On November 1, 1998, Britain’s Karl Bushby set out on a unique adventure.
Departing from Punta Arenas, Chile, he aimed to travel by foot to his home in the British city of Hull, a journey that would see him cross 30 countries on four continents.
Eschewing vehicles of any kind — including boats and airplanes — he walked for the entire journey, traversing ice atop the Bering Strait and swimming across both the Caspian Sea and the English Channel.
And now, after 28 years, his 31,000-mile odyssey is finally complete.
Returning Home
As the Associated Press reports, Bushby ended his journey on Monday, November 2 when he returned to Hull after nearly three decades.
Pushing his cart full of his belongings, he strode through the streets of his hometown until finally arriving at his mother’s home, which sported a large banner reading “Welcome Home Son.”
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” he jokingly told the throngs of well-wishers who lined the streets as he completed his final steps. “Is that it, is it done?”
When he arrived, he was greeted by his mother, Angela Bushby,
“Where have you been?” she asked him.
Twenty-nine years old when he left that home, the former paratrooper is now 57, weathered by nearly three decades on the road.
“They say it takes a village but literally it took a world to get me here,” Bushby said. “The kindness of strangers, so many, from individuals to nation states to get me back here today. I didn’t do this alone. There was a big team. The biggest team. Earth.”
Discussing his epic journey, Bushby said that he’d initially believed he could complete the mission in five years. Once he had set out, however, he quickly realized just how unrealistic that goal was.
“You just dump a whole bucket full of reality on that,” he said, admitting he never anticipated the endeavor would take as long as it did.
“We suspected that it was 12 years plus. And the plus was a big plus. But never in our wildest dreams would we ever have imagined 28 years,” he said.
What Comes Next?
In truth, there were an array of unforeseen factors and delays that extended the trip to 28 years.
These included a war, a polar bear and a few stints int jail (once after inadvertently entering a restricted area in Panama), while a combination of bad weather and visa difficulties resulted in his walk through Russia taking a full decade.
In the days leading up to his return, Bushby admitted that coming to the end of his journey had left him feeling without purpose.
“It’s like stepping across the event horizon into a black hole,” he told The Associated Press. “I have no idea what’s about to happen in my life.”
Britain’s Karl Bushby Completes 28-Year, 31,000-Mile Walk Around the World