Karl Bushby Back in Europe, Begins Last Leg of Journey
Back in Turkey to finish the 27-year-long journey. Photo: Karl Bushby
Karl Bushby set out from Punta Arenas, Chile, almost 27 years ago, on Nov. 1, 1998. With a Day of the Dead parade kicking off in the background, he began with $500 in his pocket, a vague plan he came to call the Goliath Expedition, and a stubborn confidence that he could do what no one else had done before — walk around the world with no mechanical transport and not returning home until the walk is complete.
About 47,000km later, the ex-paratrooper is now back in Europe. In spring 2025, he reached Turkey, and on May 2, he strode across Istanbul’s Bosphorus Bridge, officially leaving Asia behind and stepping into Europe for the first time since 1998.
The route. Map: Karl Bushby
There, the bureaucracy that has bedeviled him time after time reared its head once again. Turkish visa restrictions forced Bushby to leave the country the day he crossed the bridge. His 90-day visa was about to expire, and he had to race to the airport to avoid running afoul of those limits. For the next three months, he waited in Mexico to be eligible to reapply for entry into Turkey.
Yesterday, he landed back in Istanbul, preparing to restart his trek. He will then pick his way across Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Austria, Germany, France, and finally the UK. With home just 3,000km away, he is confident he will be back in Hull, England by September 2026.
Hurdle after hurdle
It is no surprise that the last 27 years have been plagued by such logistical hurdles. Several times — bureaucracy, the need to cross war zones, lack of funding, and a pandemic — he has had to pause his walk until he could set off again. His rules allowed him to fly to a holding area, often Mexico, and wait until he could overcome whatever stopped him from continuing.
He survived the infamous Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama, trudging through mud and jungle to emerge weeks later in Panama, where he was briefly detained. From here, he crossed Central America and the United States. In 2006, he and fellow adventurer Dimitri Kieffer made international headlines when they crossed the frozen Bering Strait on foot, leaping between bobbing ice floes and braving bitter Arctic winds, only to be arrested upon reaching Siberia.
Years of diplomatic wrangling followed as he tried to get permission to walk across Russia, which would take him much longer than a three-month tourist visa allowed. Intervention by figures as highly placed as British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich helped keep the expedition alive. Finally, in 2014, he received the coveted permission. From Russia, he crossed through Mongolia, China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan — another hard one. Here, his journey once again ground to a halt. He could not get a visa for Iran, and then COVID struck.
Photo: Karl Bushby
A long interlude, an unusual solution
So it was back to Mexico. He spent the next few years there, eventually coming up with a plan that morphed into the most unexpected leg of his journey. Bushby swam the Caspian Sea from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan with fellow walker Angela Maxwell. It was the only way he could continue the journey without setting foot in Iran.
Crossing the Caspian Sea. Photo: Karl Bushby
He doubled back to Uzbekistan and then walked across the Kyzylkum Desert to the Caspian Sea. He then swam 288km in stages to Azerbaijan, although he admitted that swimming was not his forte. A relieved Bushby then started walking again.
One last obstacle remains, which may prove as daunting as the Darien Gap or the Bering Strait. To complete his walk, Bushby must somehow cross the English Channel. He does not want to swim it, sailing is not an option because under his self-imposed rules, sailing qualifies as mechanized, and walking through the Channel Tunnel is prohibited. His only chance is to secure special authorization to use the 4.8m-wide service tunnel reserved for maintenance crews.
Speaking to BBC Radio this summer, Bushby admitted that the end of his odyssey fills him with as much uncertainty as excitement.
“Getting home, I just don’t know, it’s weird,” he said. “It’s a very strange place to be in, where suddenly your purpose for living will have a hard stop. I’m hoping to transition into other things as quickly as possible, keeping mind, body and soul on the move.”
As for his family, he recognizes that the reunion will be bittersweet: “It will be about getting to know each other again.”
News
“FIVE DIVERS WENT INTO THE MALDIVES CAVES… NONE EVER MADE IT OUT” — Investigators Now Believe One Critical Human Error Triggered the Entire Tragedy 👀 The full story is waiting in the comments… don’t miss it
“FIVE DIVERS WENT INTO THE MALDIVES CAVES… NONE EVER MADE IT OUT” — Investigators Now Believe One Critical Human Error Triggered the Entire Tragedy The deaths of five Italian divers during a cave-diving expedition in the Maldives have sparked an international investigation, with authorities now focusing on what experts describe as a possible “catastrophic […]
BREAKTHROUGH! The Real Reason Matthew Mitchell Killed His Pregnant And Kids Exposed! He Caught Her.. On May 4, 2026, Houston woke up to devastating news. A prominent restaurateur, her husband, and their two young children—ages 4 and 8—were found dead in their River Oaks home on Kingston Street. All four had been shot in the head. Houston Police Department investigators classified the case as a suspected murder-suicide. The week prior, Thy Mitchell had reached what should have been a career pinnacle: hosting a board meeting for the Texas Restaurant Association and welcoming 50 of Houston’s top restaurateurs into her home to celebrate her achievements.
BREAKTHROUGH! The Real Reason Matthew Mitchell Kil… BREAKTHROUGH! The Real Reason Matthew Mitchell Killed His Pregnant And Kids Exposed! He Caught Her.. BREAKTHROUGH! The Real Reason Matthew Mitchell Killed His Pregnant And Kids Exposed! He Caught Her.. The Thy Mitchell Tragedy: Success, Recognition, and the Hidden Cost of Narcissistic Injury in Family Annihilation On May […]
Gabrielle “Gabby” Esquivel was just 24 years old, a young mother whose entire life revolved around her 2-year-old son, Cypher, before everything suddenly turned into a nightmare that nobody close to her can fully process. Police say Gabby was found dead Friday morning with injuries caused by a sharp object, and now a murder charge has been filed as investigators continue piecing together the horrifying final hours leading up to her death. But the part destroying people emotionally is not only the crime itself — it is the heartbreaking reality that a little boy who loved dinosaurs, swimming, and toy trucks is now growing up without the mother who was always beside him… and loved ones say there is so much more behind this tragedy than the headlines are revealing.
She Was Supposed To Be Watching Her Little Boy Grow Up… Not Becoming A Heartbreaking Headline Overnight. There are some stories that hit people differently, not because of celebrity names or shocking headlines, but because deep down everyone can recognize the painful truth hiding inside them — the truth that an ordinary young mother who […]
Family and residents of Flint gathered at St. Mark Baptist Church to remember 9-year-old Tyhari Knox after a car-borne shooting left more than 200 bullets lodged in her family’s home. The service was held in a somber atmosphere as the community prayed together and shared their grief with Tyhari’s family.
9-Year-Old Tyhari Knox Emotional Funeral Service Flint, Michigan, United States — Family members, classmates, church leaders, friends, and residents gathered in Flint to honor the life of Tyhari Knox during an emotional funeral service held at St. Mark Baptist Church following the heartbreaking drive-by sh00t!ng that targeted her family’s home. The 9-year-old girl was remembered through […]
A routine night of tension between a separating couple turned into a horrifying tragedy when Andrea Davis allegedly shot her husband and then took the lives of her 10-year-old son and 18-month-old daughter. 😢 The shocking incident highlights the lethal consequences of domestic violence and the devastating impact it can have on innocent children.
“A Night of Horror Turned Deadly: Mother Shoots Husband, Then Takes the Lives of Her 10-Year-Old Son and 18-Month-Old Daughter, Leaving a Community in Shock and Grief Over a Preventable Domestic Tragedy” A routine evening in Glendale, Arizona, erupted into unimaginable horror when Andrea Davis, amid a contentious separation from her husband Nolan, snapped in […]
SURVIVING THE UNSURVIVABLE… Trey Isles was shot 15 times, yet somehow survived what many thought was impossible. Investigators describe the scene as horrifying, a moment that could have claimed his life instantly. Police say three suspects are still at large and considered extremely dangerous. Family and neighbors struggle to make sense of the attack, unsure why Trey was the target. Sources say his courage and resilience have inspired the community, even as questions mount. How did he survive such a barrage of gunfire? And will justice ever catch up to the suspects? 📌 Full story
He Was Shot 15 Times And Somehow Survived… But The Questions Surrounding Trey Isles Still Haunt Everyone Following The Case There are moments in life that divide everything into two versions of reality. The version that existed before. And the version people are forced to live afterward. For 21-year-old Trey Isles, according to investigators, that […]
End of content
No more pages to load
