World trekker Karl Bushby nears completion of 36,000-mile walk home to Hull
After 28 years and 36,000 miles, long-distance walker Karl Bushby is within a few miles of reaching his hometown of Hull, where he will be reunited with his family.
British adventurer Karl Bushby, 57, is only a short distance from completing the walk he began in 1998 from Punta Arenas, Chile, to his birthplace of Hull. The former paratrooper has covered roughly 36,000 miles across four continents, adhering to his self-imposed rules of not using transport and not returning to the UK until the journey is finished.
Bushby recently crossed the Darién Gap, traversed the frozen Bering Strait and swam the English Channel before arriving in rural Lincolnshire. He said his hand-cart suffered a puncture, adding, > "We haven't had one of these for a long time. This could be a pain. Damn.\"
He anticipates a major adjustment once the walk ends, noting, > "Everything that I am and everything that I know of me is going to go away. And that's going to be a problem. You're going to have the old identity crisis..."
Family members, including his 36-year-old son Adam, a 12-year-old granddaughter he has never met, his father and brothers, are expected to greet him at his childhood home. Bushby reflected on the public attention his return has generated, saying, > "It's been almost overwhelming. The amount of people that have recognised me along the way... I'm some guy who's just walking."
Long-distance walker Angela Maxwell, who accompanied Bushby from Dover, observed, > "Karl doesn't love walking, but he loves the mission, the passion, the purpose."
Bushby, who has spent about half of the 28-year period actively walking and the rest securing visas and navigating geopolitical hurdles, said the everyday challenges of the trek – punctures, washing clothes and finding shelter – are far less glamorous than the public image. He offered advice to aspiring adventurers: take opportunities, build self-confidence and keep moving forward.