Photo of the Day (12.06.10)

Trailer parks get a bad rap. They’re the punchlines of tornado jokes and referenced in conversations about rednecks. Sadly, modern-day trailers are pretty devoid of personality and feed into the stereotypes. There was a time, however, when trailers seemed like magical devices. They even looked futuristic. Those were the golden (are should I say silver) days of the Airstream.

There are still Airstreams on the road. However, if owning a trailer is not for you, you can simply head to Hicksville Trailer Park in Joshua Tree, California. That’s what you see in this photo by Flickr user Amy Widdowson (Full disclosure: Amy is a friend of mine and one of the talented people behind NileGuide. Did you know that they are running an awesome holiday contest right now?). At Hicksville, you can sleep in an Airstream, bone up on your archery and just enjoy the chromed-out nostalgia of it all. Not a bad way to spend a weekend if you ask me.

Taken any great photos of trailer parks? Or maybe just some interesting travel photos in general? Why not add them to our Gadling group on Flickr? We might just pick one of yours as our Photo of the Day.

Designs Within Reach + Airstream = Glamping Heaven

Designs Within Reach, the same furniture retailer that brought you the bottomless beach chair, is teaming up with legendary motor home-maker Airstream to develop a “trailer for the mobile young modernist -rock climbers, surfers, dot-com guys,” according to the New York Times.

This looks very similar to Deseo’s “modular caravan” that Willy wrote about last week. Is camping becoming chic? I’ve noticed a trend lately, where things once considered rustic are getting makeovers to appeal to a whole new market — one which favors Paul Smith over Paul Bunyan.

Luxury comes at a price, however. This 16-foot trailer shown above starts at nearly $50,000, and is available in early June. Glamping is alive and well.

[via notcot]