Who is Karl Bushby and why is he walking around the world?

British adventurer Karl Bushby is nearing the end of his 36,000-mile (58,000km), 28-year journey from South America to his home city of Hull.

Highlights of the Goliath Expedition – which aims to walk the longest unbroken path in human history – have included crossing the Bering Strait, which separates Alaska and Russia, evading bandits to trek across the Darién Gap into Colombia, and swimming the Caspian Sea.

The journey, which must be completed without using any form of transport to advance, has been hit by a series of delays, although Karl has always found ways to overcome obstacles.

The BBC's Kevin Shoesmith has been covering Karl's journey for the past 20 years, and he takes a look at the man who has been on the road since 1 November 1998.

Karl Bushby was born on 30 March 1969 in Hull to Angela and Keith Bushby (now divorced).

He has a brother, Adrian, who is two years his junior. They were brought up in the Sutton Park area of Hull.

Karl was bullied and branded "thick" at school due to his severe dyslexia. He was diagnosed with the condition only when he was 13.

He describes those years as "hell" and sought solace in the outdoors, often spending his free time bird-watching in the fields surrounding his home.

Karl has significant links to the Army. He served 12 years with the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment.

Both his brother and father also served. His father, notably, was with the elite 22 Special Air Service Regiment (SAS).

Karl joined the Army after leaving school, but his slight frame meant he initially struggled.

It took him several attempts to pass Pegasus Company, an arduous course all prospective paratroopers must complete. However, his perseverance paid off and he earned his maroon beret and wings.

His father said his dogged determination meant his son would have performed well in the special forces.

Karl was still in 3 Para when he sketched out a rough path on a world map.

He showed it to other soldiers, who told him it could not be done – which only served to increase Karl's resolve.

Karl set set himself two golden rules, which he vowed never to break.

First, he must not use transport to progress his journey. Second, he will not return to the UK until he has completed the rest of his adventure.

Visa restrictions mean he is limited to how long he can spend in a country at any one time, so he must sometimes leave.

Between his walking stints, Karl often returns to Mexico, where living costs are low, and he holed up there during the Covid pandemic.

He also occasionally travels to the US, where his sponsors are based.

But each time he resumes his walk, he returns to the exact spot where he left.

In a TikTok video, Karl provided an insight into how he had felt on the first day of the walk.

He told his followers: "It was a little overwhelming. A little exciting. You're stepping on to a road that's 50,000km plus...

"First, I had no idea how this was going to work out. I knew nothing.

"Second, I knew I could do it and you would be amazed how a little bit of confidence can take you a long, long way."

Aged 29, Karl set off from Punta Arena, at the southern tip of Chile, with a rucksack and a single goal – to walk home to Hull.

He started walking north through Argentina, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia.

Karl used his military know-how – with advice from his father – to evade armed gangs to cross the Darién Gap into Panama.

He then passed through Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico before crossing into the US and Canada.

In March 2006, he linked up with French adventurer Dimitri Kieffer and the pair crossed the Bering Strait, a stretch of ice linking Alaska and Russia.

However, they were detained by Russian border officials near the Chukotkan village of Uelen for illegally entering the country.

They were threatened with being banned from Russia, which would have stopped the journey in its tracks, but an appeals court allowed him to continue.

It followed interventions by the late John Prescott, the UK's then deputy prime minister and MP for Hull East, and Roman Abramovich, the then-governor of Chukotka and owner of Chelsea FC.

Karl trekked across Siberia into Mongolia and China before entering Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.

Due to world tensions, Karl chose to avoid Iran and Russia and instead opted to swim across the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan.

From Azerbaijan, Karl pushed on to Turkey before entering Europe.

By mid June 2026, Karl had reached Belgium and was just weeks from reaching Calais, France, when Eurotunnel bosses declined his request to use a service tunnel to enter the UK.

How he will cross into his home country remains unknown.

Once in the UK, by whatever means that may be, he will walk north to Hull, where the journey will end on the doorstep of his childhood home.

When Karl set off, he had just $500 in his pocket and no sponsors.

"At that point, you are not looking at an adventure," he said. "It's coming at you like a tsunami."

The expedition is mainly self-funded through publications, including his book, Giant Steps, and public speaking.

In 2007-08, he lost major sponsors during the global financial crash but, since then, he has gained the support of new corporate sponsors and a US-based documentary company.

His mother, Angela, a retired factory worker, said Karl had wrongly been labelled as having been born into a rich family.

There have been many high-octane, standout moments on his journey.

His crossing of the Darién Gap – a highly dangerous stretch of jungle controlled by drug cartels – sent a clear message to the world: this man is serious about completing his mammoth journey.

During the South America leg, Karl sampled a drink that made him hallucinate. He told his mother how "trees started to walk towards him" and how the "sky didn't look the same as it did before".

In 2006, became the first Briton to walk across the Bering Strait – the treacherous 58-mile frozen sea between North America and Russia.

He spent 14 days walking across shifting plates of ice in temperatures as low as -30C (-22F).

And in 2024, he swam 186 miles across the Caspian Sea to avoid having to re-enter Russia or cross Iran.

Karl's father Keith, who provides assistance from his home in Hereford, is not joking when he says the "easy" part of the expedition has been the walking.

When Karl set off in 1998, he expected the walk to take him roughly 12 years.

Over the past 28 years, the expected return date has continually been pushed back.

But what has remained unchanged is Karl's laid-back attitude.

Most people are fazed by unforeseen changes to itineraries, but he is – or at least appears to be – relaxed.

Geopolitics, war and visa restrictions have severely impeded his walk, but on entering Europe many thought his route home would be straightforward.

However, in June 2026 he was informed by Eurotunnel bosses that he would not be permitted to walk along a service tunnel to return to the UK.

While Karl is hoping Eurotunnel will reconsider, he says he is prepared to swim across the English Channel if there is no alternative.

That would be far from ideal and it would require significant training. In 2024, he swam the Caspian Sea. But the channel is very different; it's far colder and rougher, and it's also one of the busiest shipping routes in the world.

Karl is planning to return to his childhood home, where his mother Angela still lives.

In December 2025, the BBC visited Angela, who said she would be standing at the front gates to welcome him home.

She joked: "Once I've given him a hug I'll tell him, 'And what time do you call this, Karl?'"

A phrase often used by Karl in interviews is that "99.999% of people are amazing".

He has told how people have shared their food and shelter with him, and nursed him back to health when he has fallen ill.

Karl has given this a lot of thought, especially now he has reached Europe.

In January, he said: "This thing needs wrapping up. But I have mixed feelings."

He has spoken to other long-distance walkers who have shared their feelings of isolation and restlessness after completing long treks.

Of course, Karl's journey has been a little longer than most, which will serve only to heighten those feelings.

He has no firm plans for his future but Angela does not think he will stay in Hull for long.

Karl has long been interested in science, the natural world and encouraging the next generation of adventurers. That may well be his next project.

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