Karl Bushby’s 28-year journey ends at his mother’s door

Karl Bushby has reached his mother’s front door in Hull, England, completing a 28-year journey of about 50,000 kilometres (31,000 miles) through 29 countries.

The former British paratrooper left Punta Arenas, Chile, in November 1998, aged 29. Now 57, he has travelled through the Americas, crossed the Bering Strait from Alaska to Russia and continued across Asia and Europe. He swam the English Channel in October before walking the final stretch home.

His rule was to make progress along the route under his own power. Visa restrictions, financial difficulties and the Covid-19 pandemic repeatedly halted the expedition. During breaks, he sometimes lived in Mexico, returning to the precise point where he had stopped before continuing.

Crowds gathered in Hull to welcome him home. His homecoming brought reunions with his mother, Angela, and son, Adam, and his first meeting with his 12-year-old granddaughter.

Bushby has acknowledged that adjusting to ordinary life may be difficult after so long on the road. But he is already sharing another part of the story with schoolchildren: the kindness of strangers. He says hundreds of people offered food, shelter, practical help or a hug along the way, with a welcoming spirit found across countries and cultures.