Karl Bushby returns to Hull after 28-year around-the-world journey

Bushby’s return marks the reported completion of an approximately 28-year expedition around the world. Several reports describe the journey as covering about 50,000 kilometres without using transport or motorized transport. He was identified by multiple outlets as a former British paratrooper.

The route began in South America and eventually brought Bushby through a series of continents and regions. Deutsche Welle reports that he crossed the Americas, Russia and parts of Central Asia and Europe, while France 24 describes the expedition as crossing four continents on foot.

His arrival in Hull turned the personal milestone into a public event. BBC News reported that crowds gathered in the city centre before Bushby walked home to his mother, while Euronews gave an estimate of up to 1,000 people at the welcome. The reports also describe his reunion with his family after almost three decades away on the expedition.

The scale of the journey is reported differently across the available coverage. Deutsche Welle, Euronews, France 24 and ANSA cite approximately 50,000 kilometres, while The Guardian reports a total of 36,000 miles across 29 countries. Those figures are not presented consistently in the supplied sources, so the distance is best described as an approximate reported total.

The sources also vary in how precisely they characterize the journey’s transport arrangements, using descriptions that range from travelling without transport to being almost entirely on foot. The Guardian additionally describes Bushby as the first person to walk continuously across the planet, but that distinction is not independently corroborated in the supplied reporting. The confirmed development is his return to Hull and reunion with his family after the long expedition.