Karl Bushby set out from Chile on foot in 1998, and now only the Channel is in the way

On 1 November 1998 Karl Bushby stood in Punta Arenas, at the southern end of Chile, with about $500 and two rules. He would use no mechanical transport of any kind. And he would not go home to Hull, in the north of England, until he had walked there.

He expected it to take 12 years. Late last month Bushby, now 57, a former British paratrooper, was at Cap Blanc-Nez on the north coast of France, pushing the cart he calls “the Beast”, with about 50,000 km (31,000 miles) behind him by the news agency AFP’s count. England is 21 miles (34 km) away. The difficulty is that it is across the sea.

“On 1 November 1998, you’re literally looking down at a road that’s 36,000 miles long and have no idea how you’re going to do it.” — Karl Bushby, to BBC Radio Humberside

Ice, jungle and a month in the Caspian

The route ran up the Andes, through the roadless Darién jungle between Colombia and Panama, and north across the United States and Canada to Alaska. In 2006 he and a companion, Dimitri Kieffer, crossed the frozen Bering Strait on foot over moving ice floes, and were arrested on arrival in Siberia. Then came Russia, Mongolia, China and Central Asia.

In 2024, with Iran closed to him, he got round it the only way his rules allowed. With Angela Maxwell, he swam the Caspian Sea in stages: 288 km (179 miles), in about a month.

The walking itself accounts for roughly half of the 28 years. AFP reports that he spent about 14 of them waiting, on visas that Moscow would not grant, on money after the 2008 financial crisis, and on the pandemic.

The last 21 miles

Bushby asked to walk through the Channel Tunnel’s service tunnel. Eurotunnel refused, telling the BBC that closing it for the 15 hours or two days he would need “would pose a safety risk to passenger services and impact essential maintenance work”.

That leaves swimming, which he does not rate among his strengths.

“I say I swim like a cat dropped in a bathtub. It’s not funny. It’s bad.” — Karl Bushby, to AFP

When AFP met him on 25 September, the permission he thought he had to set off from the French coast had turned out not to be in place, and he reckoned the weather would close the crossing for the winter after 1 October. “I think we can work it out,” he said. “If not, I’m living in France for the rest of my life!” At the time of writing we have found no report that he has entered the water. We will update this story when there is news.

His mother, Angela, is waiting in Hull. A documentary is being made, and he plans to give talks. He told BBC Radio he hoped to move on quickly to other things, “keeping mind, body and soul on the move”.

Why this matters

Nobody needs 28 years. What Bushby’s walk shows is how far an ordinary walking pace goes when it is repeated, and how much a clear rule simplifies things. He never had to decide each morning whether to take the bus.

The health case is modest by comparison and well established. The World Health Organization recommends at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate activity a week for adults, and says activity helps prevent heart disease, type 2 diabetes and breast and colon cancer, and improves mood. Three days of walking 12 miles (20 km) covers a fortnight’s quota.

If a long walk appeals

• Start with a trail, not a continent. Our guide to choosing a first walking holiday covers Hadrian’s Wall Path, 84 miles (135 km), and the South Downs Way, 100 miles (160 km).
• Train for consecutive days. One long walk tells you little. Two in a row tell you about your feet, your shoes and your pack.
• Make one rule. A whole trail with no skipped sections. Every stage on foot from the station. Rules turn a holiday into a project.
• Or try the paratroopers’ ten miles. Bushby was a paratrooper before he was a walker. The PARAS’ 10 is a 10-mile race based on the Parachute Regiment’s own test march, and it is open to the public: you can run it, or march it in boots with a 35lb pack. He has no connection with the event; the link is ours.

For a different kind of patience, Amy Appelhans Gubser spent five years planning a 17-hour swim. Bushby could use her this week.