British adventurer completes 28-year, 31,000-mile walk around the world

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Bushby remarked, playfully acknowledging the long wait. “Is that it, is it done?”

Beginning his adventure at age 29, Bushby, a former paratrooper, initially departed from his home, traveling to a Royal Air Force base near Oxford before flying to South America. He arrived back at age 57, visibly changed by his experiences.

“They say it takes a village but literally it took a world to get me here,” Bushby expressed, emphasizing the support he received from countless individuals and nations. “The kindness of strangers, so many, from individuals to nation states to get me back here today. I didn’t do this alone. There was a big team. The biggest team. Earth.”

His trek commenced on November 1, 1998, from Punta Arenas, Chile, traversing four continents and 30 countries. Bushby famously avoided any form of transportation beyond his own two feet, swimming the Caspian Sea and English Channel and navigating the treacherous Bering Strait.

The ambitious undertaking was sparked by a birthday card from his father, Keith, a veteran, who mentioned a discussion among special forces troops about the possibility of walking from London to New York across the Bering land bridge.

Numerous challenges delayed his progress, including difficult terrain, bureaucratic obstacles, and even a period of imprisonment for 18 days after crossing a restricted border zone in Panama. He also narrowly avoided conflict in the Darién Gap and faced visa complications in Russia, leading to a protest walk from Los Angeles to the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Bushby is now looking forward to reuniting with family, including his son, Adam, and meeting his 12-year-old granddaughter for the first time. His final steps involved pushing his cart across Hull to his mother, Angela, whom he hadn’t seen in a decade.

“It’s been a week of lasts,” Bushby shared with the crowd. “The last day in the tent. The last day on the road. After 28 years you couldn’t ask for more than this. This is the last of the last few steps almost to my mother’s house.”