A local icon has been noticeably absent from Albuquerque’s streets over the past year. Walter White’s RV, and the local man who gives tours in it, took a hiatus for a very personal reason.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A local icon has been noticeably absent from Albuquerque’s streets over the past year. Walter White’s RV, and the local man who gives tours in it, took a hiatus for a very personal reason.
KOB 4 met with him as he prepares to hit the road again soon.
Frank Sandoval is the owner of Breaking Bad RV Tours. He’s been driving a copy of Walter White’s mobile meth lab for 10 years.
“We’ve had almost all the actors that have either been on the tour, or at least seen the bus,” said Sandoval.
Sandoval’s love for the show runs deep. He even landed a spot in the background of a scene.
“That was it like, like a second scene. But I was so thrilled about that, and then I saw the show, and I fell in love,” Sandoval said.
He bought his first RV in 2014 after a bet with a buddy about being able to get people to ride around town to filming locations in it.
“Once people found out that we were doing tours, everybody wanted to ride in the RV. It became like an icon for Albuquerque,” said Sandoval.
But as he hit 10 years in business, his health started to decline in 2024.
“I noticed that I was very little confused, you know, I noticed that I started to forget things a lot, and started to have stomach issues,” Sandoval said.
He paused the tours and was in and out of doctors’ offices. He got down to about 140 pounds. He says it all came to a head in January.
“Turns out I was bleeding inside,” said Sandoval. “The doctors were preparing my family, they said, ‘We may lose him. He’s bleeding. We can’t stop the bleeding.’”
He found out he had stones in his liver and intestines. Doctors went in five times in one month to clear everything out.
Sandoval says he’s feeling 100% now. He hopes to start giving tours again by this summer.
“I’m not gonna end up back at the hospital, I want to keep doing things I love,” said Sandoval.
