50k Kilometres In 28 Years: Meet The Real Globetrotter

Article by Kumar Published on: 9:25 pm, 1 November 2026

Going on a world tour can usually take weeks or months if one travels by flight. But, it would definitely take several years if the journey is by walk. And, a British adventurer named Karl Bushby took not less than 28 years to complete an extraordinary and marathon expedition, covering a staggering 50,000 kilometres by foot.

After spending 12 years as a British Army paratrooper, Bushby felt bored with his routine life and decided to take a long walk out of fascination with maps and long distance travel.

The 57 year old former paratrooper started his monumental expedition back in November 1998 from Punta Arenas, Chile. After trekking thousands of kilometers across four continents and 30 countries, Bushby is completing his final steps back to his hometown of Hull in England.

What is more incredible is that the globetrotter embarked on the monumental challenge under two strict rules that it not he could neither use any motorized transport in his journey nor he could return home until the entire trek was finished on foot.

What was originally planned as a 12 year trek turned into nearly three decades of challenges. His journey included navigating dangerous jungles, walking through scorching deserts, floating through waters, and surviving extreme weather.

He walked across the frozen Bering Strait from Alaska to Russia over shifting sea ice in 2006. Later, when geopolitical conflicts and visa denials blocked land passage through Russia and Iran, he even swam over 160 miles across the Caspian Sea to reach Azerbaijan before continuing his walk towards Europe.

Bushby pushed a handcart loaded with his tent and essential survival gear. After completing his epic adventure, he plans to document his wild experiences and share key lessons about human resilience in upcoming public talks and books.