Meet Karl Bushby: Man Determined to Walk Around the World

But a man decided long ago to do just that.

Karl Bushby, a British ex-paratrooper, has spent the last 27 years walking around the world, exploring what it has to offer on one condition: he cannot use any means of transportation whatsoever.

He started his journey in November 1998 in Punta Arenas, Chile, and resolved to return to his residence in Hull, England, on foot. It took him two years to cross all of South America before he faced his first major challenge - the Darién Gap.

Lying between Colombia and Panama, the region is one of the deadliest in the world. Anyone who dares venture into its mountains and forests is not only at the mercy of Mother Nature but also the military personnel, rebels, and criminal gangs in the area.

Bushby miraculously avoided danger and made it out of the gap alive, even though Panamanian soldiers held the man captive for 18 days. In the next six years, he crossed the entirety of Central and North America before approaching the Bearing Strait, which separates the continents of North America and Asia.

Now, one might question: doesn't he need to use a boat to cross a water body like the Bearing Strait? No.

Instead, Bushby waited for the stream to freeze up and then went on his way, crossing the ice alongside French traveller Dimitri Kieffer. This was the first documented instance of people walking across the Strait in modern times, although the two had to stray 80 kilometres off course.

Once the man was in Russia, he was arrested. With Russia's strict visa limitations, Bushby left the route every 90 days, only to return to the very spot he left and continue his journey. Eventually, this process landed him in Siberia, where he was left to endure its harsh, frigid temperatures.

This stretch of his adventure lasted for 11 years before the adventurer entered Kazakhstan in 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the borders closed, and Bushby was stuck in the country for 4 years.

He also hit a dead end at the Caspian Sea. He couldn't venture into either Russia or Iran to move past it, and so he chose to swim across the sea. He and American traveller Angela Maxwell swam for the course of 31 days, using a boat to sleep and rest and became the first to swim across the water body.

Nearly three decades into his journey, after visiting 25 countries and walking over 50,000 kilometres, Karl Bushby is finally in his home continent. He's now walking the streets of Europe and is estimated to reach Hull next year.

Bushby has termed his journey the Goliath Expedition, referencing the biblical giant to reflect the nature of his undertaking, even writing a couple of books about his adventures in a series titled 'Giant Steps'. It's been 7 years since his last release; perhaps we'll get a full account of his adventures once he comes back home.

The article has been authored by Tejasree Kallakrinda, an intern at Deccan Chronicle