Karl Bushby global walker from Hull prepares for home stretch

Round-the-world walker prepares for home stretch

11 June 2025 Share Save Eleanor Maslin BBC News Share Save

Karl Bushby Karl Bushby is now waiting for a visa to continue his adventure in Turkey before he enters Europe

A man hoping to become the first person to complete an unbroken round-the-world walk is preparing for the last leg of his journey. Karl Bushby set off from Chile in 1998. Since then he has walked across American and Asian continents, swam 186 miles (300km) across the Caspian Sea and fought off ice lumps and polar bears through the Bering Strait, all without using any form of transport. The former paratrooper has less than 2,000 miles (3219km) left to walk before he arrives at his home city of Hull. Mr Bushby, who is currently in Mexico waiting for a visa to complete his challenge, has said returning home will be a "very strange place to be" after being away for some 27 years.

Following his 31-day swim across the Caspian Sea last year, Mr Bushby said he continued his journey to Azerbaijan and then through to Turkey. The traveller, originally from Sutton Park, said he "had to step aside" from his mission, named the Goliath Expedition, while he waited for a visa. He hopes to continue his trek, via Turkey, in August before entering Europe. Mr Bushby expects it will take another year before he is on home soil and is aiming to arrive in Hull by September 2026.

Karl on his adventures and the route home

Speaking on BBC Radio Humberside, Mr Bushby said: "On 1 November 1998 you're literally looking down at a road that's 36,000 miles long and have no idea how you're going to do it. "We've run into a lot of complications with visa problems, financial crises, the pandemic, we've had it all. "It's been extremely difficult but we've always stuck to our guns and never been willing to compromise on the route." Mr Bushby said there had been "a few occasions" where he feared for his life, but he was "mentally prepared" for the tough encounters.

Karl Bushby Karl Bushby said he did not expect the expedition to take nearly three decades but had faced several setbacks

He said: "Getting home, I just don't know, it's weird, it's a very strange place to be in where suddenly your purpose for living will have a hard stop. "I'm hoping to transition into other things as quickly as possible, keeping mind, body and soul on the move." He said reuniting with his family would involve getting "to know each other again". The adventure was meant to take 12 years but his global voyage has transcended more than five prime ministers, the Covid-19 pandemic, and numerous wars.