The Commodore story begins in the 1920s when Wally Byam first met Neil Vanderbilt Jr., descendent of Cornelius Vanderbilt (known as “The Commodore”), a titan of the shipping and railroad industries. Wally Byam began his lifelong friendship with Neil Vanderbilt soon after Neil launched the Los Angeles Illustrated Daily News in 1923. At that time,… Read more »

Experienced Airstream Caravanners Virgil and Grace Golden loved to travel, starting with local trips in a pop-up tent camper in the 1930s and eventually joining several Wally Byam Airstream Caravans throughout the 1950s and 1960s. In fact, this adventurous couple was one of only seven couples to participate in both the 1959-1960 Africa Caravan and… Read more »

In his Creed, Airstream founder Wally Byam promised “To play some part in promoting international goodwill and understanding among the peoples of the world through person-to-person contact.” When Wally became ill in 1962, his wife Stella and Airstream executives decided to honor his legacy by introducing the Wally Byam Foundation, a non-profit foundation funding humanitarian… Read more »