An entrepreneur has come up with a novel way to transport tourists round the Highlands – in a converted New York school bus.
Angus Luff, 24, came up with the idea for The Bonnie Camper after watching a film on Netflix.
Expedition Happiness sees a couple travel across North America in a refurbished school bus, and keen to emulate them, Angus quit his job as a management consultant in Leicester to live out his dream of creating the hostel on wheels.
Converted into a luxurious holiday home, the bus has beds, seating areas, and a kitchen, and can host up to six people.
Angus now hosts road trips across the Highlands - from Glencoe to the Cairngorms - exploring outdoor activities like hiking, kayaking, and wild swimming along the way.
He serves as the tour guide as well as doing all the driving, cooking and cleaning, before pitching up a tent outside to give guests full use of the bus.
Built in 1999, the Bonnie Camper is an International 3800 originally used to take children to and from school in New York.
Angus bought it in late 2019, and it took around six weeks to be shipped over from the US.
He used lockdown to refurbish the bus, stripping it and furnishing it with the help of his dad, and making sure it met UK regulations.
Angus took a five-day intensive course to get his HGV driving licence and tried his tour out on friends before setting out on his first real trip in June last year.
Angus, from Edinburgh, said: "The buses are so iconic. I think it's the novelty of the school bus, it's very rare you see them in real life.
"Everyone's always beeping and waving at us. You feel like a celebrity.
"I trialled it out twice before I started with friends and it was great fun, everyone loved it.
"The first trip was in June 2021 - I was just waiting for everything to open so I could get started.
"It was amazing, I had a group of four women from London come up and hired it out privately. I love seeing people's reaction to the bus, they get so excited."
The five day tour costs £595pp and includes all the activities Angus puts on, such as whisky tasting, and the food he cooks.
It starts out from Edinburgh, where Angus keeps the bus, before driving to the Cairngorms, then onto Glencoe and comes back through Stirling to Edinburgh.
Angus said: "I graduated in 2019 and was lucky enough to do some travelling.
"I managed about 2-3 months in my job and thought 'I don't want to do this'.
"I had just finished Expedition Happiness on Netflix and the idea just came to me.
"I bought the bus from an agency in New York who sell secondhand school ones and had it shipped over.
"I have learned so much.
"I knew nothing about mechanics.
"It's a lot of the unknown, there's no other company that does something similar in the UK.
"I do the driving and cook all the meals, and then I sleep outside in a tent to give the guests the privacy of the bus.
"I host the whole week and organise whisky tasting tours, hiking, mountain biking, watersports and stop off at local bars and pubs.
"This year I am trying out individual bookings, where people can just book themselves a spot and take part in the activates."
With its high vantage point and large windows, the school bus is a unique way to experience some of Scotland's most rugged and beautiful scenery.
Angus added: "It's a completely different viewpoint of everything.
"You are quite engrossed in all the landscapes.
"I basically go on holiday every week, I'm very fortunate to be able to do this.
"It's really exciting this year will be the first full summer I have on the road."
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