Karl Bushby Walks Home

A former British paratrooper who set out on foot from the southern tip of Chile 28 years ago reached his mother's home in Hull, England, without once using transport to move forward.

Neighbors gather outside the house in Hull where Karl Bushby grew up, on the day he walked home, November 2026.Illustration by The Good Times, based on a photo by Hullian111 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). The painting carries the same CC BY-SA 4.0 license

In one minute

Karl Bushby walked up to his mother's house in Hull, in northern England, and ended a journey on foot that began in Punta Arenas, Chile, 28 years earlier. He was 29 when he set off with two rules: never return to Britain until the journey was done, and never use transport to advance. The route crossed four continents, including the roadless jungle of the Darién Gap and the frozen Bering Strait between Alaska and Russia. The BBC put the distance at about 31,000 miles; the Guardian, at 36,000 miles. Crowds greeted him in Hull's city center before he walked the last few miles to the house where he grew up, where his mother, Angela, was waiting for him as they had agreed. He also met his 12-year-old granddaughter for the first time. Werner Herzog is making a documentary about the walk.

Bushby, a former paratrooper, crossed the Humber Bridge back toward Hull, and the next day a crowd gathered in the city center to welcome him. He had left Punta Arenas in November 1998, the BBC and the Guardian reported. He thanked "the biggest team," which he named as Earth, for getting him home.

Then he walked the last few miles to his childhood home, where his mother, Angela, waited for him as they had agreed. His son, now 36, was part of the homecoming, and Bushby met his 12-year-old granddaughter for the first time.

Over 28 years the walk crossed four continents. He went through the Darién Gap, the jungle between Colombia and Panama that no road crosses, and over the frozen Bering Strait from Alaska to Russia. The two outlets differ on the total: about 31,000 miles by the BBC's count and 36,000 by the Guardian's.

Werner Herzog, the German filmmaker, is making a documentary about the journey and was in Hull for its end.

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