

09:06um, and plenty of storage up top. These all slide out. This is all original by the way. They just

09:15cleaned it up. So it's great. This is probably my favorite part. It's very unusual to find bunk beds,

09:22but here we are. This one just folds up, gets out of the way for when you're traveling down the

09:32road.

09:32And this is where my son, so we have four kids again, my son who will be five when we

09:38take off

09:38around the world, he's going to be sleeping in this bed. We'll probably have a net that comes down to

09:42keep

09:42them safe. Our two daughters will sleep here. This is where I'm sleeping during the rally.

09:47And it's awesome. We got three giant drawers that pull out here. I'll show you that one. It's really

09:55deep. Um, here you have, you know, the place to kind of stop the bed, make sure it is held

10:03in place.

10:04Um, you have a nice lamp here as well as some place to kind of put your phone and those

10:10kinds of things.

10:13Uh, you have another storage, storage area. This is where we can hang stuff. Got plenty of room.

10:19Got the water heater, um, kind of the fuses, some side pocket things, you know, as you can see,

10:26lots of storage. Got a full mirror. My wife demanded it. So what she wants, she will have.

10:36And in here we have all kinds of storage here in the bathroom as well. We have, this one is

10:43not

10:44original, but that would be for privacy. Just snaps in there. We have cabinets that go way back.

10:54And this is where we'll have all of our bathroom stuff. And my wife and I will have a total

11:02of one

11:02or two drawers and our kids will have all the rest. We have the original toilet here. You lift it

11:08to

11:08add to the water and then you press it down to flush it, which is really cool. We will actually

11:16be replacing this with a composting toilet though, when we go on our around the world trip.

11:20And here we have, let's see, the shower or the sink. It's great. It works well. You got storage

11:28below again, multiple drawers, uh, and a drawer up top for different things. And the bathroom with

11:36this tub is awesome too. So even though it's only 22 feet, we have a full shower with the tub

11:43and,

11:44uh, and it works great. Well, this is pretty cool. I mean, Airstreams are built to last.

11:51Yes, they are. And this is a true testament.

11:53You have a mostly original 1959 Airstream travel trailer. Yep.

11:58It's aluminum interior skin, aluminum exterior skin, aluminum ribs. You got insulation in between,

12:05dropped on. It's a plywood type floor. Yes.

12:08So floor on this. Yep. Yep. And then you got a full box frame throughout. So we do, you know,

12:13the outside has all the character of all the dings and scratches or whatever. It's got plenty of love

12:19marks. Oh yeah. But it's still intact. You're not dealing with rot and roof sagging. Nope.

12:25Uh, this is cool. I, I, it's cool to me because I have a 1961 Airstream Bambi, which was mostly

12:32original.

12:32I did restore it, but I tried to keep as much as original character as I could possibly do. Yep.

12:39But with my trail, I don't know much about the history. I bought it from a lady that bought it

12:43from

12:43the original family. Of course. But everything got lost in translation. I tried to backtrack it and it's

12:48got some cool rally, uh, patches on it from stickers. Yeah. Oh yeah. That, uh, I'm sure it was in

12:55one of these

12:56rallies. Maybe not the one around the world, but somewhere in the United States. Oh yeah. But this is fully

13:01functional for your, your family. Cause you got modern refrigeration, modern water heater. Yep.

13:06The original furnace works, but there's no air conditioning and people are going to lose their

13:10mind. Nope. I don't have air conditioning on mine. So that's the one thing. So I told Kenny,

13:15I said, I'm not going to start ripping this apart and modernizing it, but there are a few things because

13:21again, we're going to be living in this full time around the world, crazy conditions. And so one of

13:26those things is to have, uh, we're going to put a low profile AC unit in, uh, as well as

13:32probably a

13:32max air fan to get kind of that circulation going. We'll have a lithium battery set up. We're going to

13:38have solar panels on the roof to kind of provide power as well as a DC to DC charger, um,

13:43from the

13:43truck. We're also something, this is all original again, we're going to be replacing the, uh, axles.

13:50So we'll have dexter torsion axles. We're going to raise it up a little bit. So that way on the,

13:55on the crazy roads in the middle of Angola or Namibia, we're going to be totally fine.

14:00What's the total length of the trailer? 22 feet. 22 feet. Yep. So it's, and it's

14:05pretty narrow. It's seven and a half feet wide. I believe so. Yeah. So it's good for the roads

14:10in other countries, which a lot of people think about there's width restrictions.

14:14And the other thing is what are some of the logistics that get, that go into taking a trailer

14:19and go into all these countries? What's that all about? So there's all kinds of logistics that go

14:24into it. I've been planning this for a year and a half and I mean, it just takes forever to

14:29figure

14:29this out. Uh, we're going to be starting next July. So this next year is going to be all about

14:35talking

14:35with diplomats, talking with presidents, talking with, you know, all kinds of people to figure out

14:39the logistics on that end of things. Um, but yeah, I mean, there's so much that goes into it.

14:44If you're going down South, it's a little bit easier because all you need is a temporary import permit

14:49for your vehicles. Uh, so you basically just pay a little fee at the beginning. You make sure all

14:53the paperwork is good. Uh, and then you just head South. There's so many people that do the Pan

14:57American highway, which is the first leg of our journey is North America and South America. Um,

15:03but once you get into Africa, which is the next leg of our journey, that's when it gets a little

15:08bit

15:08more difficult. And that's when you have to deal with carnated passage. You have to deal with shipping

15:13a trailer over. Um, so yeah, there's a lot. And you're not taking this through the Darien Gap. I

15:19guess you're going to, no, no. Yep. We're going to be shipping it from Panama to Columbia. Um, ironically,

15:25that's probably one of the most expensive shipping, even though it only takes two weeks, but they know

15:29so many overlanders kind of make that journey. Um, if you were to pass through the Darien Gap,

15:34it would be extremely dangerous and it'd probably take years just to pass through. And the trailer might

15:38just wind up living there. Exactly. It would definitely live there. Yes. It's a 2002. Yep.

15:47And that's going for the ride. That's going for the ride. The full ride. It's a 2002 Ford excursion.

15:52It's a super duty V8. That thing is built to last. And this trailer probably can't weigh more than 5

15:59,000

15:59pounds. Nope. Nope. I think it's at its current place. I think it's around 3000 or 3,500. And the

16:06way

16:06Airstream did that back then, because it's quite different now, they use three quarter inch Italian

16:10light ply. Yep. These cabinets are aluminum and this is Luan. It's really thin, but it's very durable.

16:17Yep. So the whole idea is vehicles back then really couldn't tow a lot. Exactly. So Airstream always

16:22had the challenge of building function, luxury, style, but also trying to keep the weight down. So

16:28customers can buy them and tow them around. Exactly. And what a history that Airstream has. Almost 95

16:34years building Airstream travel trailers and over 70% of the Airstream travel trailers are still on the

16:40road and still in use today. And a lot of them are here at the rally. Exactly. Yeah. And one

16:45of the

16:45crazy things too is next year, 2026, when we're starting this adventure, we're called Riveted Horizons,

16:51by the way, you can find us on Instagram. We have a website, rivetedhorizons.com that you can go to,

16:58you can check all the information. But one of the cool things is that next year, when we start,

17:03is going to be the 75th anniversary of the first caravan down through Central America.

17:08So they started in El Paso and they went all the way down to Honduras and then they made their

17:13way

17:13back up. And so it's really, really cool, unique history in that way. We're probably not going to

17:19pass through El Paso area. It's not, not the best right now, but we will be going through Laredo

17:23and kind of recreating some of those, some of those steps as well.

17:27So. And the reason why they have these caravans is because back after World War II,

17:33Airstream opened back up, people were buying Airstreams and RVs and travel trailers and traveling

17:38the country. Yep. But there wasn't a lot of infrastructure and information available about

17:43where to go. Exactly. And how to do it. So Wally Baim, the founder of Airstream, created a club

17:48that way owners could get together and do caravan tours together. Yep. And they did some amazing things.

17:54They bought, brought these things to Africa and Egypt. Yep. And this is what, in the fifties and

18:01sixties? Yes. Yeah. And people didn't even have cars there. Exactly. And here are these Airstreams

18:06with vehicles. People were blown away. Yep. Yeah. And that's actually what this model was,

18:11the World Traveler. So this is Wally Baim's. If you look at the BRNs in the front, like I mentioned

18:17before the red numbers, his was number one and he took his gold anodized trailer that was exactly

18:25like this one from Cape town in South Africa, all the way up to Cairo and Egypt. And I mean,

18:32it is just a crazy story. There are people all the way in their seventies that were doing this crazy

18:38adventure, crossing through the deserts, digging themselves out of stuff. And yeah, we just,

18:43we just want to do something similar. We want to go out there into the world. We're brave quote

18:48unquote, but we're also just crazy and we just want to do something fun. So. And you're giving your

18:53kids a once in a lifetime. Exactly. Exactly. And they're going to have so much more wealth of

18:58knowledge as they grow up. And they're probably going to desire to do this with their kids down the

19:03road. Yep. Yeah. I'll put a link in the description to your website. Perfect. YouTube too.

19:08Is that on YouTube? Yeah, we're going to be doing YouTube videos. Our family, I have to,

19:13I would have to look it up. I just created the channel probably yesterday or the day before,

19:17but we haven't had any videos out there, but we're going to be recording everything,

19:21putting it out there. And if you want to support us or even better, if you want to join us

19:25on the road,

19:26we would love for anyone that has an Airstream or wants to have an Airstream to come along with the

19:31journey. You know, even if it's just the North American portion, or if you want to go crazy and go

19:36to

19:37Africa with us, we would love for you to join us. There's nothing like strength and numbers, right?

19:41Exactly. Having people together that one person might know one thing, the other person knows

19:45another thing and all together collaboration, you guys can have an amazing trip. Exactly.

19:50I appreciate the opportunity and taking your time out today. This is a fun week for Airstream owners.

19:55Yes, it is. There's a lot going on right now. And I just pulled him away just to do this

19:59tour.

19:59So follow along on his journey. This is Patrick from New Jersey's Outdoor Adventures YouTube channel.

20:05Thanks for joining us. Thanks, guys.

1959 Airstream World Traveler: Family of Six Plans Global Adventure

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