KARL BUSHBY RETURNS HOME AFTER 28-YEAR WALK AROUND THE WORLD
HULL, England — After 28 years and approximately 50,000km, British adventurer Karl Bushby completed a walk around the world, arriving at his childhood home in Hull on Monday.
Bushby, 57, departed Punta Arenas, southern Chile, in November 1998, embarking on what became known as the Goliath Expedition. The goal was to complete an unbroken route on foot without motorised transport. The journey took him north through the Americas, across the frozen Bering Strait from Alaska to Russia, and onwards through Mongolia and China. He swam across the Caspian Sea and, last month, the English Channel — the final major obstacle before beginning the last leg home.
Throughout the expedition, Bushby navigated the dense jungle of the Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama, was detained after entering Russia, and faced repeated visa and funding difficulties. The 2008 global financial crisis cost him major sponsors, stretching what had been expected as a 12-year endeavour into 28 years.
Hundreds of supporters had cheered Bushby in the Hull city centre before his final walk home. Outside his mother Angela's terraced house, Bushby was embraced beneath a banner reading "Welcome Home Son."
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Bushby joked to the crowd. "Is that it, is it done?"
"The kindness of strangers, so many, from individuals to nation-states, to get me back here today. I didn’t do this alone. There was a big team. The biggest team. Earth," Bushby said.
A feature-length documentary about the journey is in production. Bushby plans a speaking tour around England in the coming weeks.
— Al Jazeera
