A British adventurer who left home as a young man in 1998 has finally returned to his mother’s doorstep after spending 28 years travelling around the world without using any transport to move forward.
Karl Bushby, now 57, was welcomed by hundreds of cheering supporters in his hometown of Hull on Monday (November 2), bringing an end to an extraordinary 31,000-mile journey across four continents and 30 countries.
His mother, Angela, broke down in tears as she embraced her son outside the family home, which had been decorated with a banner reading “Welcome Home Son”.
“Where have you been?” she jokingly asked him.
Bushby was just 29 when he set off from Chile on November 1, 1998, carrying a tent, a few hundred dollars and a camera.
The former British paratrooper had initially expected the expedition to take around five years. Instead, it consumed nearly half his life.
During the journey, he survived dangerous jungles, crossed the frozen Bering Strait between Alaska and Russia, and spent 31 days swimming across the Caspian Sea.
He was also detained in Panama and Russia, held at gunpoint in Mexico and repeatedly delayed by visa restrictions, financial problems and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bushby revealed that he spent only about 15 of those 28 years actually walking, with the remaining time consumed by paperwork, logistics and securing funding.
His final challenge came last month when he swam across the English Channel to complete the journey without taking a boat or plane.
Back home, his 36-year-old son and 12-year-old granddaughter, whom he had never met, were waiting to welcome him.
Reflecting on the journey, Bushby credited strangers across the world for helping him survive.
“I didn’t do this alone,” he told supporters, describing the expedition as a global effort.
