According to the India Times, in May 1968, a British traveler named Andy Stewart was looking to make his way home to London from Sydney, Australia. So he bought a double-decker bus and converted it into a mobile home, nicknamed "Albert". That October, he set off with 13 others on Albert the Bus for a 16,000-kilometre journey from Sydney to London via India. The journey took 132 days to complete.
Things turned out pretty well for Albert, considering it went on to complete 14 more Sydney-to-London trips over the next 8 years. A "year-round timetable" was drawn up for a regular service between London, Kolkata and Sydney in what was called Albert Tours.
The bus also had some extra luxury services like a reading and dining room on the lower deck, individual sleeping bunks, fan heaters to keep passengers warm, and aesthetic interiors to make the bus feel like home while on the long journey.
Albert the bus made more than 150 border crossings without ever being held up for searches or bribes at state borders. It earned the tag of being a "friendly ambassador" to all countries it visited along the way.
Take a look at the real Albert the bus here.
