First posted on Instagram
On Monday, November 2, 2026, 57-year-old British former paratrooper Karl Bushby completed the Goliath Expedition, arriving at his mother Angela's home in Hull, England, after 28 years on foot. He was welcomed by hundreds at Queen Victoria Square and at City Hall, pushing his two-wheeled cart, before the final stretch home. Outside the house, decked with a "Welcome Home Son" banner, his mother asked, "Where have you been?" and embraced him, weeping. He joked to the crowd, "Sorry to keep you waiting" and "I'm back."
He set out on November 1, 1998, aged 29, from Punta Arenas, Chile, under two rules: no motorised transport could advance his journey, and he would not return home until he arrived on foot. The journey covered about 31,000 miles (50,000 km) across four continents and 30 countries.
As a child in Hull, he was bullied over severe dyslexia, diagnosed at 13. He joined the British Army at 16 and served with the 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment. The idea for the walk came from a birthday card from his father Keith in the mid-1990s, mentioning a debate over whether a man could walk from London to New York over the Bering land bridge.
Among the obstacles were the Darien Gap in 2001 and 18 days jailed after crossing a restricted zone in Panama; the 2006 Bering Strait crossing on shifting ice with Dimitri Kieffer, a polar-bear standoff, near-death plunges, then jailing in Russia; almost 10 years making his way through Russia amid visa struggles; a 288-km swim across the Caspian Sea in 2024 with Angela Maxwell; and delays from the 2008 financial crash, COVID-19 and border bureaucracy. He swam the English Channel, landing at Shakespeare Beach, Dover, on October 5, 2026, crossed the Humber Bridge on November 1, and was met at Dover by his father and brothers.
He had not seen his mother in a decade. He reunited with his 36-year-old son Adam, whom he had rarely seen, and met his 12-year-old granddaughter for the first time.
Next, he has six speaking engagements in the next two months, a sequel to his memoir "Giant Steps," and a Werner Herzog documentary. He spoke of anxiety at the journey ending, saying, "It's like stepping across the event horizon into a black hole. I have no idea what's about to happen in my life," and that he intends to find another mission.
The country count of 30 is as reported by the Associated Press.
This story was reported by the Associated Press.