British adventurer Karl Bushby has returned to his hometown in northern England after completing a 28-year journey around the world, covering approximately 31,000 miles (50,000 kilometres) across four continents and around 30 countries.
The 57-year-old former British Army paratrooper arrived in Hull on Monday, November 2, where hundreds of people gathered to welcome him before he made his way to his mother’s home, reuniting with his family nearly three decades after setting out on the expedition.
Known as the Goliath Expedition, Bushby’s journey began on November 1, 1998, when he left Punta Arenas in southern Chile with a tent, a few hundred dollars and a basic camera. Following the breakdown of his marriage, he was inspired by a question raised by his father about whether it was possible to walk from London to New York.
Bushby established two rules for the expedition: he would not use motorised transport to advance his journey, and he would not return home until he had completed it.
From Chile, he travelled north through South and Central America, the United States and Canada before attempting to cross the Bering Strait between Alaska and Russia. He subsequently continued through Russia, Mongolia and China before making his way through Central Asia and Europe.
The journey involved some of the most challenging geographical crossings imaginable. In 2006, Bushby and fellow adventurer Dimitry Kieffer crossed the frozen Bering Strait, navigating shifting ice, freezing temperatures and dangerous stretches of open water. They encountered a polar bear and nearly lost their supplies when their sledges fell into the sea. After reaching Russia, both were detained by authorities for entering the country through an unauthorised border crossing.
His difficulties were not limited to extreme weather. Bushby was imprisoned in Panama for 18 days after crossing into a restricted border zone in the Darién Gap, the dangerous jungle region between Colombia and Panama. In Mexico, he was also held at gunpoint.
Russia proved to be another major obstacle, with visa restrictions and border regulations repeatedly delaying his progress. After being denied a Russian visa in 2012, Bushby staged a protest by walking from Los Angeles to the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., eventually helping him secure the necessary documentation.
In 2024, he undertook another extraordinary challenge, swimming approximately 300 kilometres across the Caspian Sea alongside fellow adventurer Angela Maxwell. The crossing took 31 days, allowing him to avoid returning to Russia or travelling through Iran amid the geopolitical complications affecting his route.
His final major crossing came in October this year, when he swam across the English Channel from France to England after being unable to secure permission to walk through the Channel Tunnel. The crossing took approximately 20 hours spread over three days.
Although Bushby initially expected the expedition to take around 10 years, international border restrictions, visa arrangements, financial difficulties, the 2008 global financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic extended it to almost three decades.
He has said that he spent approximately 15 of the 28 years actually walking, with much of the remaining time taken up by administrative arrangements, securing visas, logistics and sponsorship.
Following his arrival in Hull, Bushby was reunited with his mother, Angela, whom he had not seen for 10 years. His 36-year-old son, Adam, and 12-year-old granddaughter were also waiting to welcome him.
A documentary about the expedition is currently in production, while Bushby is also expected to undertake speaking engagements in England following the completion of his journey.
