Karl Bushby is back in Hull: after 28 years, he has finished walking home from Patagonia
He crossed the Bering Strait on foot, took almost ten years to cross Russia and swam the Caspian and the English Channel. Now 57, he's anxious about rejoining a society he no longer knows.
On 1 November 1998, a 29-year-old former British soldier left Punta Arenas, at the southern tip of Chile, with about $500, a cart he called “The Beast” and no sponsors. He expected it to take 12 years. On 2 November 2026, Karl Bushby reached Hull, England, aged 57.
Hundreds of people welcomed him beneath a homecoming sign. “This is absolute madness,” he said at the ceremony. He then walked the final steps to his mother’s house, which he had left in 1998.
The rules
He wanted to walk home using no transport, not even a bicycle or kayak, and vowed not to return to the UK until he’d finished. He could fly elsewhere during breaks, but always had to resume at the exact point where he’d stopped.
The journey
- The Americas: a mob attacked him in Peru, and in Colombia he floated down the Atrato River to avoid armed men. He crossed the Darien Gap and was detained for 18 days in Panama.
- Bering Strait (March 2006): he crossed in 14 days with Frenchman Dimitri Kieffer, pulling 90 kg sleds in temperatures near -30°C, with some swimming through icy water. Russian authorities detained them on arrival.
- Russia: his visa allowed 90 days in every 180. He lost his sponsorship in 2008, and in 2013 received a five-year entry ban. In protest, he walked about 5,000 km from Los Angeles to the Russian Embassy in Washington. Crossing the country took almost ten years.
- Caspian Sea (2022): blocked from entering Iran, he swam 288 km over 32 days, helped by two Azerbaijani swimmers. He called it “floatimming”, a hybrid of swimming and floating.
- English Channel: Eurotunnel refused him its service tunnel, so he swam across over three days, with about 20 hours in the water. He landed at Shakespeare Beach, near Dover, on 5 October.
The cost
His son Adam was 8 when he left and is now 36. Bushby has never met his 12-year-old granddaughter and hadn’t seen his mother in over a decade.
He’ll now live with her and is considering retraining as a teacher, having enjoyed giving school talks along the way. He’s also anxious about rejoining a society he no longer knows. As he told The Washington Post: “My purpose and reason for living is about to end.”
If this makes you want to walk, you can start with something shorter: try our spectacular routes that need no experience.
Sources and references
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