On 1 November 1998, a former British paratrooper walked out of Punta Arenas, at the southern tip of Chile, with about $500 and no sponsors. He was walking home to Hull, in the north of England. Nearly 28 years and about 30,000 miles later, Karl Bushby is almost there.
He gave himself two rules, as his website puts it: “no transport to advance, and no going home until he arrived on foot” (karlbushby.world). They took him through 29 countries, across a frozen sea, through one of the world’s most dangerous jungles, into a Russian ban, across the Caspian Sea by swimming and, this month, across the English Channel.
Last confirmed position, 22 October 2026: Karl Bushby swam ashore at Shakespeare Beach near Dover on 5 October and set off north for Hull on 9 October, with about 400 km (250 miles) to go. He’s expected at his mother’s home near Hull in early November.
We’ll update this when there’s a confirmed new position.
- Born: 30 March 1969, Hull, England (57)
- Background: joined the British Army at 16 and served 11 years with the Parachute Regiment
- The walk: the Goliath Expedition, from Punta Arenas, Chile, to Hull
- Started: 1 November 1998
- Distance: about 30,000 miles (48,000 km) covered, almost all on foot, through 29 countries
- The rules: no transport to move forward, and no going home except on foot
- Finish: Hull, expected early November 2026
- Film: Walk of Life, by Werner Herzog
Who is Karl Bushby?
Bushby was born in Hull on 30 March 1969 and joined the army at 16, serving 11 years with the 3rd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment (Wikipedia). The idea, as he tells it on his website, was a single unbroken line on a map from the bottom of South America to his front door. He expected it to take about 12 years. (The Paras produce a certain kind of stubbornness: see also former 16 Air Assault soldier Glenn Parker’s 15-week body transformation.)
The two rules
The rules are why the walk took 28 years, and why it means something. Nothing with an engine can move him forward along the route, and he can’t go home until he walks there.
They don’t stop him leaving the line. When visas ran out he flew away to wait, to Bogotá in 2002, and to Mexico more than once, then returned to where he’d stopped and kept walking (Wikipedia). In June 2026, when Eurotunnel refused to let him walk through the Channel Tunnel’s service passage, the only way left to cross on his own power was to swim.
The route, year by year
| When | Where and what |
|---|---|
| 1 Nov 1998 | Sets off from Punta Arenas, Chile |
| Feb 2001 | Crosses the Darién Gap into Panama; 18 days in jail for entering without a visa |
| Apr 2002 | Enters the United States at Nogales, Arizona |
| Mar 2006 | Crosses the frozen Bering Strait from Alaska to Russia with Dimitri Kieffer; detained by Russian border officers |
| 2013–2014 | Russia bans him for five years; he walks across the US to the Russian Embassy in Washington; the ban is overturned in October 2014 |
| 2017–2018 | Mongolia, then China under police escort |
| 2019–2020 | Uzbekistan; stopped at the Turkmenistan–Iran border by visa problems, then COVID-19 |
| Aug 2024 | Swims about 290 km across the Caspian Sea, from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan, in 31 days |
| 2025 | Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary (Budapest in November), Slovakia |
| Sep 2026 | Belgium, then into France on 20 September |
| 5 Oct 2026 | Swims the Channel and lands near Dover, 28 years to the day after leaving Hull |
| Early Nov 2026 | Expected home in Hull |
The hardest moments
The Darién Gap
The roadless jungle between Colombia and Panama is one of the most dangerous stretches on Earth to cross on foot. Bushby got through in early 2001 and was jailed for 18 days in Panama for entering without a visa.
Walking across a frozen sea
In March 2006 he and Dimitri Kieffer crossed the Bering Strait from Alaska to Russia on the sea ice, a journey of about two weeks. Russian border officers detained them when they arrived; an appeal let the walk continue.
Banned from Russia
Russia refused his visa in 2012 and banned him for five years in 2013. His answer was to walk more than 3,000 miles across the United States to the Russian Embassy in Washington. The ban was overturned in October 2014.
Swimming the Caspian
With Iran and Russia closed to him, he swam across the Caspian Sea in August 2024 with Angela Maxwell and two Azerbaijani swimmers: about 290 km over 31 days.
The Channel
Refused a walk through the Channel Tunnel, he swam the Channel instead, with special permission from the French and British authorities, AP reported, over about 20 hours spread across three days (AP). He came ashore at Shakespeare Beach near Dover on 5 October 2026, exactly 28 years after he left Hull, and was met by his father, Keith, and the filmmaker Werner Herzog.
Why did it take 28 years?
He expected 12. Visas were the biggest problem, AP reported, along with sponsors lost after the 2008 financial crisis, COVID-19 and wars and politics along the route (AP). The rules meant every one of those delays had to be waited out rather than flown around.
When will Karl Bushby reach Hull?
He set off north from Dover on 9 October with about 400 km (250 miles) to go, and is expected at his mother Angela’s home near Hull in early November. He hasn’t seen her since 2015 (AP). We’ll update the box at the top as he goes.
Is there a Karl Bushby documentary?
Yes. Werner Herzog is making a feature-length film about the journey, Walk of Life (AP). No release date has been announced. It’s a fitting match: Herzog is also behind the Antarctic documentary that gave the internet its lone penguin marching towards the mountains, the clip behind the penguin meme.
Karl Bushby: FAQ
How long has Karl Bushby been walking?
Since 1 November 1998: almost 28 years. He left Hull for the start in Chile on 5 October 1998.
How far has Karl Bushby travelled?
About 30,000 miles (48,000 km) through 29 countries, almost all of it on foot, plus two long swims.
Where is Karl Bushby now?
On the last stretch, from Dover to Hull. He landed after swimming the Channel on 5 October 2026 and set off north on 9 October.
How old is Karl Bushby?
57. He was born on 30 March 1969.
Why did Karl Bushby swim the Channel?
His rules allow no transport to move him forward, and Eurotunnel refused to let him walk through the Channel Tunnel’s service passage, so he swam.
Update log: 22 October 2026, first published.
