Karl Bushby is approaching the end of a journey that began in Chilean Patagonia in November 1998. The British adventurer, then 29, plans to arrive at his mother’s home in Hull this week, aged 57, after spending nearly 28 years walking around the world. This month, he swam across the English Channel and reached his home country for the first time since setting out.
The idea took shape in the mid-1990s, when Bushby was a British Army paratrooper looking for a demanding test of endurance. His father suggested crossing the frozen Bering Strait, linking Alaska and Russia. Bushby then drew a route from England through Europe and Asia, across the strait and down through North America to the southern tip of South America. He flew to South America and began walking home.
Bushby set off from Punta Arenas with about $500 and a modified golf trolley he called “The Beast,” carrying camping gear, clothes, food and water. He aimed to cover about 29 kilometres a day. The early miles were difficult, with harsh weather and little support, but as word of the expedition spread, people began bringing him food and money. He also took breaks lasting weeks or months to recover from what he described as the exhausting routine of life on the road.
His self-imposed rules were not to use transport to advance the journey and not to set foot in the United Kingdom until it was complete. The second rule kept him away from his family, including his son Adam, who was eight when Bushby left. Adam said he did not understand the journey as a child, but reunited with his father in Alaska in 2004 and then decided to support him.
One of the expedition’s most difficult episodes came in March 2006, when Bushby and French-American adventurer Dimitri Kieffer crossed the unstable ice of the Bering Strait from Alaska toward Russia. After reaching Russia, the pair were detained for almost two months because they had not registered with the authorities.
Bushby says the journey took him through some of the world’s most inhospitable terrain, including the Darién Gap and Siberian tundra. He was also arrested, deported, lost and short of money. In the United States, he was frequently stopped by police and told to leave roads or public places. He later secured sponsorships that brought in a few hundred dollars a month.
Now only a few hundred kilometres from the finish, Bushby says the approaching end feels unsettling. He had not seriously considered what life would be like after the expedition and describes the prospect as losing his purpose. He is unsure what he will do next, though he is interested in becoming a science educator. He also hopes to share what he says surprised him most: the kindness of strangers, who offered him shelter, food, help and encouragement along the way.
Sources: Folha Mundo.