Recycled travel trailers get new life, decades later

Travel Trailers, once a big part of American family vacations, have been all but forgotten by a world of weekend getaways, packaged vacations and rides on luxury cruise ships. In the past, travel trailers have been most commonly found parked on back lots or on their way to a land fill. Now, a renaissance of sorts is going on as travel rediscovers the value of bringing a place to stay along for the ride.

Rescued from curb sides and junkyards, castaway classic campers are getting a new life in Glenwood Springs, Colorado where Richard and Vicky Nash restore 1960s vintage travel trailers. A recent addition to their collection, a fully rebuilt 13-foot 1962 Shasta Airflyte was bought for $100. Doing the work themselves, nine months later, the couple had a mobile hotel that costs little to maintain.

“When we drive around with the 1962 Shasta, people smile and give us the ‘thumbs up’ signal all the time. Everyone wants to know what year it is and what it looks like inside,” says Richard.

Its not just them either, on Tricked Out Trailers, an episode of the Travel Channel’s popular Ultimate Travel Series, travel trailers include everything from a double-decker mansion on wheels to a bulletproof trailer built for the ultimate globetrotter.



Flickr photo by terrybone