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Who is Karl Bushby? Man who walked the world for 28 years, covered nearly 50,000 km returns to UK
Karl Bushby began his journey in 1998 from Punta Arenas, Chile, at 29. He returned to the UK in 2026 at age 57.
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Karl Bushby, a 57-year-old UK man, has touched the soil of his homeland 28 years after he set off on a journey to walk around the world.
When the former paratrooper began his decades-long trip in 1998 from Punta Arenas, Chile, to reach his mother's home near Hull in northern England, he promised to follow two rules, none of which he had broken over the years.
The first one was that he would never use transportation to progress his journey. The second one was that he would not return to the UK until he completed his adventure. Now, after a 28-year-long journey and having covered nearly 50,000 km, he has returned to his country.
How did he feel returning to the UK?
"Feels good to have UK soil under my feet after all these years. It hasn't been easy, and that's part of the point; proving I'm more capable than I give myself credit for,” Bushby said in a statement. He added, "All of us can accomplish more than we will ever imagine."
How was he welcomed?
The British adventurer finished the last leg of his return journey to the UK by completing a multi-day swim of the English Channel. As he emerged from the water at Shakespeare Beach, just south of Dover, he was welcomed by a small group of people, including his father and friends.
Filmmaker Werner Herzog and his film crew greeted Bushby. The director is making a film on the Britisher’s journey around the world. It is titled: "Walk of Life".
The production company behind the film has been supporting the adventurer’s journey for the past 16 years. It has provided Bushby with financial and logistical assistance.
Why did he decide to walk?
The idea of walking around the world started forming in Bushby’s mind when he was still a paratrooper, reported the BBC. When he drew a rough sketch of the route he wanted to take, his fellow soldiers told him it was impossible. However, that only strengthened his resolve.
In a TikTok video, he once explained the reasoning behind his decision. “It was a little overwhelming. A little exciting. You're stepping on to a road that's 50,000km plus.”
He expressed, “First, I had no idea how this was going to work out. I knew nothing,” adding, “Second, I knew I could do it and you would be amazed how a little bit of confidence can take you a long, long way.”
How did he travel?
He would walk across his route without breaking the self-imposed rules. However, he often visited the US to meet his sponsors. When he returned to resume his walking journey, he would start from the same place where he left.
Which places did he visit?
Bushby began his journey from Chile at age 29. During his trip, he crossed Argentina, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. He also passed through Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico. Then he crossed into the US and Canada.
He also trekked across Siberia into Mongolia and China before visiting Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. In March 2006, he teamed up with French-American adventurer Dimitri Kieffer to cross the Bering Strait. During his trip, he also covered Russia.
The hurdles on the way:
On his personal website, Bushby documented that his trip was not all roses and that he faced numerous challenges along the way.
“Russia gave the walk its longest, slowest years. Even reaching the trail meant a paper-war for the permits into a guarded military zone. Karl could only advance in the depth of winter, when the Siberian rivers and tundra froze hard enough to carry him, and only inside ninety-day visa windows — walk, leave, come back, walk again — with Russian law capping him at ninety days in every hundred and eighty,” reads an excerpt from the site.
His journey was also delayed by several other factors, including the 2007–2008 financial crisis, which left him without any money, and the pandemic, which caused him to get stuck.
Karl Bushby started his journey with a line drawn on a map highlighting “four continents, a frozen sea, deserts, mountains, jungles, and over 50,000 km of unknown.”
His plan? “Keep walking, swim when he must, until the line reaches his mother's front door.” Nearly three decades later, the line remains unbroken, and his mission is almost complete. He is expected to reach Hull this November.
(With inputs from AFP)
