British adventurer Karl Bushby completed his 28-year journey on foot when he arrived in his hometown of Hull, England. (Foto: Instagram)
British adventurer Karl Bushby, 57, has completed a 28-year journey on foot that began in Chile and ended Monday, Nov. 2, in Hull, his hometown in northeastern England. He set out on Nov. 1, 1998, and traveled more than 58,000 kilometers (about 36,000 miles) across four continents. His route included crossings of the Bering Strait and the English Channel. He made the journey without using motorized transportation.
About 500 people, including relatives, friends and local politicians, welcomed Bushby in Hull. During the homecoming, he met his 12-year-old granddaughter, Harley, in person for the first time. The meeting was private, and no images of it had been released. When Bushby began the trek, he had recently divorced and left behind his 8-year-old son, Adam, who is now 36 and has a child of his own. Father and son reportedly saw each other only three times during the nearly three decades Bushby was away, when the journey’s logistics brought him back to England.
Bushby had originally expected the expedition to take 10 to 12 years. His mother, Angela Bushby, now 75, stayed at the family home and waited for him throughout the journey. Bushby initially paid for the expedition himself, which he named the Goliath Expedition, but eventually secured sponsors, including a U.S.-based documentary company.
As a child, Bushby experienced bullying and was considered unintelligent at school because of severe dyslexia. He was not diagnosed with the condition until he was 13. He later served for 12 years in the 3rd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment. During his military service, he mapped out a possible route for the trip he dreamed of taking. In a recent social media post, he recalled the first day, saying the prospect of setting out on a journey of more than 50,000 kilometers felt overwhelming and exciting. He said he initially had no idea how it would work, but believed he could do it, adding that a little confidence can carry someone a long way.
Bushby left Punta Arenas, at the southern tip of Chile, at age 29. He traveled through Argentina, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia, and said his military knowledge and help from his father, who also served in the military, helped him escape armed gangs while heading toward Panama. He then went through Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, the United States and Canada.
In March 2006, Bushby joined French adventurer Dimitri Kieffer to cross the Bering Strait, a stretch of ice connecting Alaska and Russia. Russian authorities arrested the two for illegal entry, but they were released after interventions by then-British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. Bushby continued through Siberia, Mongolia and China, then Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. He later decided against traveling through Iran and Russia because of global tensions and instead swam across the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan. He then traveled through Turkey before entering Europe.
After reaching England, Bushby posted that eating fish and chips meant he was home. In Hull, he told local media he was astonished by the welcome, saying he could never have imagined it. He described returning to the United Kingdom and finishing the journey as phenomenal, and credited the kindness of strangers with helping him reach that point. He also said he felt a mix of emotions about leaving behind what had been most of his life, and planned to meet more of his family and rest.
