British adventurer returns home after 28-year on-foot walk around the world

British adventurer Karl Bushby has enjoyed an emotional reunion with his mother and family after returning home from a 28-year, 50,000-kilometre trek from South America, crossing four continents on foot.

Bushby has hacked through jungles in Central America, crossed the ice between Alaska and Russia, and last month swam across the English Channel on the final stretch of a voyage made entirely under his own steam.

Hundreds of cheering supporters greeted the 57-year-old in the square of his home city of Hull on Monday morning.

"After 28 years, you just couldn't ask for more than this," he told the crowd, before pushing on with his few possessions in a trolley, a spare tyre which will now never be needed slung on top.

"I guess I'll be seeing you around," he added. He then headed for his family home where his mother, his 36-year-old son and a 12-year-old granddaughter were waiting.

Bushby served in the British Army's Parachute Regiment in his twenties.

After his marriage fell apart, he drew a line on a world map and set off, inspired by his father, who had wondered whether it was possible to walk from London to New York.

Carrying a tent, a few hundred dollars and a cheap plastic camera, he started in Chile and headed north through the Americas, crossing from Alaska to Russia, Mongolia and China, and back through Europe after swimming the Caspian Sea.

"Sometimes the monotony is incredible. You're in deserts, and the landscape doesn't change for days to weeks. That can get a little mind-bending. The same with the Arctic," he told Reuters news agency last year.

18 years stretch

He originally expected to spend about 10 years on the road, but he hadn't anticipated the obstacles he'd face.

Amongst them were a brief imprisonment in Panama, being held at gunpoint in Mexico and detention by Russian authorities for crossing the border illegally, not to mention delays from the 2008 financial crisis and the Covid pandemic.

"This is what an odyssey in the 21st century looks like," he told the Telegraph newspaper.

"Half of it is literally dealing with these bureaucratic geopolitical problems, not just the environmental hurdles. There are some times where the solution is just to wait."

Bushby told the BBC he has only spent about 15 of the 28 years walking, returning to Mexico periodically to sort out visas, logistics and corporate and media sponsorship deals.

A feature-length documentary about his journey is in production, and Bushby is planning to embark on a speaking tour around England in the coming weeks.

TRT World & Agencies — TRT World & Agencies

Photo: Reuters