A British adventurer who left home nearly three decades ago has finally returned to his family after walking approximately 31,000 miles (50,000 kilometres) across the world.

Karl Bushby, 57, arrived back in his home city of Hull on Monday, November 2, bringing an extraordinary 28-year adventure to an emotional end.

His return was greeted by hundreds of cheering supporters, but the most important moment was waiting at the end of the final stretch: a reunion with his mother, Angela, whom he had not seen in person for around 10 years.

As he arrived at the family home he had left in 1998, his mother greeted him with the words: “Where have you been?”

A banner reading ‘Welcome Home Son’ had been put up outside the house, as the former British Army paratrooper finally completed the promise that had kept him travelling for almost half his life.

A journey that took 28 years

Bushby began his Goliath Expedition, a 28-year journey around the world, in Punta Arenas, at the southern tip of Chile, on November 1, 1998. He was just 29 years old and expected the challenge to take around 12 years.

His ambition was to walk all the way home without using conventional transport to advance his journey. What followed was a 31,000-mile route through four continents and 30 countries, involving some of the world’s most difficult and dangerous terrain.

Among the most extraordinary achievements were crossing the frozen Bering Strait between Alaska and Russia, surviving the notorious Darien Gap jungle between Colombia and Panama, and swimming across the Caspian Sea.

His final major challenge was reaching Britain. After his request to walk through the Channel Tunnel was rejected, he eventually swam across the English Channel, reaching the coast at Dover in October.

The obstacles that kept him away

The journey was repeatedly interrupted by problems that had little to do with walking. Visa restrictions, border disputes, financial difficulties following the 2008 financial crisis and the Covid pandemic all added years to the expedition.

At times, Bushby spent lengthy periods waiting for permission to continue, while his determination to complete the journey meant he refused to simply abandon the challenge and return home.

His final arrival in Hull brought a huge public welcome, with Hull City Council organising a special homecoming reception in Queen Victoria Square, before he made the last journey to his mother’s house.

The Channel Tunnel dispute had threatened to prevent him completing the final stretch, as Euro Weekly News previously reported in its coverage of Karl Bushby’s 28-year walk home and the Channel Tunnel battle.

Speaking to the crowd, he joked: “Sorry to keep you waiting.” He also paid tribute to the people who had helped him along the way, saying: “They say it takes a village but literally it took a world to get me here.”

A family reunion 28 years in the making

The homecoming was about much more than completing a remarkable physical challenge. Bushby left Hull as a young man of 29 and returned at 57. During those years, life continued for the family he had left behind. He was reunited with his adult son, Adam, and met his 12-year-old granddaughter for the first time.

His mother had waited around a decade to see him again, making the embrace outside the family home an especially poignant moment after so many years apart. The adventurer has also admitted that finishing the expedition brings a new challenge: working out what comes next after spending 28 years with one overriding purpose.

A documentary about his extraordinary journey is in production, and he is expected to undertake speaking engagements in the coming weeks. For now, however, the man who spent almost three decades walking towards home has finally reached his destination.

British parents Dani and Tom Wooldridge have sold their renovated home in Wales, quit their jobs and businesses, and taken their three children out of school for an open-ended world tour that began with a one-way flight to Indonesia. Olivia, 12, Morgan, 7 and George, 4 are now learning on the road while the family moves between islands and plans visits to every continent.

Why a Welsh family packed up and left the UK school system

A month-long Christmas trip to Thailand two years earlier showed Dani and Tom that the children adapted well to travel. They drew up lists of positives and negatives, weighed the mortgage against the desire for more family time, and finally sold the house rather than rent it out.

Olivia felt nervous about leaving friends after only a short time at high school in Rhondda Cynon Taf; the boys were more excited from the start. Family and friends came to the airport to see them off, and Dani has said the hardest part was missing people rather than possessions. Once the plane took off the mood shifted, and five months later the family is still in Indonesia after island-hopping, climbing Mount Batur and spending time in Ubud and Lombok.

How the children continue their education without a classroom

Textbooks and workbooks recommended by teachers travel with them in one of the rolling bags as they follow the British National Curriculum. Olivia has an online maths tutor who previously taught at her old school; the boys work with another tutor on primary subjects, English and some science. In Lombok they joined a world-schooling centre that gave them a regular routine and chance to make friends.

Dani has stressed that real-world learning matters, yet she also wants the children to keep the option of university or careers such as nursing or medicine. Full details of the decision and daily life appear in the BBC interview.

Parents and teachers split over the long-term effects

Supporters argue that children gain confidence, practical skills and cultural awareness that ordinary school days rarely provide, and that experiences such as markets, volcanoes and meeting people from many backgrounds count as genuine education. Critics point to possible gaps in formal qualifications, the difficulty of making lasting friendships while constantly moving, and the challenge of re-entering a conventional school system later.

These questions already surface in other settings. British parents continue to take children out of school for holidays despite rising fines, as covered in earlier reporting on term-time absences. Families already living in Spain face their own choices around homeschooling rules and the structure offered by the British National Curriculum in international schools. Similar lifestyle experiments, such as families travelling in a van with young children, raise the same trade-offs between freedom and routine.

Opinions on social media have been divided in the extreme. No one seems indifferent:

“It was an extremely formative experience that left me with a whole new perspective that I still carry with me to some extent. I’ll always be thankful for that experience.”
— Adult whose parents took him and his brother travelling when he was 13

“Kids need stability. And parent putting their lifestyle ahead of their children’s wellbeing is selfish and shouldn’t be a parent.”
— Commenter in a teachers’ discussion on worldschooling families

“Here’s the uncomfortable truth: whether kids should miss school for travel depends entirely on the individual kid, family, and circumstances.”
— Parenting expert Dr. Stern, quoted in a Good Housekeeping piece on the topic

Teachers of reddit, what are your thoughts and opinions on these ” worldschooling families” on social media?
byu/Slow_Pomegranate_305 inAskTeachers

What the experiment means for British families on the Spanish coast

Many readers have already left UK schools behind by choosing international options on the Costa Blanca or Costa del Sol that combine British standards with local language and culture. Others wonder whether full-time travel with no fixed return date goes too far or simply reflects a wider search for better family balance. Plans for the Wooldridges include Malaysia (with an orangutan sanctuary visit), Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines, with Africa and Tahiti also on the wishlist. They say they will keep going for as long as it feels right.

Would you take your own children out of school for an open-ended world tour, or does the risk of falling behind outweigh the adventure? Let us know in the comments below.