By Ahmed Abdelsalam
British adventurer Karl Bushby is approaching the finish line of a 28-year, 31,000-mile walk around the world, with the final stretch taking him through the English countryside toward his mother's home in Hull.
A journey sparked by a birthday card
Bushby, 57, began the "Goliath Expedition" on Nov. 1, 1998, at the tip of South America after his father, a former Army veteran, mentioned a debate about walking from London to New York via the Bering land bridge. He drew a continuous line on a map across Europe, Asia, and North America, continuing down to Chile.
Strict rules and formidable obstacles
Bushby imposed two rules: no motorized transport to move forward and a return home on foot. He crossed the Bering Strait on shifting ice, swam the Caspian Sea and English Channel, and traversed jungle, desert, and tundra across 30 countries. Bureaucratic hurdles, including a decade-long Russian visa struggle, extended the planned 12-year trek nearly threefold.
Setbacks and survival
He survived a polar bear standoff, a mob attack in Peru, a helicopter rescue from a drifting ice floe, and 18 days in a Panamanian jail. The COVID-19 pandemic forced a lengthy pause, and geopolitical closures led to a 31-day swim across the Caspian Sea using a technique he calls "floatimming."
Final approach and uncertain future
Now about 30 miles from Hull, Bushby pushes a cart of camping gear along country roads near Market Rasen, Lincolnshire. He admits anxiety about returning to a society he no longer knows and living in his mother's basement after a decade apart. "My purpose and reason for living is about to end," he said.
Kindness of strangers
Throughout the journey, Bushby relied on the generosity of people with little to give, from a Peruvian doctor's family who nursed him to villagers sharing meals of rice and water. "I've met 99.9999% of the very best of humanity," he said.
