A British adventurer, Karl Bushby, has completed a 28-year journey around the world on foot, returning to his mother’s home in Hull, England, nearly three decades after setting out to walk across the globe without using motorised transport.
Bushby, 57, arrived at the same house on Tuesday, aged 57, having covered approximately 50,000 kilometres across four continents and 30 countries.
He began the journey in 1998, aged 29, after leaving his mother’s home with the ambition of walking around the world and returning without relying on cars, buses, trains or other motorised transport.
The former British paratrooper initially estimated that the expedition would take 12 years. Instead, it lasted 28 years, during which he faced harsh weather, dangerous terrain, legal challenges and financial difficulties.
The journey, known as the Goliath Expedition, began in Punta Arenas, Chile, on November 1, 1998. Bushby had travelled from England to South America before starting the walking challenge; his commitment was not to use motorised transport to advance the journey or return home before completing it.
His route took him through the Americas, Asia and Europe. Along the way, he crossed the frozen Bering Strait between Alaska and Russia and swam across the Caspian Sea and the English Channel rather than use boats or other transport.
The expedition was repeatedly delayed by difficult terrain, dangerous encounters, border restrictions and financial challenges. Bushby was detained in Panama after crossing a restricted border area and later faced years of visa difficulties in Russia. He also encountered polar bears and nearly drowned during the Bering Strait crossing.
The 2008 global financial crisis affected sponsorship, while the COVID-19 pandemic and bureaucratic restrictions further prolonged the journey. What he had initially estimated would take about 12 years stretched into nearly three decades.
On Monday, November 2, 2026, hundreds of people welcomed him in Hull before he made the final stretch to his mother’s home. His mother, Angela, embraced him outside the family house, which had been decorated with a “Welcome Home Son” banner. The two had not seen each other for about a decade.
“They say it takes a village but literally it took a world to get me here,” Bushby told the crowd, crediting the kindness of strangers, individuals and institutions across the countries he passed through for helping him complete the expedition.
The return also reunited him with his son, Adam, and gave him an opportunity to meet his 12-year-old granddaughter for the first time.
The journey began in a world without today’s smartphones, social media platforms and widespread digital connectivity. By the time Bushby returned, the world had undergone profound political, technological and social changes.
At 57, he has said he is considering retiring from long-distance walking, with speaking engagements and a documentary about his expedition among the projects ahead.
Charles Onyango-Obbo, commenting on the achievement, noted that Bushby had effectively walked through an entire historical era, returning to a world vastly different from the one he left in 1998.
