27 Years on Foot: The Incredible Journey of Karl Bushby Ends in 2026

It started with a casual bet in a bar, but it turned into one of the most grueling and inspiring human achievements in modern history. Karl Bushby, a former British paratrooper, set out on a mission in 1998 that most people thought was impossible. His goal? To walk around the world and return home to England without using a single motorized vehicle.

Now, after more than two decades of trekking through snow, deserts, and war zones, Karl Bushby is finally approaching the finish line.

The Goliath Expedition: A 31,000-Mile Odyssey

The journey, known as the “Goliath Expedition,” began at the southern tip of South America in Punta Arenas, Chile. At the time, Karl Bushby was in his late 20s. Today, at 56 years old, he is on the final leg of a 27-year adventure that has taken him across continents and oceans.

Bushby set two strict rules for himself that he has never broken:

1. No Motors: He cannot use any motorized transport to move forward.
2. Continuous Path: If he is forced to leave a location (due to visa issues or emergencies), he must return to that exact GPS coordinate to resume walking. He cannot go home until the finish line.

Conquering the Impossible: The Bering Strait

While the walk through Patagonia, the Andes, and the entirety of North America was difficult, the true test came in 2006. Karl Bushby became one of the very few people to cross the Bering Strait—the icy gap between Alaska and Russia—on foot.

He and a fellow adventurer navigated moving ice floes in freezing conditions, a feat that many experts deemed suicidal.

“Nobody believed we would succeed,” Bushby recalled. “We didn’t even believe it ourselves.”

Arrests, Bans, and a 31-Day Swim

The journey has not been without political drama. Upon arriving in Russia after crossing the ice, Karl Bushby was detained for 57 days for entering the country at a non-designated border crossing. He was eventually banned from re-entering Russia for five years.

Determined not to give up, he walked from Los Angeles to the Russian Embassy in Washington D.C. to plead his case, eventually getting the ban lifted. However, geopolitics struck again later. With borders closed due to conflicts, he could not walk through Iran or Russia to get to Europe.

In 2024, facing the massive obstacle of the Caspian Sea, Karl Bushby did the unthinkable. He swam. For 31 days, he swam from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan, resting on a support boat at night but never using its engine to move forward.

From Turkey to the Finish Line

In 2025, the expedition finally reached a major milestone: Europe. After crossing through Turkey, Karl Bushby is currently in Hungary. He has roughly 932 miles (1,500 km) left to reach his hometown of Hull, England.

The logistical challenges remain. Due to Schengen visa rules, he can only stay in the EU for 90 days at a time. He must leave the region (often waiting in Mexico), pause the clock, and then fly back to his last stopping point to continue walking.

“The World is Better Than We Think”

Despite suffering a severe leg injury that required him to stitch his own wound, and battling infections in Peru, Bushby says his body has held up remarkably well. But his biggest takeaway isn’t about physical pain; it is about human kindness.

“In every country I visited, 99.99% of the people showed me extraordinary kindness,” Karl Bushby says. “I have seen that the world is a much better place than we assume.”

Whether it was a meal, a roof over his head, or financial support, strangers have kept him alive for 27 years.

As he prepares to walk into Hull in September 2026, Bushby admits he has mixed feelings. The road has been his home for nearly three decades. “One day I will have to stop. Getting used to that will be hard,” he reflects. After the journey, he plans to dedicate his life to educational projects, teaching the world what the road taught him: resilience and hope.