Man who has spent 27 years walking across the globe using no transport explains how he funded the trip

A man who has spent more than a quarter of a century circumnavigating the Earth on foot has revealed how he funds his 'Goliath Expedition', which has seen him walk from South America to Romania.

Karl Bushby, a former British paratrooper, began his journey when was in his late 20s, setting of from Puntas Arenas in Chile in 1998 with the aim of reaching his hometown Hull and becoming the first person to circumnavigate on foot, without any transport, and in one unbroken path. He's trekked almost 30,000 miles.

While he originally intended to spend just eight years walking around the world, a series of misfortunes and geopolitical developments have delayed his journey, meaning that Bushby is now 56 years old as he enters the final leg of his 27-year journey.

But with such an astounding tale of fortitude, grit, and perseverance, many who have become aware of Bushby in the modern age thanks to social media find themselves bewildered at how he has managed to maintain his walk for so long, both financially and in terms of human endurance.

"A mixed bag of survival, kindness of strangers, family, a book deal and sponsors," Bushby shared with his followers in a comment on TikTok after being pressed for details on his funding. However, like his around the world trip, this funding has been anything but straightforward.

The ex-para published a book in 2007 titled Giant Steps, about the first leg of his journey up to crossing the Bering Strait into Russia. While the success of this provided a revenue stream, Bushby still found himself reliant on friends and sponsorship deals.

But then, following the 2008 financial crisis and problems with his Russian visa, the explorer found himself without sponsorship and on a forced two-year hiatus. But after a bit of help and a change in stance from the Russians, in 2011 he continued his walk across Siberia.

Financial snags aside, Bushby has walked through some pretty terrifying places, with the two he'd least like to return to including the Darién Gap, a stretch of rainforest between Panama and Columbia with no roads, which he described as 'cartels and drug plantations, and then really, really tough jungle'.

He also didn't enjoy the Bering Strait, where he had a potentially life-threatening close encounter with a polar bear.

What does Karl Bushby eat on his 27-year trek?

A recent TikTok video gives some further clues as to how the former paratrooper has made it across the globe on a faltering shoestring budget, and it's living off a diet that many of us cannot imagine.

Detailing what he eats while walking through strange and remote locations, he explained how he finds sustenance every day. "I just pick stuff up along the side of the road," he told his fans.

He then went on to explain how that works now that he is just 2000km from his home.

With just four percent of his journey to go, after crossing into Mongolia in 2017 and swimming across the Caspian Sea last year, Bushby is now afforded the minor luxury of scavenging from small shops and gas stations in remote parts of Romania.

Sharing his recent call from a 'Profi' corner store in Romania, the Brit said 'we have a mix, got a packet of cookies, got a tin of I think ribs and beans,' while pointing to a mysterious brown tin in a foreign language.

He then points to a surprising part of his diet, a plastic tub of pickled herring, which would no doubt last longer on his journey than many other sources of protein.

But that was not the limit of Bushby's globetrotting diet, which consists of just one large meal in the evening and a light snack for breakfast.

He went on to share: "I have some cheese left over from yesterday and I have a loaf of bread, most of which I've consumed and I'll finish that off tonight. And normally I have some honey to go with that.

"Almost most nights it's a tin of tuna and corn."