Adventurer Completes 28-Year, 31,000-Mile Global Journey with English Channel Swim
Karl Bushby, 57, arrived in the UK after circumnavigating the globe on foot, facing numerous challenges including border refusals and a 186-mile swim across the Caspian Sea.
British adventurer Karl Bushby has completed a 28-year, 31,000-mile journey around the world by swimming the English Channel, arriving back on UK soil on Monday.
Bushby, 57, began his odyssey from Chile in November 1998 with the goal of becoming the first person to continuously circumnavigate the globe on foot. After traveling through 29 countries, he landed at Shakespeare Beach near Dover, with his final destination being his family home in Hull, East Yorkshire.
"Feels good to have UK soil under my feet after all these years," Bushby stated. "It hasn't been easy, and that's part of the point. Proving I'm more capable than I give myself credit for. All of us can accomplish more than we will ever imagine."
Filmmaker Werner Herzog and his crew were present at the beach to greet Bushby, as Herzog is directing a feature-length documentary about the journey titled 'Walk of Life'.
Bushby encountered bureaucratic hurdles leading up to his Channel swim. Eurotunnel denied his request to use its service tunnel, citing safety risks and maintenance needs. French officials also informed him that a 2018 prefectoral order only permitted Channel crossings from the UK to France, not the other way around.
Despite these challenges, Bushby secured the necessary permissions and coordinated with French and UK coast guards to complete the swim.
Earlier in 2024, Bushby was compelled to swim 186 miles across the Caspian Sea to avoid entering Russia or Iran due to geopolitical tensions. During his expedition, he also traversed the Darién Gap between Colombia and Panama and became the first Briton to walk across the 58-mile Bering Strait between North America and Russia, a journey that included some swimming.
Bushby cited securing visas and the inability to use the Channel Tunnel as the most difficult aspects of his expedition.
His mother, Angela, is set to greet him at their family home upon the conclusion of his journey, which Bushby had estimated would finish on November 1.
