After 28 Years and 31,000 Miles, Karl Bushby Finally Walks Home

British adventurer Karl Bushby has completed an extraordinary 28-year journey around the world, returning to his mother’s home in Hull, northern England, on Monday, November 2, to an emotional welcome from family members, supporters and residents.

The 57-year-old former paratrooper arrived in his hometown after travelling approximately 31,000 miles (50,000 kilometres) across four continents and 30 countries. His journey, which began in southern Chile in November 1998, ended at the family home he left nearly three decades ago.

Hundreds of people gathered in Hull to welcome Bushby as he made his final journey through the city, pushing a small two-wheeled cart carrying his belongings. He first received a hero’s welcome at Queen Victoria Square before continuing to his mother Angela’s house, where the two embraced outside the home.

Bushby described the achievement as the result of support from people around the world, rather than an individual effort. Addressing the crowd, he said: “They say it takes a village but literally it took a world to get me here.” He thanked the strangers, communities and governments that had helped him along the way.

The expedition began on November 1, 1998, when Bushby set out from Punta Arenas in Chile, aged 29, with the ambition of walking back to his home in England without using motorised transport to advance his journey. Inspired partly by a discussion his father had shared about the possibility of travelling between London and New York over the Bering land bridge, he embarked on what became known as the Goliath Expedition.

What he initially expected to take around 12 years eventually stretched to 28, as dangerous terrain, border restrictions, visa difficulties, arrests, funding challenges and the COVID-19 pandemic repeatedly interrupted his progress. Bushby has estimated that he spent only about 15 of those 28 years actually walking.

Among the most difficult stages was his crossing of the Darién Gap, a dangerous stretch of rainforest and mountainous terrain between Panama and Colombia. In 2006, he and fellow adventurer Dimitry Kieffer attempted to cross the frozen Bering Strait between Alaska and Russia. The pair faced extreme cold, shifting ice and a confrontation with a polar bear before being rescued and later detained by Russian authorities for entering the country illegally.

His progress through Russia was particularly slow because of visa restrictions and severe weather conditions that limited the months in which he could travel. In 2012, after being denied a Russian visa, Bushby walked from Los Angeles to the Russian Embassy in Washington, DC, in protest. The action eventually helped him secure the documentation needed to continue.

On the final stretch of his expedition, Bushby returned to Britain after swimming across the English Channel. He had also swum across the Caspian Sea during the journey, avoiding the use of boats or aircraft to move forward on those sections of the route.

The return home was also a family reunion. Bushby had not seen his mother in about 10 years and was looking forward to spending time with his son, Adam, and meeting his 12-year-old granddaughter for the first time.

The Lord Mayor of Hull, Maria Coward, had encouraged residents to turn out to welcome the adventurer, describing his determination and perseverance as an inspiration to the city. A documentary about the expedition is also in production, while Bushby is expected to undertake speaking engagements across England.

After nearly three decades of travelling through jungles, deserts, frozen landscapes and unfamiliar communities, Bushby has finally reached the destination that motivated his extraordinary journey: home.