The key facts

  • Karl Bushby walked about 31,000 miles (50,000 km) over 28 years, keeping to a rule of never using transport
  • On Sunday he crossed the Humber Bridge in fog; on Monday around 500 people welcomed him in Hull
  • The journey was prolonged by Russia's visa refusal, a jail term in Panama and the COVID-19 pandemic; Werner Herzog is making a documentary about the walk

The finale of a 28-year route

British traveler Karl Bushby, a former paratrooper, has completed a walking journey that began in 1998 in Punta Arenas, Chile, where he set out at the age of 29 with a few hundred dollars. According to BBC News, on Sunday, November 1, 2026, he crossed the Humber Bridge in thick fog on the final leg of a journey of about 31,000 miles (49,890 km), and was 'absolutely overwhelmed' by the crowd lined up on the bridge. Deutsche Welle reports that on Monday, November 2, a jubilant crowd of around 500 people greeted him in his hometown of Hull.

Rules, pauses and the homecoming

Bushby followed two self-imposed rules: not to return home until the walk was complete, and not to use transport to make progress. DW notes that he resumed his route strictly from the spot where he had stopped. The route, originally planned for 12 years, took more than twice as long: Russia refused him a visa, he served a jail term in Panama for entering without a visa, and the COVID-19 pandemic forced him to live for a while at a base in Mexico. In 2006, together with the French explorer Dimitri Kieffer, he crossed the Bering Strait over the ice from Alaska to Russia, nearly dying, and in early October this year he swam the English Channel from northern France to Dover in four days. In total, he walked across four continents, a frozen sea, deserts, mountains and jungles.

Whom the return touched

The journey began after the breakdown of his marriage: Bushby's wife returned to Northern Ireland with their son. On Monday morning he set out from Hessle and headed for Queen Victoria Square in Hull, where a ceremonial welcome was held outside the Guildhall. According to the BBC, waiting for him were his mother Angela, his 36-year-old son Adam, and a 12-year-old granddaughter he had never seen. Throughout the journey, Bushby pulled a trolley nicknamed The Beast — 'it's my Wilson,' he joked, referring to the film Cast Away. German director Werner Herzog is making a feature-length documentary about the walk, 'Walk of Life.' Back in September, according to DW, Bushby told the AFP agency that he feared returning to ordinary life: 'I'll have to fit back into the adult world again.'

Karl Bushby pushing his trolley across the bridge. He has stuck a high vis vest over his bag on the front of the trolley. A car speeds by on the other side of the bridge.
Image caption,

Bushby says the Humber Bridge has always been an iconic landmark for him

Karl Bushby, wearing a fleece and shorts, pushes a handcart along a fast rural road. An orange hi-vis bib is attached to the front of the cart.Image source, Kevin Shoesmith/BBC
Image caption,

Karl Bushby walking through Lincolnshire earlier this week

A woman with light brown hair stands clutching a black wrought iron gate in front of a terraced home.Image source, Kevin Shoesmith/BBC
Image caption,

Bushby's mother, Angela, will be waiting for him at the gate to the home where she raised him

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