Karl Bushby embraces emotional mother as he completes 28-year walk around world

Associated Press · Brian Melley, Jon Super · 2026-11-02 12:58 UTC

Karl Bushby has completed his 28-year journey to walk around the world by returning to his mother's home in northern England. On Monday, Bushby embraced his emotional mother, Angela, outside her home in Hull, England, where he left in 1998. Bushby was a 29-year-old ex-paratrooper when he began his journey from Punta Arenas, Chile, on Nov. 1, 1998. He walked 31,000 miles across four continents and 30 countries. He navigated shifting ice over the Bering Strait and swam across the Caspian Sea and English Channel to avoid taking any transport. Bushby returned as a 57-year-old, softer, grayer, and more worldly.

HULL, England (AP) — Karl Bushby embraced his weeping mother in his arms Monday as he returned to his northern England home to complete a 28-year odyssey to walk around the world.

“Where have you been?” his mother, Angela, asked as he arrived outside the home he left in 1998 that was now decked with a banner saying “Welcome Home Son.”

He didn’t need to tell her.

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