British adventurer Karl Bushby is closing in on the end of his extraordinary 27-year mission to walk around the world — a feat he began in 1998 from Punta Arenas, Chile, armed only with paper maps, determination, and a personal vow never to use motorised transport.
Bushby has crossed 25 countries and more than 58,000 km, battling deserts, jungles, political barriers, and even the frozen Bering Strait. “Every day for 27 years, my purpose has been simple — get up and move forward,” he said recently. “It’s strange to think that will end soon.”
His journey, known as the Goliath Expedition, has been marked by both danger and kindness. He has been detained by authorities, blocked by visa issues, and at one point swam part of the Caspian Sea after land borders closed. Yet he says the generosity of strangers “is what kept the journey alive more than anything else.”
Now walking through Europe with roughly 1,500–2,000 km left, Bushby expects to reach his mother’s home in Hull, England, sometime in 2026. “I’ve been away half my life,” he said. “Finishing will be overwhelming — but it’s time.”
Whether or not he becomes the first person to complete a continuous, unbroken walk around the world, Bushby’s odyssey stands as one of the most remarkable endurance feats of the modern era