Adventurer Bushby returns from traveling around the world after 28 years

Hiked 50,000 kilometers Around the world in 28 years - adventurer Bushby returns As of: November 2nd, 2026 • 9:00 p.m

50,000 kilometers in 28 years - the English adventurer Karl Bushby has a huge hike behind him. Now he has returned to his hometown of Hull - and was welcomed by his touched mother.

Now he has done it: Karl Bushby, 57 years old, is returning to his hometown of Hull in the north of England. He pulls a cart behind him with all his belongings under the cover. He himself is wearing a worn fleece jacket and hiking boots - his cheeks are red from today's last section of the route.

He receives a cheering welcome in the center of Hull. He was last here when he was 29 years old - before setting off on a journey that would last 28 years.

On his final leg, Bushby is accompanied by enthusiastic fans and reporters.

But from the beginning: Karl Bushby, born in Hull in 1969, reported for military service as a young man and was stationed in Northern Ireland for some time. He gets married, has a son, then the couple divorces. In 1998, Karl Bushby is restless. Then an idea comes to him: a hike around the world.

He wants to cover the longest distance around the globe on foot. In an interview today he says: "At some point you just have to take that step and go out there. And then suddenly you're at the start of a 50,000 kilometer long road."

In the fall of 1998 he flies to Chile, equipped with less than 400 pounds, a handcart and camping equipment. He sets two rules for the journey: he can only go on foot; boats, planes or trains are forbidden. And: You can only return home on foot.

And then he sets off. From Patagonia to the north, through the Darién Gap, which is still life-threatening today, an approximately 100 km wide strip of land in the border region between Panama and Colombia, which is largely covered by rainforest. A BBC team visited him in Arizona in 2002. Back then, Bushby describes the challenges he had to overcome: "When I go over the next mountain range back there, that's where the problems start. I could just fall in there with my equipment."

Hull in a state of emergency: Bushby's return caused a lot of hustle and bustle in the English city.

Karl Bushby continually reaches his limits. He crosses the Behring Sea from Alaska towards Russia - he runs over the thick pack ice, pulls his equipment on a sled, and sometimes he has to swim through the ice-cold water. Only to be stopped on the other side by the Russian border police.

He explained at the time that he had hoped that he would receive a friendly welcome because he crossed the river on foot - in vain.

And it's precisely moments like these that occasionally demystify Bushby's journey. Because: After he is stopped at the Russian border, he flies back to Mexico to wait there - he is running out of money and at the same time the dispute over a visa continues.

From his point of view, this fits into his rules: the flights are always used to go back, not to move forward. However, these administrative routes would have extended the trip. "I actually only ran for 15 years. I spent the rest of the time taking care of things - or just waiting. Because I wasn't prepared to compromise."

Bushby covered a large part of his journey with this handcart. It contains all of his belongings for the trip.

Now he has completed his journey - without compromises. When he returns to Hull, Bushby is celebrated as a hero and his mother enthusiastically welcomes his son. Although she visited him three times on the road, she hasn't seen him at home in almost 30 years.

But there are also critical voices: He is a careless adventurer, a man on an ego trip. Others criticize that he let his then eight-year-old son down with his trip. He accepted that, explains Bushby in an interview.

He wanted to show his son that he was worth something. The son is now 36 years old and also welcomes his father to Hull; together with his own 12-year-old daughter, who has never met her grandfather.

Karl Bushby with his now 36-year-old son and his parents.

So the adventurer is back home, the "Goliath Expedition", as he called his trip, is over. And now? "It's sad because I have to say goodbye to a lot of things now," he says. "I'm a little scared, I'm heading towards a kind of black hole because I don't know what's next. I've spent half my life on this task. But at the same time I'm meeting my family again, meeting my mother again - and yet I can hardly describe this feeling."

But his future isn't entirely haphazard: in two weeks he'll be starting a tour and reporting on what he's experienced. And a documentary about his adventure is already in the works - directed by none other than Werner Herzog, who was nominated for a documentary Oscar.

This topic in the program: RBB24 Inforadio | News | 11/02/2026 | 6:13 p.m. tagesschau.de | 28 years of walking: Karl Bushby returns to his homeland | 11/02/2026 | 8:53 p.m