Karl Bushby Finishes 28-Year Walk Around the World With Welcome in Hull

British adventurer Karl Bushby has finished a walk around the world that took 28 years. He arrived in his home city of Hull, England, on Monday to a crowd of well-wishers, television cameras and a reunion with his mother, according to The Guardian.

The 57-year-old former paratrooper set out from Punta Arenas, Chile, in 1998 with a plan to reach Hull on foot. The Guardian reported that he is now the first person to have walked continuously across the world, passing through 29 countries.

How did the journey end?

Bushby crossed the Humber Bridge through thick mist on Sunday, according to The Independent. The Guardian noted it was the same date he set off in 1998. He told BBC Radio Humberside he was overwhelmed by the crowds lining the bridge.

On Monday he pushed his heavily loaded cart through Queen Victoria Square in Hull, where he was greeted by a crowd and spoke from a makeshift stage. Explorersweb reported that hundreds of people attended the civic ceremony. Bushby called the scene absolute madness, then continued on foot to his mother's house.

About three miles away, his mother, Angela, 75, was waiting at the gate, The Guardian reported. He was then reunited with his son, now 36, and met his 12-year-old granddaughter for the first time.

What were the rules of the expedition?

Bushby set himself two rules, according to Explorersweb: he could not use any transport to move forward, including bicycles or kayaks, and he could not return to the UK until he had finished the walk. He called the project the Goliath Expedition.

When he started, he was 29 and had around $500, a two-wheeled cart and an estimate that the trip would take about 12 years, Explorersweb reported. The idea began with a birthday card from his father that described a debate about walking from London to New York via the Bering Strait.

What obstacles did he face along the way?

The Guardian said Bushby described being threatened at gunpoint, facing down a polar bear, and being convicted of spying and sentenced to deportation while held in Russia. Explorersweb reported that he was detained for 18 days in Panama after crossing a restricted border zone without the necessary visa.

In March 2006 he and French adventurer Dimitri Kieffer crossed the Bering Strait on foot over 14 days, according to Explorersweb. The Independent described it as the first recorded crossing of the strait on foot from east to west. Russian authorities then detained the pair for entering without permission.

Visa limits, the 2008 financial crash, which cost him his sponsors, and the Covid-19 pandemic also stalled the trip, The Independent reported. Explorersweb said he lost sponsorship in 2008 and resumed in 2011, working around a rule that let him stay in Russia only 90 days at a time.

The final stretch included the English Channel. The Independent reported that he was refused permission to walk through the Channel Tunnel because of safety concerns and maintenance work, so he swam instead. He reached Shakespeare Beach near Dover on Oct. 5 after 20 hours in the water and three days at sea, the paper said. It added that he needed special permission from the French government.

How far did he actually walk?

Reports differ. The Independent put the journey at 31,000 miles (49,890 km), while The Guardian reported 36,000 miles. Explorersweb cited 50,000km. The Guardian said he had already passed the record for the longest unbroken foot journey, well beyond the 25,000-mile circumference of the world. The Independent also said he became the first person to swim 184 miles across the Caspian Sea.

Why does it matter?

Bushby's walk drew attention because it began as a project many people considered impossible, Explorersweb reported, and it was done with little funding. The Guardian said Prime Minister Andy Burnham sent a message, read on stage by Hull East MP Karl Turner, that called the feat remarkable and thanked Bushby for his service as a paratrooper. German filmmaker Werner Herzog appeared on stage and is making a documentary about the journey, according to The Guardian.

Bushby himself said the walk had been a team effort. "It took a world to get me here," he told the crowd, crediting strangers, individuals and nation states. He also told ITV News that the experience showed people can do more than they think.

He has also spoken about what comes next. He told The Washington Post, as he approached home, that his purpose for living was about to end and that rejoining a society he no longer knows would be difficult.

Around Prague, based on reporting by Explorersweb », The Independent, The Guardian