Karl Bushby has returned home to Hull, 28 years after beginning a remarkable journey from the southern tip of Chile. The British adventurer, now 57, was reunited with his mother Angela on Monday 2 November 2026, following an estimated 31,000-mile expedition.
Image note: The featured image is AI-generated illustrative artwork, not a photograph of Karl Bushby or his homecoming. The map and dotted route are schematic and do not show his exact journey.
Watch: BBC News reports on Karl Bushby
Video: BBC News on YouTube. Watch on YouTube if the embedded player is unavailable.
For more from the expedition itself, visit Karl Bushby’s YouTube channel, where readers can explore videos from his extraordinary journey.
An emotional reunion in Hull
Bushby received a warm welcome from crowds in Queen Victoria Square before completing the final few miles to his mother’s house. There, the former paratrooper embraced Angela outside the family home he had left in 1998. According to the Associated Press, mother and son had not met in person for roughly a decade.
He also reunited with his adult son and met his 12-year-old granddaughter. The homecoming brought to an end a challenge that had occupied almost half his life.
Speaking to the crowd, Bushby joked, “Sorry to keep you waiting.” He also thanked the strangers and supporters around the world who had helped him continue.
Where the journey began
Bushby set out from Punta Arenas in Chile on 1 November 1998, with the aim of travelling back to Hull under his own power. The challenge, known as the Goliath Expedition, took him through the Americas and Asia and eventually back across Europe.
Among the most dangerous sections were the Darién Gap between Colombia and Panama and the Bering Strait between Alaska and Russia. In the Bering Strait, shifting sea ice, extreme cold and the dangers of remote travel made progress particularly difficult.
It was not 28 years of continuous walking
The description of a ’28-year walk around the world’ is shorthand. Bushby encountered long periods of delay caused by visas, borders, finances and the COVID-19 pandemic, and he used his own power in ways other than walking.
He swam across the Caspian Sea and later the English Channel rather than taking a boat or plane to advance his route. His objective was to avoid using transport to move forward on the expedition, not to walk every mile without stopping.
How far did Karl Bushby travel?
The Associated Press, Sky News and ITV News have reported a total of approximately 31,000 miles, or 50,000 kilometres, across four continents. Some reports give a higher mileage. The commonly cited 31,000 miles is an estimate for the expedition, not a separately verified figure for distance walked on foot.
What comes next?
After years focused on the next border, route or obstacle, the prospect of ordinary life is another major adjustment. For Bushby and his family, however, the immediate milestone is simple: he is finally home.
