Man walks home to his mom from the tip of South America. It took him 28 years.
British adventurer Karl Bushby, 57, finished his "Goliath Expedition" in Hull, England, on Nov. 2, 2026, reaching his mother's house 28 years and one day after setting out from Chile.
Karl Bushby completed a journey on foot back to his hometown of Hull, England, on Nov. 2, 2026. He began the trip in Chile on Nov. 1, 1998, at age 29. CBS News reports that he took his last steps of an estimated 75 million to cheers from a crowd in the northern English port city.
Bushby set himself two rules. He could not use any machine to advance the journey, and he could not return home during the entire trip, even if family or friends died. The route was far from direct. Illness, visa restrictions in Russia, and Moscow's invasion of Ukraine delayed him for months or years at a time, and he also had to swim large bodies of water.
He traveled north through Central America, the United States and Canada, then crossed the Bering Sea to Russia, which CBS describes as the first recorded attempt to do so. He continued through Central Asia and swam for 31 days across the Caspian Sea, another reported first, to avoid the war in Ukraine. Last month he swam the English Channel from France and landed in England, where immigration officers had set up to check his passport.
The final stretch was a brisk walk of roughly 3 miles to a neighborhood of red-brick terrace homes. Children lined the last turn and an honor guard led the way. Bushby pushed the cart that had been with him for about 25 years, then embraced his mother, Angela Bushby, outside her house.
Speaking to the crowd, Bushby credited others for the result. "I didn't do this alone. There was a big team, the biggest team: Earth." He told CBS News that returning felt odd, like arriving in a foreign country, and that some other parts of the world now felt more like home to him.
Asked whether the world had improved while he was away, Bushby acknowledged that there are more wars but remained optimistic. "My bet is on humanity," he said. He added that people tend to underestimate what they can do, and urged others to dream bigger.
Note: The headline says he started at the tip of South America. The page says only that he began in Chile, and it describes him swimming several stretches (the Caspian Sea and the English Channel) rather than walking the whole way.
At a Glance
- Karl Bushby started walking from Chile on Nov. 1, 1998, and reached his mother's house in Hull on Nov. 2, 2026.
- He estimated the journey at about 75 million steps and more than 10,000 days away from home.
- He swam 31 days across the Caspian Sea to avoid the war in Ukraine.
- Last month he swam the English Channel from France, then walked the final 3 miles through Hull.
Sources
This brief was written by Brightside Report from the reporting linked above. Spot an error? Request a correction.