British man Karl Bushby in Canada in 2004. Photo / Courtesy of Karl Bushby via The Washington Post
Karl Bushby made a pub bet that he could walk from the southern tip of South America all the way home to England. His friends had little faith.
“Suddenly, it became a challenge,” Bushby said of the bet he made in his 20s.
“That conversation gathered steam, until eventually I did the maths and thought, ‘this is doable’ … I became semi-obsessed with what it would take to achieve something like this.”
A few years later, in 1998, he stood at the edge of Punta Arenas, Chile - about as far from his hometown of Hull, England, as a person can get on foot - ready to begin a 31,000mile (49,890km) expedition he thought would take roughly 12 years.
It’s been 27 years, and Bushby, now 56, is still walking.
“The plan was to do something pretty extraordinary,” he said.
He’s walked through Patagonia, the Andes, Central America, Mexico, the length of the United States, Russia, Mongolia and parts of Asia.
He’s traversed some of the most remote, hostile and politically fraught places on earth, and crossed deserts, jungles and war zones.
At the start of his quest, Bushby made two rules for himself, neither of which he has broken.
“I can’t use transport to advance, and I can’t go home until I arrive on foot,” Bushby said. “If I get stuck somewhere, I have to figure it out.”
He initially mapped out the walk by hand.
“Back in those days, it was all paper maps and pencils and a calculator,” he said.
Bushby’s trek - which he has called the Goliath Expedition - has taken far longer than he anticipated because of financial challenges, visa issues, travel bans, political barriers and the Covid-19 pandemic.
“All that thrown in has created massive delays,” Bushby said.
He is expected to arrive home in Hull by September 2026.
“It’s a 27-year-old story now,” he said.
Bushby was a paratrooper in the British Army, an experience he said sparked his appetite for challenge, travel and exploration.
“Once you’re in the Army and you get to travel and see some of these amazing places, that really inspires and motivates a wanderlust,” Bushby said.
“Paratroopers are all about fitness and endurance and distance, so that all played into it.”
Bushby also said being in the Army - and losing several friends - made him think a lot about death.
“There was an emphasis on the fact that life is short, and you should live it the best you can,” he said.
All these factors, Bushby said, shaped his desire to take on the global walk at age 29.
“Back in the early days, I don’t think anyone took me seriously,” he said.
Bushby started the trek with US$500.
“I had no support,” he said, adding that he usually sleeps in a tent along the road, or sometimes in people’s homes if he’s invited. “The Americas very quickly became survival mode … this was literally finding food at the side of the road to keep yourself going.”
Bushby’s family started helping him out financially, and people began donating as they heard of his trek.
Companies offered to sponsor him. By the time he got to Canada in 2003, Bushby had a book deal, and later, a production company contacted him to turn his story into a film.
“One of the lessons from this is the fact that nobody does this alone,” Bushby said.
“I may be the guy alone on the road, but there is a massive network of support that keeps me upright and moving forward.”
Even with support, Bushby has faced several seemingly insurmountable obstacles. He walked through the Darien Gap between Panama and Colombia - known as one of the most perilous jungle passages in the world.
Later, he reached the Bering Strait between Alaska and Russia - the midway point of his walk - in 2006. It was the first of two bodies of water he’d cross.
In the winter, he said, the strait does not entirely freeze over.
“It is this massive body of crushed ice and seawater…you’re literally climbing over the ice to make any short distance,” he said.
He met a fellow adventurer in Alaska who traversed the strait with him.
“No one believed we were going to make it,” Bushby said. “As it turned out, we managed to nail it on the first go, which no one expected, least of all us.”
Once Bushby arrived in Russia, he hit another hurdle: he was detained for entering the country at an incorrect border.
He spent 57 days in detention, he said, and faced a trial, until authorities agreed to let him continue his walk.
“It was just a whole series of miracles,” Bushby said.
Over the years, he encountered other challenges, including the 2008 financial crisis, when his sponsors pulled out, stalling his travels.
In 2013, he was banned from re-entering Russia for five years due to his initial border violation, so Bushby walked from Los Angeles to the Russian Embassy in Washington, DC to petition his visa ban - which he said was overturned.
In August 2024, Bushby reached the second body of water on his route.
He swam across the Caspian Sea from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan to circumvent travelling through Iran or Russia. He swam for 31 days, sleeping on support boats each night.
Bushby then walked to Turkey and into Europe. He recently reached Hungary and is now on the final stretch, with about 932 miles (1500km) left until he’s in Hull.
“I’ve had to do every inch of this thing by either walking or swimming,” Bushby said.
“Every time I stop, I have to start from that point and continue.”
Due to visa limits, Bushby has had to break up his walk.
In Europe, he can stay for only 90 days before leaving for 90, so he flies to Mexico to rest and then returns to resume the route.
When he started the expedition, he would walk about 30km a day, but he has recently cut back to 24.
Bushby said he has learned a lot over the past nearly three decades, but one thing stands out: “99.99% of the people I’ve met have been the very best in humanity,” he said.
“The world is a much kinder, nicer place than it often seems.”
Bushby said that anytime he was ill or down on his luck, a stranger would swoop in and help - either with shelter, a meal, financial support or guidance.
“It has just continued through every culture in every country,” he said. “The overwhelming kindness of strangers was a shocker for me.”
He said he has only suffered one major injury - he slipped and gashed open his wrist - and he gave himself stitches. He also had one serious illness, a stomach infection, and stayed with a doctor he met in Peru who nursed him back to health.
Bushby said he struggles with loneliness sometimes, but he knew from the outset the walk would be as mentally taxing as it was physically.
Bushby said he has made friends from around the world and has had two significant relationships over the course of his quest, both of which ended due to the unusual circumstances of his life.
“We’re not supposed to live like this,” he said.
Despite hiking through 25 countries, Bushby said, his feet are in fine condition.
“They look after themselves pretty much,” he said.
Although Bushby knows globetrotting is not for everyone, he hopes to inspire people to take on more adventure in their lives.
“You need to see how the world really is, and the people who are living in it,” he said. “It’s one of the best educations you’ll get.”
Bushby said he has mixed feelings about nearing the end of his trek.
“For the last 27 years of my life, my purpose of living has been getting up and moving forward, and that’s going to stop abruptly,” he said.
“It’s hard to adjust, and that’s obviously going to be the case.”
Bushby is passionate about science education, and he plans to shift his focus to that once he’s home.
His main takeaway from his adventures is how people along the way have treated him. He said he hopes to pay it forward in the ways he can.
“The world will wrap itself around you and help you achieve things and keep you moving,” he said. “It’s been absolutely astounding.”
Sign up to Herald Premium Editor’s Picks, delivered straight to your inbox every Friday. Editor-in-Chief Murray Kirkness picks the week’s best features, interviews and investigations. Sign up for Herald Premium here.