Karl Bushby is nearing the end of a 30,000-mile round-the-world walk that began in Hull 28 years ago, with the adventurer now just weeks from returning to the UK.
The 57-year-old left his home on the Sutton Park Estate on October 1, 1998, aged 29, with two rules: he would not use transport to advance his journey and would not return to Britain until it was complete.
He is now in Belgium, around 500 miles from Hull. After reaching France, he plans to swim the English Channel in stages before walking north to his home city, where he hopes to arrive on November 1.
“I’m nearly home. It worked,” he said.
A 28-year journey back to Hull
Bushby began his expedition by flying to the southern tip of Chile, from where he walked through South America, the United States, Canada, Alaska and Russia.
His route later took him through Mongolia, China, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and Europe. He has travelled through some of the world’s most difficult terrain while pushing a specially adapted trolley known as The Beast.
The expedition was initially expected to take about 12 years. It was extended by the 2008 financial crisis, which wiped out his funding and sponsorship for three years, followed by another three-year delay during the pandemic.
Visa restrictions and political developments also forced major changes. At one point, he made a 3,000-mile diversion to the Russian embassy in Washington DC to seek permission to continue his journey.
“Flexibility turned out to be a big plus, because there’s always a lot you can’t foresee,” he said.
Bushby has been imprisoned, robbed and forced to contend with extreme cold, severe terrain and polar bears. In 2006, he and French adventurer Dimitri Kieffer crossed the Bering Strait between Alaska and Russia without using transport, swimming in freezing water in dry suits and camping on ice.
The pair were detained in Russia after completing the crossing.
When Iran closed its borders, Bushby took on another extraordinary challenge. He swam 186 miles across the Caspian Sea with fellow long-distance walker Angela Maxwell and two Azerbaijani national swimmers, travelling in two three-hour sessions each day and sleeping on support boats at night.
The crossing took just over a month.
One of the most dangerous stages came in 2000, when Bushby crossed the Darien Gap between Panama and Colombia during a civil war. He and his companions spent two months planning the operation, travelling along a contested road before navigating rivers and dense jungle.
Bushby disguised himself as a vagrant for part of the route, carrying survival equipment in his clothing and foraging for food in the forest. He was later held by police in Panama for several weeks.
Despite those experiences, he said he never seriously considered abandoning the expedition.
“It’s a mindset. A certainty,” he said.
He has also recalled nearly bleeding to death after slicing through an artery in his wrist in Peru and collapsing in Arctic snow after becoming exhausted and dangerously cold.
Yet the biggest challenge now may be what happens after he reaches Hull. Bushby said he was frightened by the prospect of returning to a childhood bedroom without savings, a pension or a clear plan.
“This has been my job, my life, my purpose for nearly 30 years,” he said.
In Belgium, he continues to walk around 20 miles a day, pushing The Beast, which weighs about 150lb. He wild camps in a small tent and eats whatever food is available, having started one day with only instant coffee and a yoghurt.
Years on the road have taken a physical and personal toll. He has lost numerous toenails, developed knee problems and admitted that his fitness has changed. Two serious relationships also ended, with visas and the pandemic contributing to the strain.
When Bushby left Britain, his son Adam was seven. Adam now has an 11-year-old daughter whom Bushby has never met. He estimates that he has seen his parents and son only about four times since departing, although they remain in regular contact through Facebook Messenger.
His mother, Angela, said she understood the commitment her son had made, even though she had not expected it to last so long.
“I told him not to come home if anything happened to me. But I just didn’t think it would take quite so long,” she said.
She plans to wait for him at the garden gate when he finally arrives in Hull.
The immediate obstacle is the English Channel. Bushby had expected to walk through the Channel Tunnel, but that plan was not possible. French law prohibits swimming the Channel from France because of safety concerns, but he has secured special permission and a support boat.
He will attempt the crossing with Maxwell, despite having little time to train.
“There’s no time to train – so we’ll just turn up, hope the wetsuits fit and head off,” he said.
After completing the final walk to Hull, Bushby has plans for a documentary directed by Werner Herzog and has established a non-profit organisation intended to promote STEM subjects in schools.
But he said the main lesson of his journey was the kindness he had encountered around the world.
“I want to keep reminding people that the world is an amazing and incredible place full of kind people,” he said. “My mission has given me hope because at the ground level, everywhere, people are wonderful.”
