Karl Bushby Completes 28-Year Global Walk

Former British paratrooper Karl Bushby has completed a 28-year, roughly 31,000-mile journey on foot across four continents and 30 countries, returning to his hometown of Hull after setting out from South America on Nov. 1, 1998. He vowed not to use transport to advance and not to return to the UK until completing the route on foot, while resuming each walking leg from the exact point where he had stopped; visa rules required him to leave countries between stretches. The journey, which he initially expected to take about 12 years, involved difficult terrain and long delays caused by bureaucratic restrictions and other obstacles. His return reunited him with family, including his mother, and allowed him to meet his granddaughter for the first time. Bushby has said he is unsure how he will adjust to ordinary life after so long defined by the expedition.