British adventurer nears home after extraordinary 28-year walk around the world

A British adventurer who began walking home from South America almost three decades ago is approaching the end of his remarkable 50,000km journey – but the English Channel still stands between him and home.

Karl Bushby left Punta Arenas in Chile on 1 November 1998 with two rules: he could not use transport to advance his journey and he could not return to Hull until he had completed the expedition under his own power.

Now 57, the former paratrooper has spent 28 years crossing some of the most challenging environments on Earth. His journey has taken him through the dangerous Darién Gap between Colombia and Panama, across the frozen Bering Strait and through large parts of Asia and Europe.

In 2024, Bushby completed a 300km swim across the Caspian Sea after conflict and political tensions made travelling through Russia or Iran impractical. The crossing took 31 days and allowed him to continue towards Europe without breaking the rules of his expedition.

Having reached northern France, Bushby can now see the white cliffs of England. However, plans to complete the final water crossing have encountered another bureaucratic obstacle.

He had hoped to walk through the Channel Tunnel’s service tunnel, but the request was refused on safety and operational grounds. Bushby later believed he had received special permission to swim from France to England, only to discover there was still confusion over whether the crossing had been authorised.

“We thought we got permission to swim from the coast of France. Turned out that is not the case,” he said, adding that his team was now scrambling to resolve the situation.

If approval is secured and the weather allows, Bushby hopes to begin the Channel crossing in October before completing the final walk to Hull. After approximately 75 million steps, countless border complications and almost three decades away, just a narrow stretch of water now separates him from home.

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