They call me the Wanderer!

BACK home . . . Duncan Anderson with grandson Cameron

You’re never too old is this explorer’s motto

A globe-trotting grandad from Diggle has made a round-the-world trip of a lifetime with a £5 rucksack he bought on Tommyfield Market.

Duncan Anderson (71) decided to pack his bags and embark upon the epic mission overland from London to New York.

Much to the amazement of friends and family, the intrepid pensioner signed up to the trip with adventure company Oz Bus, and set off with 15 strangers

Ticking off more than a handful of “things to do before you die”, Duncan visited the Great Wall of China, stayed in nomad huts in Mongolia and camped among bears in Alaska.

But it has left the explorer wanting more.

He said: “I came back a different person. Some of the people on the trip were the type that would only go to a museum to abseil down the side of it. I got stuck in and saw some amazing places — I would go back tomorrow.”

Proving that age is no obstacle, the former business consultant, who has five grandchildren, made his way through 17 countries in total on the bus.

It may be taped up and battered, but the £5 bag did Duncan proud, acting as a lasting souvenir from his trip.

He added: “I’m going to go back to the market, back to the man who sold it to me and tell him that the bag has been around the world.

“It lasted the whole distance of my dream journey. I’d been talking about it for years.

“ I actually wanted to see the world, not just fly in, look around and fly out.

“If you want to do it, get it done. I don’t want to go another month without another adventure.”

The explorer had previously travelled with his wife, Margaret, who died in 2005.

Duncan flew home from New York after his 92-day journey, with hundreds of pictures to show his family.

Fourteen-year-old grandson Cameron was on hand to look through the photos and marvel at grandad’s adventures.




EARLIEST, fullest Oldham news coverage in the Evening Chronicle — and online in the E-Chron (subscription required)