Man Comes Home After Walking 31,000 Miles for 28 Years

Crowds cheered and waved as adventurer Karl Bushby arrived in his home city of Hull on Monday, November 2, at the end of a 28-year walk from the southern tip of South America.

Footage filmed by X user Chad Thomas outside Hull City Hall in Queen Victoria Square shows a packed crowd raising their arms and waving beneath a large “WELCOME HOME KARL.” banner from Hull City Council. Camera operators film from the balcony and the steps above.

“Welcome home Karl Bushby,” the filmer wrote.

Bushby, a former paratrooper now aged 57, set off from Punta Arenas, Chile, on November 1, 1998, vowing to walk home without using any motorised transport. He crossed four continents, including the Darién Gap and the frozen Bering Strait, and swam the English Channel in October.

“There has never been a welcome home quite like this,” he told the crowd, according to PA. “This is absolute madness. After 28 years, you couldn’t ask for more than this.”

He was greeted by the Lord Mayor and Hull East MP Karl Turner, before setting off on the final leg of his 31,000-mile journey to his mother’s house in the city.