Adventurer Completes 28-Year Walk Around the World
British adventurer Karl Bushby has completed an epic 28-year journey, walking over 50,000 kilometres around the globe without using any motorised transport.
Imagine setting off on a stroll that lasts for twenty-eight years! On 2 November 2026, 57-year-old British adventurer and former paratrooper Karl Bushby finally arrived back in his hometown of Kingston upon Hull in England. His incredible journey makes him the first person in recorded history to finish an unbroken walk around the world without using any motorised vehicles to move forward.
Bushby first set off on this massive expedition, named the Goliath Expedition, all the way back on 1 November 1998 from Punta Arenas at the southern tip of Chile. Over nearly three decades, he travelled more than 50,000 kilometres (over 36,000 miles) across four continents and 29 countries completely under his own power.
What happened?
Karl Bushby set himself two very strict rules before starting his journey. First, he could never use motorised vehicles, bicycles, or boats to advance forward. Second, he could not return home to the United Kingdom until he arrived completely under his own power. To carry his camping gear and supplies across land, he pushed a specially built cart nicknamed ‘The Beast’.
His long route took him through some of the toughest landscapes on Earth. He trekked through the dense, swampy rainforests of the Darién Gap between Colombia and Panama. Later, in 2006, he achieved the remarkable feat of crossing the frozen Bering Strait, carefully walking on shifting sea ice all the way from Alaska into Russia.
Whenever vast bodies of water blocked his path with no bridges available, Bushby did not quit or board a boat. Instead, he jumped in and swam across them! In 2022, he spent 32 days swimming 288 kilometres across the Caspian Sea. In October 2026, he completed his final major water crossing by swimming across the chilly English Channel, landing safely at Shakespeare Beach near Dover before walking north to Hull.
When he finally arrived in Hull’s Queen Victoria Square, hundreds of cheering supporters gathered to celebrate his historic achievement. Bushby then walked the very last steps to his childhood home to be warmly reunited with his mother, Angela Bushby, after twenty-eight long years away.
Why does it matter to you?
Whether you are tackling a tough maths problem at school in Delhi, learning classical music in Chennai, or practising football in Bengaluru, big goals always require patience and courage. Karl Bushby’s incredible journey teaches us resilience. It proves that even when a huge dream takes much longer than planned, you can achieve it if you refuse to give up.
This giant adventure also brings world geography alive for curious young minds. Looking at Karl’s path across maps helps us discover how our mountains, oceans, ice sheets, and continents connect with one another across the globe.
Words to know
- expedition: an organised journey made by a person or group for a special purpose or adventure.
- continents: the seven large, continuous landmasses found on planet Earth.
- strait: a narrow channel of water that connects two larger seas or oceans.
- resilience: the ability to keep trying and bounce back when facing difficult challenges.
Did you know?
Karl Bushby’s expedition began in 1998, which means his journey took longer than a quarter of a century to finish!
Think about it
If you were preparing for a walking journey across different countries, what three useful items would you pack in your cart? How would you keep yourself cheerful when the road feels endlessly long?
Quick quiz
What was the nickname of the gear cart Karl Bushby pushed during his long journey?
- The Beast
- The Goliath
- The Titan
See the answer
The Beast
Sources
This story was prepared by the Kids Gazette news desk with the help of AI research and writing tools, using the sources listed above.
