British adventurer Karl Bushby has completed a 31,000-mile (50,000 km) journey from South America to Hull, returning to his family home 28 years after he began the expedition.
Bushby set off from Punta Arenas, Chile, in November 1998, aged 29. His goal was to follow an unbroken route home while observing two personal rules: he would not return to the United Kingdom before completing the journey, and he would not use transport to advance.
Crowds gathered in Hull city centre to welcome him before he walked the final miles to his mother Angela Bushby’s home in Sutton Park. At the front door, he described the moment as surreal and said it marked the end of a 28-year journey.
Angela, who had not seen her son for a decade, said she was glad to have him home. She had agreed years earlier to wait for him at the house where she raised him.
The expedition took Bushby across four continents. Its most demanding stages included travelling through the Darién Gap, crossing the frozen Bering Strait and swimming the English Channel.
He was also welcomed by Hull’s lord mayor, Maria Coward, and told the crowd there had never been a homecoming like it. He thanked the people who had supported him, referring to them as the “biggest team”.
Bushby crossed the Humber Bridge into East Yorkshire on Sunday, where he was met by his 36-year-old son Adam, his 12-year-old granddaughter, whom he had never previously met, as well as his father and brothers.
Only around 15 of the 28 years were spent walking. Visa difficulties, the 2007 global economic crash and the Covid pandemic contributed to delays, while Bushby often returned to Mexico between stages because of its lower living costs.
He began the journey as a penniless backpacker, sometimes relying on handouts or discarded food. He later obtained sponsorship and a book deal. Near the end of the expedition, he also signed an agreement with German filmmaker Werner Herzog.
Having spent much of his adult life as an adventurer, Bushby said he expected to face difficulties adjusting to ordinary life now that the journey was over.
Sources: BBC News UK.