What started as a bet between friends over a beer has become one of the most extraordinary adventures of modern times. British ex-paratrooper Karl Bushby has been walking around the world for 27 years, finally approaching his destination. In 1998, Bushby set off from Punta Arenas in southern Chile with the aim of reaching his hometown of Hull, England. He called the expedition “Mission Goliath,” a journey of some 50 kilometers, which he initially thought he would complete in 12 years.
From the start, he established two non-negotiable rules: not to use any mechanical means of transportation to continue the journey and not to return home until he had completed the mission. Today, at the age of 57, Bushby has traversed deserts, jungles, mountains and tundra, crossed the entire American continent, the Bering Strait, the Darien region between Panama and Colombia, and traveled through Russia, Asia and Europe.
He has faced many hardships along the way. On one occasion, he suffered a serious wrist injury after slipping and had to have the wound stitched up without access to specialized medical care. For much of the journey, Bushby has been pushing a special cart called “The Beast,” which carries food, equipment, and supplies. He has been financially supported by family, friends, and donations from people who have been inspired by his story.
The experience, he says, has changed the way he sees the world. “Life is short and you have to live it as best you can. People will embrace you and help you move forward,” he says. The COVID-19 pandemic forced him to stop for a while in Mexico, while geopolitical conflicts forced him to change his route, avoiding Russia and Iran. Instead, he crossed the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan and then continued his journey through Turkey and Europe. By mid-2026, he had arrived in Belgium.
However, just months before the end of his mission, he is facing a new obstacle. The operator of the Channel Tunnel has rejected his request to cross the tunnel on foot for safety reasons, while current rules do not even allow him to swim from France to Britain. Bushby is negotiating with the French authorities to find a solution that does not conflict with the rules he has imposed on himself. His story is also a story of personal perseverance. As a child, Bushby suffered from dyslexia and was constantly bullied at school. His mother, Angela, has said that he often returned home hurt by insults from classmates, who called him “stupid.”
However, he never gave up. After several attempts, he managed to pass the difficult tests to become part of the British Army paratroopers, and later embarked on the adventure that would make him famous around the world. Even during his absence of almost three decades, his mother did not stop buying a gift for him every Christmas, in the hope that one day her son would return home. If all goes according to plan, Karl Bushby is expected to arrive in Hull in September, ending a 27-year journey that began as a simple bet between friends and turned into one of the most extraordinary expeditions in modern history.
