A man is approaching the final leg of the world’s continuous longest walk – a 27-year trek on foot around the world.
Ex-paratrooper Karl Bushby, 56, began his adventure on November 1 1998, with a single aim – to travel from the southern tip of South America all the way home to Hull without using transport.
He thought his 36,000-mile adventure would take him eight years, but 27 years later – having swam across seas, fought off polar bears and survived detention in Russia, he’s on the home stretch and preparing to head into Europe this summer.
Starting his mammoth task in Punta Arenas, Chile, he walked north through the Americas and Canada to the coast of Alaska.
Then he crossed the frozen Bering Strait to Siberia in 2006, by navigating moving lumps of ice, armed with a gun to fight off polar bears.
The dad-of-one was detained in Russia for not entering at the correct point, and given a five year ban, before he was granted a visa in 2014 when he carried on his journey through China.
After Russia invaded Ukraine he found himself trapped. Unable to enter the country again – or Iran – he instead had to swim 186 miles across the Caspian Sea, the world’s largest lake.
He was accompanied by members of the Azerbaijani coastguard and two swimmers from the national team for the 31 day swim, in 2024.
Despite reaching Turkey in February 3 2025, Karl was able to walk for only 180 days before a “visa ban” was put in place.
He “put a pin” in his journey – residing in Jalisco, Mexico, – while he negotiated a visa; the rules to his challenge include not returning to the UK “until I can walk home”.
But now, with a plan in place, he’s set to begin his final leg in August – aiming to walk into his home city of Hull in September 2026.
Karl, an ex-paratrooper, from Hull, East Yorkshire, said: “During my time in the army I came up with the idea and bounced it around with the guys.
“The more you mentioned it the more people said it couldn’t be done.
“I was convinced we could pull it off.
“I left home with a couple of hundred bucks and no support.
“The first few years we slipped into survival mode pretty quickly.
“My end date now is September 2026.”
Karl left the army in January 1998 specifically to undertake his mission.
He said he has funded it in stages.
“I was convinced we could get through Latin America by hook or by crook,” he said.
“If we could reach the border of the USA things would change.”
Having passed the Darian Gap in winter 2001 – a 60-mile stretch of dense rainforest and mountains along the border between Panama and Colombia – brand The North Face sponsored Karl, giving him equipment .
He said: “We managed to get a book deal as we headed north through the United States.
“It basically paid for Alaska, the Bering Strait and into Siberia.”
Karl is also sponsored by a production company in LA.
Not without its problems, Karl has been forced to halt his progress due to the 2008 financial crisis, visa bans, and most recently the COVID-19 pandemic.
On average, he walks around 30km per day, staying wherever he can find a place to rest his head.
He said: “It can be isolating.
“Human beings are not meant to be alone for a long period of time.
“There’s a lot of distance between me and my family now.
“They have been to see me around four or five times in total.
“Over a 27-year span, that’s not much at all, but modern communications have come on a lot since I started.
“The most difficult thing to be dealing with is women – they suck.
“Relationships without a doubt have been the most difficult time.
“I have had two significant relationships none of which survived.”
Karl credits one of his most memorable moments as crossing “the gaps” between countries such as The Darian Gap, the Bering Strait and the Caspian Sea.
He said: “Those are some pretty sweet victories every time you get across one of those gaps.
“Every now and then I take a day or two [to recover] but I’ve been pretty lucky.
“We’ve only had one case of rough sickness that put me down for a little while”.
