Man returns home after 28-yr journey walking around the world

A British adventurer, Karl Bushby, has returned to his childhood home in Hull, northern England, after completing a 28-year walking journey around the world that covered approximately 50,000 kilometres. Bushby, 57, was welcomed by his mother, Angela, outside her terraced house on Monday, November 2, 2026, beneath a banner reading “Welcome Home Son”.

Hundreds of supporters had gathered in the city centre to celebrate his return before he completed the final stretch of his journey to his mother’s home. “Sorry to keep you waiting,” he joked to the cheering crowd. “Is that it, is it done?” Bushby began the expedition, known as the Goliath Expedition, in November 1998 in Punta Arenas, southern Chile.

His goal was to travel around the world and return to his hometown without using any form of motorised transport to advance his journey. Carrying a tent, a few hundred dollars and a plastic camera, he initially expected the expedition to take about 12 years. His route took him north through the Americas before crossing the frozen Bering Strait from Alaska into Russia.

He subsequently travelled through Mongolia and China, swam across the Caspian Sea and continued towards Europe. The journey also involved navigating the dense Darien Gap jungle between Colombia and Panama, crossing international borders and dealing with visa restrictions. Bushby was detained after entering Russia, while funding difficulties and the global financial crisis of 2008, which cost him major sponsors, contributed to delays that extended the expedition to 28 years.

In the final stages of the journey, he swam across the English Channel last month, clearing one of the remaining major obstacles before walking the final distance to Hull. Speaking after his arrival, Bushby acknowledged the support he received from people and organisations across different countries. “They say it takes a village, but literally it took a world to get me here,” he said.

“The kindness of strangers, so many, from individuals to nation-states, to get me back here today. I didn’t do this alone. There was a big team. The biggest team. Earth.” A feature-length documentary about his expedition is currently in production, while Bushby is expected to begin a speaking tour across England in the coming weeks.