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

British adventurer Karl Bushby has returned to England after 28 years on foot, completing one of the most extraordinary expeditions in history. His unbroken, motor-free journey began in Punta Arenas, Chile, in November 1998 and covered nearly 50,000 kilometres across South America, North America, Asia and Europe — ending with a swim across the English Channel. He is now walking the final stretch to his hometown of Hull.

Key facts

• Who: Karl Bushby, born 30 March 1969 in Hull, England — a former British Army paratrooper.
• The expedition: The “Goliath Expedition” — an attempt to walk an unbroken path around the world using no motorised transport of any kind.
• The start: Punta Arenas, Chile, on 1 November 1998 — 28 years before his return to England.
• The distance: Approximately 50,000 kilometres (30,000 miles) covered on foot over 28 years.
• Signature obstacles: The Darién Gap jungle (2001); the frozen Bering Strait, crossed on foot in 2006; a five-year Russian visa ban; and a 31-day, 300-kilometre swim across the Caspian Sea in 2024.
• The final border: With the Channel Tunnel service tunnel ruled out, Bushby swam the English Channel in stages, with French permission granted in September 2026.
• What’s next: A walk to Hull by 1 November 2026 — exactly 28 years after he set off — and a documentary by filmmaker Werner Herzog.

How the Karl Bushby walk around the world began

Bushby thought up the expedition while serving in the army, bored at not being deployed. In November 1998 he left for the southern tip of South America and began walking north from Punta Arenas. He set two strict rules that explain why the voyage took 28 years: he would not use any form of motorised transport — not even ferries — and he would not return to the United Kingdom until he could arrive there on foot.

Over almost three decades, the journey consumed roughly half his life. Bushby has said the finish will bring mixed emotions, describing the expedition as the purpose his life has been organised around since day one. At 57, he is not getting any younger — but the goal has never changed.

Continents crossed, borders crossed

The route Bushby walked reads like a catalogue of the planet’s hardest geography. He spent two months negotiating the Darién Gap between North and South America, a remote jungle of perilous terrain and cartels. In 2006 he crossed the shifting ice of the Bering Strait on foot over two weeks, carrying a rifle to fend off polar bears — only to be detained by the Russian authorities and handed a five-year visa ban.

The years that followed were a slow war of attrition against visas, borders, politics and money. When the war in Ukraine shut down his planned European entry and Iran was not an option, he refused to break his no-transport rule: instead he swam roughly 300 kilometres across the Caspian Sea in 2024, taking 31 days with support from the Kazakh coastguard and two national-team swimmers. Periodic pauses — in Mexico, Hungary and elsewhere — let him reset visa allowances, always resuming from the exact point he had stopped so the route stayed unbroken.

The final border: swimming the English Channel

Illustration: the English Channel swim — the final obstacle before the long walk home to Hull.

The last obstacle in Bushby’s 28-year journey turned out to be one of the smallest distances on the map: the roughly 33-kilometre English Channel. He had hoped to walk through the Channel Tunnel’s service corridor, but Eurotunnel rejected the request in June 2026, calling the service tunnel a critical safety and maintenance facility. Swimming became the only remaining option under his self-imposed rules, and French authorities granted permission for the attempt in early September 2026.

Bushby completed the crossing in stages, swimming between sessions of recovery on a support boat, and stepped onto English soil in October 2026. Ahead lies a walk of several hundred kilometres to Hull, his hometown, which he aims to reach by 1 November 2026 — exactly 28 years after the Goliath Expedition began. Along the way he confirmed that filmmaker Werner Herzog is turning 16 years of expedition footage into a documentary about the journey.

Conclusion

Karl Bushby’s return to England marks the near-completion of a 28-year odyssey that began as a young paratrooper’s idea in Chile and grew into the longest continuous pedestrian expedition ever attempted. The Bering Strait, the Darién Gap and the Caspian Sea all fell to patience and an unbroken rule set; the English Channel fell last. Read the full story on the main Watan News site, and follow more global journeys in our world news section.

Whether he reaches Hull by November 1 remains in the hands of weather and weary legs — but after 28 years, Bushby has already proved the point he set out to make: with enough grit, even the most ambitious dream can be walked to completion.

Frequently Asked Questions

When did Karl Bushby start his walk around the world?

Bushby began the Goliath Expedition in Punta Arenas, Chile, on 1 November 1998. Some early reports misstate the year as 1988; the expedition is 28 years long, ending in 2026.

How far did Karl Bushby walk?

Approximately 50,000 kilometres (30,000 miles) on foot, across South America, North America, Asia and Europe — plus a 300-kilometre swim across the Caspian Sea where no land route was possible.

What rules did Bushby set for the expedition?

Two: no motorised transport of any kind (not even ferries) and no return to the United Kingdom until he could arrive there on foot. That is why the journey’s final leg was a swim across the English Channel.

What was the hardest part of the journey?

Candidates include the Darién Gap, two weeks on the ice of the Bering Strait, a five-year Russian visa ban, and the 31-day Caspian Sea swim. Bushby himself has said the uncertainty of what comes after the finish is its own kind of hard.

What happens next for Karl Bushby?

He is walking the final stretch from the English coast to his hometown of Hull, targeting 1 November 2026, and filmmaker Werner Herzog is directing a documentary of the expedition.