Photo credit, Getty Images
Karl Bushby traveled the world on foot for 28 years and, on this first Monday in November, the British adventurer reached the end of his journey.
Bushby crossed the Humber Bridge in thick fog on the final leg of his 49,890 km journey, spanning almost three decades, from South America to Hull, a port city in eastern England.
Bushby left Chile in 1998 to return home to the United Kingdom without breaking two rules he had set for himself: not to return until he had accomplished his feat and not to use any means of transport to continue his journey.
The adventurer said he was “deeply moved” by the crowds crowding along the bridge.
On arrival at his home in Hull, Bushby, a former paratrooper, was greeted by his mother and a crowd of people, including German director Werner Herzog, who plans to make a documentary about his adventure.
“It feels good to be home. It’s almost unreal,” Bushby remarked as he reached the front door.
Moments earlier he had addressed the crowd gathered in the town centre, where he was greeted by Bushby Mayor Maria Coward. “I'm sure we've never seen a comeback like this. It's incredible! Thank you very much,” he said.
The adventurer explained that the opportunity to undertake his walk arose after the breakdown of his marriage, when his wife returned to Northern Ireland with their son.
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Bushby, who was 29 at the time, said he left Punta Arenas, Chile, with a few hundred dollars in his pocket and headed north toward his home.
When he swam across the English Channel on October 5, Bushby, then 57, had crossed four continents, frozen seas, deserts, mountains and jungles.
Photo credit, Kevin Shoesmith/BBC
“I’m absolutely devastated,” he said in an interview with BBC Radio Humberside on Sunday.
“And we haven’t even gotten home yet.” »
By “we,” Bushby could mean the royal “we,” or the Beast, the cart he has been pushing for 28 years.
“That's my Wilson,” he said, referring to the volleyball that Tom Hanks' character spoke to in the movie "On Your Own."
“I'm just a homeless guy pushing a supermarket cart, and suddenly I come across this,” he said, nodding toward the crowd gathered on the bridge.
“And I really have to stop and think about what that means for other people.” »
12 years that lasted 28 years in the end
When he began his journey in November 1998, this former paratrooper estimated that it would take him around 12 years.
However, its progress was slowed by visa restrictions, the 2008 financial crisis (which caused it to lose sponsors), Covid-19 and geopolitical issues.
On his route he crossed Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Darién towards Panama.
It passed through Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico before crossing into the United States and Canada.
He crossed the Bering Strait, between Alaska and Russia, and traveled through Siberia, Mongolia, China, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.
He swam across the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan.
He then continued on his way to Turkey before entering Europe.
Photo credit, Karl Bushby
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Speaking in Belgium last September with BBC journalist Kevin Shoesmith, Bushby described crossing the frozen Bering Strait in 2006 with French adventurer Dimitri Kieffer, and swimming 300 kilometers of the Caspian Sea.
Recalling his journey through the Darién, which connects Colombia and Panama, Karl commented: “You have to make your way through dense jungle. »
“There are river systems and numerous swamps. And, to top it all off, there’s the fact that it’s a war zone,” he said.
Faced with the threat of kidnapping, Karl tried to pass himself off as a homeless person.
“The homeless are practically invisible: no one pays attention to them; that was our intention. I didn’t want to be the blond, blue-eyed gringo in the latest The North Face clothes,” he says.
She adds: “I dyed my hair and skin, and left my clothes in tatters. I carried my things in bags. »
For years, Karl took the completion date philosophically. This is no longer the case. The emergency is real.
“It’s high time to stop,” he said. “I don’t want to continue like this for much longer. »
And this outcome came this Monday, November 2, when Bushby undertook the last kilometers to return to his mother, whom he was finally able to hold in his arms.
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