"21st-Century Odyssey"... British Man Returns Home After 28 Years Crossing Jungles, Seas and Ice

Explorer Crosses Four Continents Without Using Transportation
Spent Only 15 Years Actually Walking Amid Detentions and Gun Threats
"We Are All Capable of Achieving More Than We Can Imagine"

A British explorer who spent 28 years walking and swimming without using any form of transportation, traveling more than halfway around the world, has returned to his hometown. He covered 49,890 km across four continents.

British adventurer Karl Bushby arrived at his mother's home in his hometown on the 2nd (local time), completing a 28-year journey around the world. AP-Yonhap News

On November 2 (local time), Yonhap News, citing the BBC and AFP, reported that “Karl Bushby, 57, an explorer and former paratrooper, crossed the Humber Bridge in northern England on November 1 and arrived in his hometown of Hull.” It was exactly 28 years to the day since he set out from Punta Arenas, Chile.

A 28-Year Walking Journey That Began With a Birthday Card

Bushby set off on November 1, 1998, when he was 29. That was the year his marriage ended and his wife left for Northern Ireland with their son. He said the journey began with a birthday card from his father. The card recounted an argument between two British special forces soldiers over whether it was possible to walk from London to New York via the Bering Strait.

All he had with him was a tent, $500 and a cheap plastic camera. He set two rules for himself: he would not use transportation to move forward, and he would not return home until he had completed the journey. His route took him north through South America and the Americas, across the Bering Strait into Russia, and then through Central Asia and Europe.

Karl Bushby sitting in the Darién Gap between Colombia and Panama. Karl Bushby

The first major obstacle was the Darién Gap between Colombia and Panama. It took him two months to get through the jungle, which stretches about 320 km. After entering Panama, he was detained for 18 days for entering the country without a visa. Crossing the Bering Strait in March 2006 took 14 days. Though the strait is about 90 km wide, he reportedly traveled about 240 km because drifting ice floes pushed him off course. Once, the ice beneath his tent split overnight, forcing him to scramble out. Immediately after crossing the strait, he was detained by Russian border guards on suspicion of illegally crossing the border. In an interview with U.S. public radio station NPR, Bushby called this stretch the “biggest challenge,” saying, “It’s a dream for polar bears, but a nightmare for humans.”

Bushby cited crossing the Bering Strait as the biggest challenge. Karl Bushby

He later swam across two more bodies of water. In 2024, he opted to cross the Caspian Sea because it had become difficult to travel through Iran and Russia with a British passport. With almost no swimming experience, he spent about a month swimming from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan. He rested at night on a support boat, but did not use it to make progress. On October 5, 2026, he swam across the English Channel from France to the UK, arriving at Shakespeare Beach near Dover. On social media, Bushby exclaimed, “I’m home after 28 years” and “We did it.”

Homecoming to Cheers From 1,000 People: “I Didn’t Do This Alone”

Of the 28 years, he spent about 15 actually walking. The rest of the time, his journey was on hold due to various setbacks. He was threatened with a gun in Mexico and also had to stop during the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. Each time, he retreated to a base he had established in Mexico, resolved visa issues and secured support from companies and media outlets, then returned to where he had stopped and resumed walking.

In an interview with the British newspaper The Telegraph, Bushby said, “This is what an odyssey in the 21st century looks like,” adding, “Half of it was environmental challenges, and the other half was administrative and geopolitical problems. Sometimes, the solution was simply to wait.”

Crowds gather for Bushby's homecoming. Reuters-Yonhap News Agency

About 1,000 people gathered for a welcome ceremony in the center of his hometown on November 2, the day after he returned. Taking the stage, Bushby said, “After 28 years, I couldn’t have asked for anything more,” adding, “I didn’t do this alone. I can’t say how many people took part and helped us overcome the many obstacles we faced.” UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham praised his “courage, resilience, patience and indomitable spirit” in a congratulatory message read on his behalf by Karl Turner, the local MP.

After the ceremony, Bushby walked a few more kilometers to his mother Angela’s home. It was his first time seeing her since 2015. There, he was reunited with his son, Adam, 36, and greeted his 12-year-old granddaughter for the first time.

German filmmaker Werner Herzog and his crew accompanied him on the final leg of his homecoming. Herzog is making a feature-length documentary about the journey titled Walk of Life, and the production company has provided Bushby with funding and logistical support for the past 16 years. In a statement, Bushby emphasized, “It wasn’t an easy journey, but we are all capable of achieving more than we can imagine.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.