Karl Bushby has been walking home for almost as long as some people have been alive. The British adventurer set off in November 1998, a 29-year-old ex-paratrooper with an almost absurd goal: to circle the planet on foot and eventually step back into Britain without ever using motorised transport. As per Geo News, he is now 56 and only about 1,000 miles from finishing what has become one of the longest human journeys ever attempted.
If all goes to plan, he will reach home in September 2026 - 27 years after leaving the tip of South America.
Who is Karl Bushby?
According to the Washington Post, born on March 30, 1969, in England. Karl Bushby grew up far from the kind of life he eventually chose. A former member of the Parachute Regiment, he carried that military grit into a wildly ambitious mission: to walk around the entire world, on foot, without breaking the route.
What began in 1998 has stretched into a 27-plus-year odyssey, taking him across deserts, jungles, frozen seas, war zones, and shifting political borders.
Now 56, the British explorer has become known not for loud self-promotion but for the sheer persistence behind his record-setting attempt - a journey expected to cross more than 36,000 miles and push the limits of what one person can endure.
Karl Bushby's journey from South America to Siberia
He crossed the Americas, pushed through Canada’s brutal cold, moved across Russia and Asia, cut through China and Europe, and kept going. According to Geo News, along the way, he spent 57 days in Russian detention after entering through an unofficial border, one of the many bureaucratic minefields that slowed him down. A five-year Russian visa ban in 2013 stalled him again - eventually overturned, but costly. Then came the financial setbacks, the years of scraping together enough to keep moving, and the COVID-19 shutdowns that stopped nearly every international traveller in their tracks.
{{/usCountry}}He crossed the Americas, pushed through Canada’s brutal cold, moved across Russia and Asia, cut through China and Europe, and kept going. According to Geo News, along the way, he spent 57 days in Russian detention after entering through an unofficial border, one of the many bureaucratic minefields that slowed him down. A five-year Russian visa ban in 2013 stalled him again - eventually overturned, but costly. Then came the financial setbacks, the years of scraping together enough to keep moving, and the COVID-19 shutdowns that stopped nearly every international traveller in their tracks.
{{/usCountry}}After almost three decades on the move, Bushby is closing in on Britain and the life he left behind. The last stretch may be the shortest, but for him, it is the one he has spent half his life trying to reach.
FAQs
Who is Karl Bushby?
He’s a British adventurer attempting to walk around the world without motorised travel.
When did he start his journey?
He began in November 1998 from the tip of South America.
How far has he walked?
Around 58,000km across 25 countries.