Karl Bushby Has Walked Around the World

By Arianna Kaplan

This miraculous journey has taken him 28 years to walk over 30,000 miles through four continents and 29 countries.

Karl Bushby walked roughly 35,750 miles on his 28-year mission to travel around the world on foot.

Finally, after nearly three decades, the 57-year-old British adventurer and former paratrooper Karl Bushby has been reunited with his mother in the UK, whom he hasn’t seen or returned to in 11 years.

British adventurer Karl Bushby reached England’s shores a few weeks ago after a swim across the English Channel, after 28 years of walking across four continents and 29 countries. He embarked on his journey in 1988, expecting it to take him 12 years.

Bushby just completed a lengthy trek he’s called the Goliath Expedition, with the goal of attempting one of the longest continuous journeys ever undertaken without motorized transport. He began in Chile in 1988, and aimed to end back up in Hull, England. He forbade himself from returning home until had completed his journey, and, now home, wonders what he will do next.

Bushby’s route took him the length of South America, though North America and across the Bering Straight; through the Darién Gap, and in 2006, he even crossed the frozen Bering Straight on foot with fellow adventurer Dimitri Kieffer.

Before embarking on his voyage, he had about $500 to finance the trip. As his trip attracted the attention of the press, he began to accept sponsors and donations to keep him going. He was also booked to speak at events.

From 1998 to 2000, Bushby trekked through South America, beginning with Punta Arenas, Chile. Between 2000 and 2001, he approached the Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama, where the road disappeared into endless jungle and swamp, and was frequented by guerrillas and paramilitaries locked in conflict. Bushby crossed the dangerous Darien Gap using undercover methods, planning the crossing “like a military evasion.” In his trip across the Gap, Bushby was even imprisoned in February of 2001 by the Panamanian police and border security forces for trespassing, but was then released.

Freed from detainment, Bushby spent 2001 to 2005 crossing through Central and North America, a “test of endurance on asphalt.” Sponsors began to flock to him at the U.S. border, and a BBC crew picked up his story. In 2002 he’s in Arizona; by 2004 he had made it to Dunbar, Alaska, and battled -45℃ weather.

March of 2006 took Bushby across the Bering Strait with French-American adventurer Dimitri Kieffer, braving the sea ice between Alaska and Russia. Immediately upon arrival, they were detained and arrested by Russian border guards for not following proper entry protocols.

However, they made it through, and Bushby continued the trek from 2006 to 2011 through Siberia, where he faced strict visa restrictions and harsh climate conditions. His visa was denied in 2012, and when he was forced to leave Russia, he embarked on a roughly 3,500-mile trek from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., aiming to arrive at the doors of the Russian Embassy.

His attempts were successful, and from 2016 to 2017 he traveled through Mongolia, and later spent 2018 walking through China. U.S. sanctions barred his American sponsors from funding him through Iran, but he was finally able to swim around 180 miles across the Caspian Sea. Leaving Azerbaijan in 2024, he swam the English Channel just weeks ago and landed at Shakespeare Beach near Dover, England, on Oct. 5, according to the BBC.

Now, on Nov. 2nd, he has returned home.

Reflecting on his journey, Bushby says that he is most touched by the brightness of the nature of humanity. He is grateful for every sponsor and everyone who has seen him across his way, and he has a projected completion time of autumn of this year. His remarkable story is being developed into a documentary, Walk of Life, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Werner Herzog, and he has a second memoir on the way.

Reaching the front door of his house he said to the BBC, “It’s good to be home. It feels surreal.”