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Mind-blowing journey of man who has spent 27 years walking around the world using no transport

Home> News> UK News

Published 17:14 17 Jun 2025 GMT+1

Mind-blowing journey of man who has spent 27 years walking around the world using no transport

Karl Bushby has been walking for nearly three decades from Chile to the UK for his 'Goliath Mission'

Britt Jones

Britt Jones

A video has surfaced online showing a British man traveling around the world for 27 years completely on foot, and how he did it is amazing.

Karl Bushby is no doubt the fittest man on Earth, considering he’s been walking around the globe ‘with unbroken footsteps’ since November 1998.

The 56-year-old man, from Hull, England began his journey from Punta Arenas in Chile, and has been on a 'Goliath Expedition' around the world ever since.

Originally, the 36,000-plus mile trip was supposed to take him 12 years to complete, but there's been a lot of challenges to overcome on his journey.

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One issue saw Karl facing three major 'gaps' between countries.

Karl Bushby has been walking for nearly 30 years (Instagram/@bushby3000)
Karl Bushby has been walking for nearly 30 years (Instagram/@bushby3000)

The first gap was the Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama, the second came at the Bering Strait between the US and Russia, and the third gap was the Channel Tunnel between France and the UK.

But because Karl cannot use any form of transport and has to return home on foot, things got tricky.

In one instance, he had been arrested in Panama for crossing a closed border zone, but he thankfully crossed the first two ‘gaps’.

But closing the France to UK gap would mean walking through the Channel Tunnel and avoid the 24/7 trains.

Thankfully, there is a small additional tunnel within which was built for maintenance workers.

According to Getlink Group, this service tunnel is 4.8m in diameter and ‘lies between the two rail tunnels 15m away from each of them’.

However, the only issue with this plan is he needs to make sure he gets the correct authorisation to be able to walk through it, as this is because foot passengers are usually forbidden.

Having been in Mexico as he awaited his visa being accepted so that he can finish his long-awaited challenge, he revealed to the BBC that returning home will be a ‘very strange place to be’.

After his 31-day swim across the Caspian Sea last year, Bushby said he then made his way through Azerbaijan and then Turkey.

As of right now, he continued his journey through Turkey in August, before entering Europe via the Bosphorus Strait, Istanbul, on May 2, to finish the last stretch.

However, it might take him until September 2026 to do so.

Speaking on BBC Radio Humberside, Bushby said: "On 1 November, 1998, you're literally looking down at a road that's 36,000 miles long and have no idea how you're going to do it.

"We've run into a lot of complications with visa problems, financial crises, the pandemic - we've had it all.

He is nearly home (Instagram/@bushby3000)
He is nearly home (Instagram/@bushby3000)

"It's been extremely difficult but we've always stuck to our guns and never been willing to compromise on the route."

These difficulties also led him to fear for his life on a few occasions.

He said: "Getting home, I just don't know, it's weird, 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."

Because of the long stretch of time, he said it could take a while for he and his family ‘to know each other again’.

Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/The Washington Post

Topics: UK News, Travel, World News

Britt Jones
Britt Jones

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