British explorer Karl Bushby arrives in Hull after 28-year trek
British explorer Karl Bushby completed a 50,000-kilometer trek across four continents and roughly 30 countries on November 2, 2026, arriving in his hometown of Hull after 28 years on the road, backchina.com reported.
Hundreds of local residents gathered at Queen Victoria Square near the Guildhall to welcome the 57-year-old former paratrooper. Bushby pushed his luggage cart—a constant companion for about 25 years—through the final meters of his journey to reach his childhood home, where he embraced his mother, Angela, alongside his 36-year-old son Adam and his 12-year-old granddaughter.
The Goliath Expedition Begins in Punta Arenas
The journey started on November 1, 1998, when a 29-year-old Bushby departed from Punta Arenas at the southern tip of Chile. Named the Goliath Expedition, the project drew inspiration from a birthday card sent by his father in the mid-1990s, which mused whether anyone could walk from London to New York across the frozen Bering Strait.
Bushby mapped out a route crossing the Americas, Asia, and Europe with two strict rules: he would use no mechanical transport to advance his journey, and he would not return home until the entire trek was finished. Initial estimates pegged the duration at roughly 12 years.
Extremes of the Darien Gap and the Bering Strait
The terrain proved far more formidable than anticipated. In 2001, Bushby crossed the Darien Gap, a jungle region between Colombia and Panama marked by swamps, forests, and mountains. His entry into restricted zones in Panama led to an 18-day detention.
In 2006, he teamed up with American explorer Dimitry Kieffer to cross the Bering Strait connecting Alaska and Russia. Walking across shifting, fracturing sea ice, the pair faced polar bear encounters and plunged into freezing seawater before completing the crossing. Russian authorities subsequently detained both men for illegal entry.
Visa Denials and Global Crises Delay the Journey
Obtaining visas and dealing with weather conditions stretched his time in Russia across nearly a decade. In 2012, protesting Russia’s refusal to issue him a visa, Bushby walked from Los Angeles to the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., to secure the necessary documentation.
The global financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the war in Ukraine further disrupted his path. Forced to alter his original route, Bushby planned and executed a 31-day water crossing of the Caspian Sea around 2024. In October 2026, barred from walking through the Channel Tunnel, he swam across the English Channel from France to reach the United Kingdom.
Re-entering Daily Life and Future Plans
Back home, Bushby faces the challenge of reintegrating into fixed routines after nearly three decades of nomadic existence. He notes that the kindness of strangers defined the core of his experience, observing that the poorest communities often showed the greatest generosity.
German director Werner Herzog is currently filming a documentary about the expedition titled tentatively Walk of Life. Bushby intends to spend his immediate future delivering speaking engagements across Britain and writing a sequel to his memoir, leaving open the exact shape of his life now that the walking has stopped.