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Karl Bushby has been traveling the world on foot for 27 years.
Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty Images
Karl Bushby was 29 years old when he left his hometown of Hull, England, and embarked on the adventure of a lifetime. With $500 in his pocket and some survival gear, he set out on a mission that no one else in history had ever accomplished: to travel an uninterrupted path around the world.
Bushby’s journey, called the “Goliath Expedition,” began in 1998 in Punta Arenas, Chile, a city near the southern tip of South America. This has taken him across continents including the Americas, Asia and Europe, ultimately ending with the goal of returning to the UK.
“The goal was just to get home without any form of transportation,” Bushby said. CNBC succeeds.
Throughout his journey, Bushby followed two rules: he can only walk or swim, without the aid of any means of transportation, and he cannot return home to Hull, England, until he arrives entirely on foot.
“It seemed like two simple rules from the early days, but you know, once those two rules match the reality of the real world, things can get very complicated, especially [with] visas and difficult governments and regimes and some of the controversial borders that [I’ve] I had to cross,” he said.
After walking about 30 kilometers a day, as well as a few unexpected setbacks, Bushby has now made his way to Europe and hopes to complete his journey and return home to England next year, he told CNBC Make It.
The wanderer’s life
Bushby has always been an adventurer. He said he was going to explore all day with his brother before returning home for dinner.
Growing up in a military family, he was inspired by his father who served in the British Army. Bushby also joined the army at the age of 16 and served as a parachute regiment for around 12 years before leaving on his expedition.
At some point I started drawing lines on maps and dreaming of great distances and distant horizons, and one thing led to another.
Karl Bushby
World Explorer
At some point during his tenure in the British Army, Bushby became bored.
“I spent my 12 years in the British Army waiting to go places we’ve never really gone, apart from Northern Ireland,” he said. “We are living in one of the most peaceful times in history,” he said.
“So we got bored and tired and became wonderful and mischievous,” he said. “At some point I started drawing lines on maps and dreaming of great distances and distant horizons, and one thing led to another.”
Bushby once drew a line from the United Kingdom, through Europe and Asia, through Siberia, through the Bering Strait, into North America and into the depths of South America.
“Once I put that on a map, there was no going back…The old hairs on the back of my neck stand up,” he said.
So, in 1998, Bushby left the British Army to begin a long journey. He takes a military flight from the United Kingdom to the Falkland Islands, then a civilian flight to Punta Arenas, Chile, which will be the starting point of his expedition.
That first day you hit the road [is] a road to remember… You are on a road approximately 36,000 miles long, with very little idea of what is coming… You are further than a human mission to Jupiter at this point.
Karl Bushby
World Explorer
“The first day you hit the road [is] memorable, because at that moment, we are far from home. You’ve burned all the bridges. You told everyone you’d rather die than come home,” Bushby said.
“You have about 500 US dollars in your pocket, no support, no idea how this is going to play out, just absolute faith that you can make it work somehow. And you’re on a road about 36,000 miles long, with very little idea of what’s going to happen. I mean… you’re further away than a human mission to Jupiter at this point,” he said.
Lesson on happiness
Bushby’s journey over the past 27 years has allowed him to experience many close encounters.
He crossed the Darien Gap, was arrested by Russian authorities, imprisoned in Panama, nearly froze to death in Alaska, and swam across the Caspian Sea for 31 days.
On top of all this, he went days without food after walking many miles, relied on strangers for medical help, and spent many nights alone in a tent he pitched on the side of the road.
“The psychology of hunger is interesting. It’s not something most of us are really used to. When you have no idea where your next meal is going to come, you just become obsessed with finding things to eat,” Bushby said.
“You’ll see food everywhere, every shadow, every rock looks like something you can eat. You’ll end up running around, chasing hallucinations most of the time,” he said.
Despite all the challenges he overcame, one of the greatest lessons he discovered throughout his journey had little to do with physical pain or endurance. It was more about happiness and how it ultimately comes from your relationships.
“If you ask me, what’s been the hardest thing you’ve done in the last 27 years – it’s losing the women you fall in love with hands down. It’s the hardest thing you’ll ever have to deal with… The physical – pain is easy, suffering is different,” Bushby said.
On the other hand, he said: “The happiest time was when I [was in] these relationships. When you’re with someone.”
He also learned that people are generally very kind, in all cultures and regions of the world. Several times during his journey, he said he was welcomed, fed and cared for by strangers who asked for nothing in return.
“You don’t even speak the same language, so it’s just a matter of smiles and nods, and then they send you on your way… It’s just one story after another, and it cuts across all cultures, all countries,” he said.
“This world is much friendlier and more pleasant than it seems.”
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