His Goal Was To Walk Around the World. 27 YEARS Later, He’s About To Finish

November 24, 2025

In 1998, British adventurer Karl Bushby looked down a road in Chile and set an audacious goal: walk all the way home to Hull, England—without using a single form of transport. What he didn’t know then was that the journey he thought would take eight years would stretch into a remarkable 27-year odyssey spanning continents, oceans, and history itself.

Now, after walking 36,000 miles, surviving polar bears, swimming across seas, and navigating countless visa setbacks, the 56-year-old ex-paratrooper is finally on the home stretch.

@bushby3000 / Instagram

Bushby began his adventure in Punta Arenas, Chile, trekking north through South and North America, eventually reaching Alaska. In 2006, he attempted one of the most dangerous legs of the journey: crossing the frozen Bering Strait into Siberia. Armed with a gun to scare off polar bears and forced to leap between moving blocks of ice, he achieved what few people on Earth have ever done.

His challenges didn’t stop there.

Bushby was detained in Russia for entering incorrectly and banned for five years.

Sponsorships dried up during the 2008 financial crisis.

The pandemic halted his progress.

Visa issues left him stuck in Mexico for years.

But he refused to quit.

@bushby3000 / Instagram

Last year, when he couldn’t safely travel through Iran or Russia, he took on a new challenge—swimming across the Caspian Sea. With a support team and co-swimmer Angela Maxwell, Bushby spent 31 days completing the 179-mile crossing, swimming a total of 132 hours.

After reaching Azerbaijan, he continued through Turkey, and now stands less than 2,000 miles from home. He hopes to reenter Europe this summer and walk into Hull by September 2026.

“It’s been extremely difficult,” Bushby told the BBC. “But we’ve always stuck to our guns and never been willing to compromise on the route.”

Returning home after nearly three decades, he admits, will feel surreal. He left when he was 29. He will return at 58. He says reuniting with family will mean “getting to know each other again.”

CBS News / YouTube

Bushby walks an average of 30km a day and rests wherever he can find shelter. His mission, called the Goliath Expedition, has outlasted five UK prime ministers, a global pandemic, and numerous wars—but his spirit remains as strong as it was in 1998.

And the world is cheering him on as he enters the final chapter of one of the most extraordinary human endurance journeys ever attempted.

Meet Bushby in the interview video: