Billy Connolly has wandered to every corner of the earth and believes that being a Rambling Man is about more than just travelling – it’s a state of mind. In his joyful new book, he explores this philosophy and how it has shaped him, and he shares hilarious new stories from his lifetime on the road.

Extract taken from Rambling Man: My Life on the Road
By Billy Connolly
Published by Two Roads

The best sea journey I ever did was one that has challenged sailors and navigators for centuries. I was making a TV series called Journey to the Edge of the World, where I travelled from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean the hard way: 10,000 miles over the top of the world through the fabled ‘Northwest Passage’. It was a fantastic adventure, and I’m well pleased I got to do it. For centuries it was ice-bound all year round and nobody could get through but, since the ice has been melting in recent years, there are a few weeks in the summer when you can travel through. It was very treacherous; a journey straight out of the Call of the Wild-type novels that inspired my boyhood adventure fantasies. I went to some bleak places.  

I started off in Iqaluit, which is in the Canadian territory of Nunavut. I had arrived just in time for lunch, which was Muktuk – beluga soup – with a main course of caribou burger. That was my first clue I wasn’t in Kansas any more. Suitably fortified, I flew over the icebergs to Baffin Island, home to a community of Inuit people. The place is covered in snow most of the year. You look around and everything is white, but when the snow melts a bit you can see all the things just lying around outside the stores and people’s houses and you think to yourself: ‘The white was nice.’ They have a sign just outside the township that says: ‘Road to Nowhere’. No surprise – the area is popular with courting couples. It reminded me of when my kids would come home late at night and when I asked, ‘Where were you?’, they would say, ‘Uh . . . Nowhere.’ I’ve noticed that in many American cities they have bars called The Office. Same idea. 

Next, I flew 180 miles north to Pangnirtung, an old whaling town on the shores of the Cumberland Sound. It was a centre for the Hudson’s Bay Company, which traded with local Inuit. Whalers exported whale oil, and it was a huge industry until the whale population declined. I was so surprised to meet an Inuit man who played Scottish music on an accordion. He obtained the instrument in 1973 from Hudson’s Bay Company. When the place was flourishing, Scottish whalers spent the winters here, and they brought their music and their instruments along with them. There’s a Scot or two in every corner of the world. We’re a nation of Rambling Men. 

As I began to trek to the Iuituk National Park I reached the beginning of the Arctic Circle. It was a patchwork of snowfields, tundra plains, ice flows, and mountains towering above me – all perfectly reflected in shining, clear lakes. I was told this was polar bear country and was hoping they’d hand me a rifle so I could protect myself. Unfortunately, they just taught me how to use bear spray. Armed with my trusty aerosol, I strode out into the wilderness . . . and fell on my arse crossing a freezing stream. It was peculiarly quiet. A feeling of big emptiness. As I climbed into my tent that night, I recited my usual bedtime ditty to myself: Goodnight my dear and sweet repose. Lie on your back and you won’t squash your nose. I just added my own ending: And keep your bear spray handy. 

Rambling Man: My Life on the Road by Billy Connolly is published by Two Roads, priced £25.00.