YouTuber Hits Disney+ With Comedy Travelogue

What do you get when you put a straightlaced pilot and a bunch of hyperactive Latin American celebrities in a TBM 850? Disney+ is banking on a ratings bonanza in a “comedy about flying around the world,” according to Matt Guthmiller, the YouTuber at the controls for 160 hours of flight level levity. Guthmiller is in Mexico City where The Worst Trip Around the World, a half English-speaking and half Spanish-speaking travelogue of sorts, had its premiere for Latin America. The series is available on Disney+ starting Friday, and Guthmiller is the redheaded bespectacled Montanan keeping things straight and level while he shepherds a cast of “high-energy” Latin American celebrities around the world. Sitting right seat for the adventure is Mexican actor, model, and influencer Juanpa Zurita.

You may remember Guthmiller making headlines 11 years ago when, at 19, he became the youngest person to circumnavigate. He flew a Bonanza for that adventure, and it turned into a successful YouTube channel that chronicles his life as a pilot (including racing L-39s at Reno) and developer of a flight-planning software product called 8flight. The channel caught the eye of Florida-based pilot and Disney+ producer Fernando Barbosa, who develops shows for Latin America. The concept was first pitched five years ago and filming took place in 2024.

Guthmiller ends up being the perfect foil for the entertainers who land in the back seat of the TBM, many of them flying in a small plane for the first time. The TBM is one of the stars of the show, but it wasn’t the producer’s first choice. “They wanted to do it in a Bonanza but I told them ‘What you need is a TBM,'” he said. Within a few months, Disney had leased the speedy turboprop and turned it over to Guthmiller to put some hours on it before filming began. As the episodes stream, Guthmiller said he’s going to show behind-the-scenes footage and outtakes on his own channel.