British globe trekker faces changed world on final leg of 27-year journey

KOMAROM: Karl Bushby, a British ex-paratrooper who set out in 1998 to walk around the world, is on the final stretch of his 27-year-long trek home and trying to cope with social media pressure in a world that has changed profoundly.

Walking in pouring rain in northwest Hungary, Bushby, 56, who started out in Chile, said he had a cheap plastic Instamatic camera with 35-millimeter film rolls to cover his journey across Latin America, and media presence was the last thing on his mind.

It was all about survival and finding enough food before traversing the dangerous Darien Gap, between Colombia and Panama, heading north.

“Back in the day, there was no social media or anything. So there was no reason to take images and pictures of everything or film stuff…it was just a whole different ball game,” Bushby told Reuters, adding that he resisted TikTok until this year.

“It is almost an added layer of pressure because suddenly there’s a lot of eyes. People want to know, like you can’t hide anymore. But at the same time…it’s a huge tool.”

Bushby’s journey, named the Goliath Expedition, is being made without using motorised transport. He crossed the Bering Strait from Alaska to Russia on foot in 2006 and swam across the Caspian Sea in 2024.

ENDLESS DELAYS

He originally expected to finish the 36,000-mile journey in eight years, but suffered delays due to the 2008 financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical shifts and visa restrictions.

“We’ve been through financial crises, wars, pandemics… They all seriously interfere with the expedition journey …you just roll with it,” he said, adding that he expected to get home by September-October 2026.

The mental challenges have sometimes been overwhelming, Bushby said as he pushed his cart with his tent and belongings along a muddy cycle path.

“Sometimes the monotony is incredible. You’re in deserts and the landscape doesn’t change for days to weeks. That can get a little mind-bending. The same with the Arctic,” he said. “It (the Arctic) just feels like it’s trying to kill you all the time.”

Getting home, however, will pose an entirely new challenge.

“The best way to deal with finishing something like this is starting something new that’s very challenging and get busy as quick as possible,” he said.

“My other passion is science literacy and science engagement. So that’s what I want to get into when I’m done here.”