The King of All Survival Stories - Man Who Walked 27 Years

Did you know that Dave Kunst was the first person to walk around the world?

However, during his journey he used airplanes to cross oceans. In total, Dave walked about 27,000 kilometers, although not continuously.

But today we are talking about someone who may have gone even further than Dave.

This man set out to cross the longest continuous route on Earth — entirely on foot.

Yes, where our imagination ends, Karl Bushby's determination begins.

Not 5,000 km, not 10,000 km, and not even 25,000 km.

So far, he has already walked more than 47,000 kilometers on foot — and surprisingly, his journey is still not finished.

25 countries

6 deserts

7 mountain ranges

27 years

All for one goal: to walk around the entire world without support.

The Beginning of the Expedition

Karl Bushby is a former British paratrooper from United Kingdom.

On November 1, 1998, with only $500 in his pocket, he began his journey from Punta Arenas, a city at the southern tip of Chile.

He called his mission Goliath Expedition.

The plan was simple but extremely ambitious:

Walk across North and South America

Cross into Russia

Walk through Asia

Return home to England

The total distance: 58,000 kilometers.

Karl estimated that if he walked about 19 km per day, he could finish the journey in 8 years.

But he had no idea that the journey would take 27 years and still not be finished.

His Two Strict Rules

Karl Bushby created two rules for this expedition:

Rule 1:

He would not use any transportation.

No trains, no cars, no airplanes, and no motorized vehicles.

Every step must be walked.

Rule 2:

If the journey stopped for any reason, he had to restart exactly from the last step he took.

These rules sound simple, but Karl paid for them with years of loneliness, visa problems, and life-threatening situations.

South America’s Brutal Terrain

Karl started walking across South America.

He traveled along the Pacific coast and the edges of the Andes Mountains, avoiding the most dangerous parts of the Amazon Rainforest.

But the terrain was still extremely difficult.

In Patagonia, he faced powerful freezing winds.

Then he had to walk through the Atacama Desert, the driest desert on Earth.

The biggest challenge there was lack of water and extreme daytime heat.

To carry supplies, Karl used a small two-wheel push cart for food, clothing, and equipment.

He once said:

“In the Atacama Desert, I stopped walking only when I found water.”

The Dangerous Darién Gap

After South America, the next challenge was the Darién Gap, a 320-kilometer jungle region between Colombia and Panama.

It is one of the most dangerous places in the world.

The area is filled with:

Dense jungle

Poisonous snakes

Dangerous insects

Armed guerrilla groups

Karl was even arrested by Panamanian police while crossing the border and spent 18 days in jail.

After his release, he continued the journey from the exact spot where he had stopped.

Crossing North America

By 2002, Karl had crossed Central America.

Then he entered the United States, where he walked along long highways and through the scorching Sonoran Desert.

By 2005, he reached Canada and Alaska.

Here the environment changed completely.

Instead of heat, he now faced:

Extreme cold

Snowstorms

Frozen wilderness

The Bering Strait Challenge

From Alaska, Karl needed to cross the Bering Strait, the frozen sea between United States and Russia.

The ice here constantly moves due to ocean currents.

Karl sometimes had to swim in freezing water between floating ice sheets.

He crossed this dangerous 240-kilometer route in 14 days, facing Arctic storms and extreme cold.

Arrested by Russia

When he finally reached Russia, authorities arrested him.

Even though he had a valid visa, they said the Bering Strait was not an official entry point.

Karl was deported back to the United Kingdom.

However, thanks to help from John Prescott and Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, he eventually received permission to continue walking in Russia.

Visa Problems and Delays

His Russian visas lasted only 90 days, meaning he had to leave the country repeatedly.

Sometimes these delays lasted months or even years.

In 2008, he ran out of funding and had to pause the journey for two years in Mexico.

Swimming the Caspian Sea

Later, while traveling through Central Asia, he faced another problem: Iran refused him a visa.

So Karl made a shocking decision.

He decided to swim across the Caspian Sea.

Using a small kayak to carry supplies, he swam 288 kilometers in 31 days, swimming 6 hours per day.

Finally, he reached Azerbaijan and continued walking.

Entering Europe

In 2025, Karl entered Turkey.

In Istanbul, authorities gave him special permission to walk across the Bosphorus Bridge, officially entering Europe on foot.

The Final Challenge

After 27 years, Karl Bushby has only about 3,000 kilometers left.

His final route will pass through:

Bulgaria

Romania

Hungary

Austria

Germany

France

before finally returning to the United Kingdom.

But one last challenge remains — the English Channel.

Walking through the Channel Tunnel is normally forbidden because high-speed trains run there.

He may need special permission to use the emergency service tunnel.

If everything goes well, Karl Bushby is expected to finish the Goliath Expedition in 2026, after walking 58,000 kilometers — about 1.5 times the circumference of the Earth.

Final Message

Karl Bushby’s journey proves one powerful truth:

Humans create their own limits.

But in reality, there may be no limits at all.

So the next time you feel life has stopped, remember this:

Karl Bushby is still walking.

The world may be huge — but determination can make it small.