After 50,000km and 28 years on foot, Karl Bushby's final hurdle is the Channel — and a permission mix-up

Karl Bushby, the 57-year-old former British paratrooper who has spent 28 years walking around the world, is facing his final hurdle: the English Channel — and a confusion over permission to swim it.

“We thought we got permission to swim from the coast of France. Turned out that is not the case,” Bushby told AFP as he walked towards Cap Blanc-Nez in northern France, within sight of the white cliffs of the English coast. “There was some internal confusion. So, right now we’re scrambling in kind of semi-panicked state.”

Bushby set off from Chile in November 1998 with two rules: he would not use any form of transport to advance, and he would not return home near Hull in northern England except on foot. He has covered about 50,000km, pushing a cart containing all his belongings, nicknamed “the Beast”.

He had originally hoped to walk through the Channel Tunnel’s service corridor, but the request was denied over safety concerns and its impact on maintenance work. French law generally forbids swimming from the French coast without official authorisation.

Bushby, who says “I swim like a cat dropped in a bathtub”, hopes to get permission to swim one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes before 1 October, after which winter weather would make the crossing too risky.

The trek has included a 30-day crossing of the Caspian Sea — swimming and floating, resting but not advancing on a boat — visa troubles, and delays from the 2008 financial crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic that Bushby estimates account for about 14 of his 28 years on the road.

Sources

• AFP/NAMPA: After 50,000 km, British round-the-world walker faces final hurdle
• Sinar Daily (AFP): After 50,000 km, British round-the-world walker faces final hurdle
• The Times: Around the world in 28 years: Channel swim is veteran’s last obstacle
• 365news.pk: British adventurer faces final hurdle in 27-year walk home