A BANKIE who spontaneously decided to pack up his life and travel the world has published a book full of stories from his adventures abroad.

Roger Clifford was out shopping for bread and milk one morning when he decided to grab a rucksack, and head off to New York in the summer of 2018.

The former Clydebank High teacher said: “Little did I realise that I would walk through numerous cities in seven countries, cross three continents, and wear out a pair of Hi-Tech trainers before I would see Scotland again.

“I must add that I did go through quite a few pens, pencils and notepads, and took thousands of photos on my mobile phone.

“What also was surprising was that I met friends in nearly every country. It wasn’t meant to happen, but it just sort of happened.”

Roger travelled all over America, visiting cities including Washington, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, before heading to other corners of the planet such as Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.

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He posted photos of himself on the Facebook group “Call Yersel a BANKIE!” and the number of people who followed his travels came as a surprise to him.

After being away for six months, Roger came back to Clydebank three days before Christmas in 2018.

The teacher has since published his very own book – “I Just Went Out for Bread and Milk: This is my story...” – with the profits going towards charities who help homeless people in Glasgow.

Roger said: “I met some amazing people from Aborigines in Australia, to Maori chiefs in New Zealand. From the very rich in Beverly Hills, to the very poor in marketplaces of Fiji, and Bangkok.

“But there was one thing that I noticed in every city, which had in common with my hometown, and that was homeless people.

“When I returned to Glasgow, I wanted to contribute towards helping so I decided to write the book. All profits will go towards helping the homeless.”

Roger’s book is available now on Amazon.