Kilted Highlanders Ben Ferguson and Owen Hope set off on hitchhike across Europe from Tallinn in Estonia to Inverness to raise funds for the Special Needs Action Project (SNAP) based at the city's Drummond School
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Two kilted adventurers are hitchhiking home to Inverness from Estonia to raise funds for a charity close to their hearts.
Friends Ben Ferguson and Owen Hope, both 23, set off on Sunday after flying to the Baltic state’s capital Tallinn.
They have set themselves just one basic rule – they must return to their own doorsteps having spent nothing on transport or accommodation.
The 2000 mile-plus sponsored trip has already raised over £2500 for Inverness-based Special Needs Action Project (SNAP), with a £4000 target.
Based at Drummond school, SNAP works with children and adults with additional support needs.
It is the intrepid pair’s second such 'thumb-a-lift' charity trek, having hitched from Edinburgh to Seville in January 2020 using 18 lifts across 2300 miles.
Mr Ferguson used to volunteer for SNAP during university holidays before graduating with a first class honours degree in accountancy and finance from Heriot-Watt University. He now works for the charity full-time.
Mr Hope also graduated with a first class honours degree in social anthropology and geography at St Andrew’s University. He is currently employed as a support worker.
The pair have two weeks off work and view this kind of adventure as an ideal break.
RELATED STORY: Inverness friends help charity with novel hitch-hiking challenge
“We’re not really into clichéd holidays in the sun. This is fun for us, our kind of holiday!” Mr Ferguson said.
“You never know what each day will bring and who you will meet, but we experience the very best of human nature. People never let you down.
“The toughest part of our trip to Seville a couple of years ago was in the UK, though, where there seemed to be more suspicion of hitchhikers and we had one really long wait at a service station.”
The pair have packed sleeping bags and a tarpaulin for shelter, and can freely buy the food they need as part of the challenge.
When invited, they will happily accept offers of free accommodation.
The trip is likely to take them through Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France, with the only set destination a visit to friends living near Gdansk in Poland.
Crossing to the UK by sea promises to be the most tricky part of the trip, with the duo looking to hitch a ferry ride within a car or somehow travel for free by rail through the Channel Tunnel.
Mr Hope added: “To be absolutely honest, we enjoy doing this stuff. We can’t pretend it is anything more than scrounging lifts off strangers for charity!
“It is really a bit of a self-indulgent challenge, but we’re going to use the money to fund a weekend away for a group of young adults with additional support needs.”
You can donate to the challenge here
