Tourism06 October, 20262 min read
Karl Bushby Returns To UK After Nearly 28 Years Walking 50,000 Kilometers
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Karl Bushby completes a 28-year walk, covering about 50,000 kilometers in 29 countries. He swam the English Channel from France to the UK, about 20 hours total.
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28 Years, One Swim
British adventurer Karl Bushby reached Shakespeare Beach near Dover after a nearly 28-year journey that covered about 50,000 kilometers on foot and included swimming the English Channel from France to the United Kingdom. Bushby arrived after a three-day swim in which he spent about 20 hours in the water, bringing him closer to the final milestone of an adventure he began nearly three decades ago.
Bushby said, "It is a wonderful feeling to tread the soil of the United Kingdom with my feet after all these years." Bushby began the journey on November 1, 1998, when he left Punta Arenas in southern Chile at the age of 29 with the objective to circumnavigate the world on foot and ultimately reach his mother’s home near Hal, north of England.
Channel Tunnel Veto
Bushby said he battled English Channel doubts to reach UK soil after Channel Tunnel bosses vetoed his request for access to a service tunnel, leaving him with no choice other than to swim.
Bushby said, "There was no training at all. I tested the wet suit to see if it fit and then it was just go."
Bushby told AFP that he expected permission to swim to the United Kingdom, but he said, "We thought we had permission to swim" to the United Kingdom, "but in reality not," as he continued his journey toward Cap Blanc-Nez.
Bushby’s team secured necessary permissions to make the crossing at the "eleventh hour," and Bushby recalled, "Everyone was very tense."
Next Steps to Hull
Bushby emerged from the water at 15:30 local time on Monday at Shakespeare Beach in Dover, and he was greeted by loved ones as well as German filmmaker Werner Herzog and his filming crew. Bushby said, "It feels good to feel British soil under my feet again after all these years," while his entourage announced his return to his homeland after swimming the English Channel.
Bushby still had to cover the approximately 400 kilometers that separate him from Hull to close the circle near his hometown, and he was expected to arrive by early November. Bushby told AFP that he still hopes the bureaucratic mess will be resolved before October 1, because afterward "it will be too late" from a meteorological point of view.