image copyrightKevin Shoesmith/BBC
The original of this material in English can be read here.
As the end of his journey approaches, Englishman Carl Bushby reflects on the adventures that have taken him across four continents. And also about complex relationships and how the usual life of a traveler, which has become familiar over three decades, is about to change dramatically.
Back in 1998, the former paratrooper, then 29, set out from Punta Arenas in Chile to walk non-stop to his home town of Hull, without breaking two rules he had set for himself: not returning to the UK before completing the trip and not using any form of transport to get around.
Now he is 57 years old, and, having made his way through the jungle of the Darien Gap and the ice of the Bering Strait, having crossed the English Channel a few weeks ago, he is walking the last kilometers of the journey.
Waiting for him at the finish line are his 36-year-old son Adam, his 12-year-old granddaughter, whom he has never met, his father and brothers. And in the house where he spent his childhood and which he left 28 years ago, his mother is waiting for him.
“We're definitely terra incognita here, or we will be there very soon,” says Bushby as I join him among the fields in Lincolnshire. “For now I feel comfortable because I’m doing my own thing, but very soon this will all come to a screeching halt.”
For now, the Beast, a heavy-duty handcart that Bushby uses to haul supplies and clothing, comes to an abrupt stop. Just a couple of kilometers into the final stage of the hike, the cart got a flat tire.
“We haven’t had something like this for a long time,” he says. - It can be unpleasant. Crap".
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image copyrightKarl Bushby
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As I watched Bushby try to hastily fix a tire on the side of the road, he smiled broadly and then added, “If it had rained, I might have complained a little more.”
“The first few days I was in Dover [on the British side of the English Channel] it started to rain. But we managed to meet the weather deadline – there were three ideal days for the swim.”
Cars roar past us. Bushby jokes: “You guys know you drive on the wrong side of the road, right?”
The way he addresses us clearly speaks of a long separation from his homeland.
Bushby is no stranger to overcoming physical obstacles such as a flat tire. But is he ready for what comes next?
“Everything that I am and everything that I know about myself will disappear,” he says. - And this will become a problem. I’m in for a good old-fashioned identity crisis, because Carl is what’s in front of you, and that’s what he was for half his life.”
For half his life, Carl Bushby was an adventurer. “I'm going to have to rediscover who I am. What's the point of all this? How do I find that meaning and purpose? How can I fill the void in which I suddenly find myself?”
“Every fiber of my being, every day - all of this was what I do now. This was my mission. I think there's an old saying: "The only thing worse than a man who can't achieve his dreams is a man who has achieved his dreams." Because - what’s next?”
Angela Maxwell, an American long-distance hiker, joined him for the trek from Dover, where he had disembarked from the English Channel.
“I think Carl will be surprised how much he will miss the road,” she says. — We sometimes joke that Karl doesn’t like to walk. But he loves his mission. He loves that passion, that purpose.”
Bushby was surprised by the interest his return to Britain generated.
“It was almost overwhelming. So many people recognized me along the way. This is great. Sometimes it gets a little weird when people get really, really excited when they meet me. I just can't figure out why. From my point of view, this is a little strange. I’m just a guy who walks the walk.”
Then a car stops on the side of the road and its driver asks if he is the same Karl Bushby. Men pose for selfies.
Bushby continually denied that this was any kind of spiritual undertaking or journey of self-discovery.
But does he think that the worldwide interest in his story stems from the fact that the inner wanderlust that many of us have is, for most, never realized?
“I think so,” he says. “I made the dream of millions of men come true. A lot of people would be happy to leave home and just move on.”
Bushby says his “opportunity to leave” came after his divorce, when his wife returned to Northern Ireland with their son.
And the reality of life on the road is not as rosy as it might seem at first glance. “I go about my daily routine - here I need to get a puncture repaired, there I try to find a place where I can wash my underwear. This is my life. These are everyday things: walking in the rain for all these endless kilometers. It's not as great as it sounds,” says Carl.
Bushby clarifies that out of 28 years away from home, he spent only about 15 actually traveling. Between different stages of the trip, he went to Mexico, where life was cheap for him.
The rest of the time, he said, was spent on obtaining visas and “dealing with geopolitics.” Travel restrictions during the Covid pandemic have also led to travel delays.
And under the rules he set for his trip, Bushby could not return to the UK to see his family. Several times in other countries he met with his son and his estranged parents.
“Family is family, right? says Bushby. - Of course, in a sense, they will always be there. But there will be tension. There will be a distance. So much so that you become somewhat distant from each other. You practically don’t know each other anymore.”
“As for your personal life, be prepared. You are in for a blow below the belt. You won’t succeed,” he warns those thinking of following his example.
Soon after arriving in England, in Dover, he tried traditional British food for the first time in almost three decades: fish and chips and mushy peas. He says that nowhere else in the world is this dish prepared like the British.
However, if you look deeper, it seems that he did not miss the UK. “I had the whole world to entertain myself with and plenty of shiny things to distract myself with.”
Bushby believes that he has not aged in the usual sense of the word. “I'm older, but I don't feel that old. In my heart I still feel too young for my age. I still identify with the American guy I once was.”
With a twinkle in his eye, he adds, “I still have that sense of adventure.”
His journey allowed him to meet a lot of people. “I personally met the best that is in a person, and it was very inspiring to me. It strengthened my hope and faith in humanity. The kindness of strangers is what made it all work. I couldn't do this without the help of the whole world."
Bushby says that before he received sponsorship and a contract to publish a book about his treks, he was a "penniless backpacker" who relied on donations and even food abandoned on roadsides to survive.
He has advice for those considering an adventure. “Take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way. You are capable of much more than you ever imagined. A little self-confidence will go a very long way. If you do nothing, you will achieve nothing.”
What advice would he give to a young Bushby about to head to Chile?
“He won’t want to listen to advice. Don't tell him anything. Just smile at him and let him be himself.”
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