He set out to walk around the world. After 27 years, his quest is nearly over
79 comments
·December 7, 2025kalli
Feels like the right thread to shamelessly plug my app that lets you do these types of walks/runs virtually: https://www.inthelongrun.app
K0balt
When Karl was preparing to cross the ice from Alaska to Russia, I worked with him a bit on a kite-flown camera system to help him get a Birds Eye view of the flows to chart his course. I engineered a ruggedized wireless camera in an aluminum housing, I don’t remember much about it other than I was doubtful that the resolution would be able to give him the data he needed on on small low resolution screen. (This was before consumer drones were common or affordable). We built some devices, not sure if he ever used them or if they helped. I urged him to do a lot of testing to make sure they would be worth the weight.
We spent a lot of time at college coffee house in Fairbanks Alaska working over the ideas and overall design.
Nice fellow, strange aspirations, indomitable spirit. I’m glad to see his trek is nearing completion, and I wish him well on his further adventures. Good luck and Godspeed, Karl.
bolasanibk
It was not one continuous hike. He takes frequent breaks. But travels back to where he last stopped and continues.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Bushby
Still very impressive, but a little less impressive than I first thought.
hn_throwaway_99
It would be impossible to do without taking breaks, as explained in the article:
> Due to visa limits, Bushby has had to break up his walk. In Europe, he can stay for only 90 days before leaving for 90, so he flies to Mexico to rest and then returns to resume the route.
Given that he literally swam across the Caspian Sea in order to avoid Russia and Iran because of legal issues, nevermind bring imprisoned in Russia due to what sounded like bureaucratic BS, it's more impressive than I first thought.
reisse
From Wiki:
> They were detained by Russian border troop officers while they were crossing the Russian border near the Chukotkan village of Uelen, for not entering Russia at a correct port of entry.
Illegal border crossing is absolutely not bureaucratic BS in any country.
guerrilla
That depends on your values. I think it's bureaucratic BS in every country. The world hasn't been like this forever, and still isn't like this for other animals.
em-bee
In Europe, he can stay for only 90 days
that doesn't make any sense for two reasons. first, he only entered the EU in september this year, so either the 90 days are not up yet or he should be in mexico now. is he? but why would he fly to mexico when he could just go to the UK?
but more importantly, he is a british citizen. getting a visa to walk through europe, especially now that he already has a track record of walking for so long should really not be an issue.
nly
There is no Europe wide long stay non-working visa for UK citizens. 90 in 180 days is the Schengen visitor option, no?
paganel
> Given that he literally swam across the Caspian Sea in order
Why didn't he take the ferry there?
anentropic
I guess it didn't fit with the goal of 'walking' around the world, probably wanted to avoid motorised transport
keiferski
I don’t really think this would be possible given the nature of visas. Many countries require you to apply for a visa from your country of residence, not merely the nearest embassy. I guess with infinite funds he could fly back and forth to handle that, but doesn’t seem practical.
rimeice
Big community of people who motorbike around the world non-stop. It’s definitely possible to prepare beforehand and actually more admin getting a vehicle through borders.
alexey-salmin
Biking is faster, you can arrange for all visas for 6 months in advance but not for years. Even for 6 months to have them all approved with no gaps requires either a lot of luck or a very strong passport or both.
tennisflyi
Very common hiking technique - section hiking
mykowebhn
A couple of Youtubers who are also round-the-world travelers whom I enjoy watching, one a Dutch motorcyclist and the other a German cyclist.
Noraly, the motorcyclist, has already traveled through South and North America, Africa, and Asia, some multiple times. Currently, I believe she is in Tajikistan about to enter Kyrgystan.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEIs9nkveW9WmYtsOcJBwTg
Max Roving, the cyclist, has already cycled through Afghanistan and he is currently trying to ride Africa north to south. He just completed Algeria and is about to enter Morroco.
_rpxpx
There is nothing so wonderful that it cannot be ruined by turning it into a youtube channel... The really brilliant people I've met doing things like this always absolutely refused to mediafy their experience. Turning your adventure into a continuous TV show is great way to kill the adventure. We're now so used to everyone running their own shopping channel we don't even notice it. Read Thesiger's books for an account of real experience. The film I urge everyone to watch is Cronenberg's Videodrome - truly the film of our times.
mrcaramelpants
There's also Ed Pratt who does round-the-world expeditions by unicycle
sgt
And they've been very safe, as far as I've heard. I think generally you can use common sense and be extremely safe all around the world.
Unfortunately there are some exceptions and I believe the highest risk area is India. A lady vlogger on motorcycle was recently gang raped there by 7 men.
nrhrjrjrjtntbt
With extra danger due to sharing your location online all the time.
Nextgrid
I assume this is mitigated by delaying the uploads by a month (which you may need anyway due to sporadic internet access & not always having the time to edit videos).
pncnmnp
There is also AussieEspañol, who is attempting to travel from Argentina to Alaska in a tuk-tuk (an auto rickshaw) - https://www.youtube.com/@aussieespanol/videos
Followed him a bit last year. A really sweet and enthusiastic person.
mykowebhn
There's also this couple, each has their own channel, who are filming their walk from England to Vietnam.
patresh
I also enjoy watching Charles, a French-Canadian cyclist currently cycling from Canada to Europe. As a geologist he regularly explains rock formations and rock types he encounters.
tasuki
> currently cycling from Canada to Europe.
Isn't there, like, the ocean? Or does he go the Karl Bushby way over the Bering Strait?
fhd2
Quite a fascinating adventure, even if it's not continuous.
Good teaching moment for why estimates of big endeavours tend to be off, too. He appears to have slightly overestimated his average walking speed and greatly underestimated breaks (only some of which were by choice from what I gather).
The total journey appears to be 58,000 km (36,000 miles).
Expectation: 8 years, which translates to a daily average of almost 20 km (~12.5 miles). That's about 4-6 hours of walking time at my speed. Every. Single. Day. In sickness or in health, on country roads or through frozen wastelands. Seems optimistic even without anticipating any delays?
Reality: After 8 years, he had actually finished about half the distance, which I already find impressive. As of October, he has 2,213 km (1,375 miles) left. That means he traveled 55,787 km (34,664 miles) in around 27 years. That puts him at a daily average of almost 6 km (~3.7 miles), so probably 1-2 hours of daily walking time. That's actually not bad considering all the delays, but quite a bit less than anticipated.
New estimate: He expects to be home "by 2026", let's say January. Based on that premise, his new estimate is that he will walk 2,213 km in ~4 months. That's a bit more than 17 km (~10.5 miles) per day. Relatively close to his original, comparatively uninformed estimate, funnily enough.
All that said, I don't think I'd have the willpower to see this through, especially considering all the setbacks. Mighty impressive.
9dev
The rest of the journey is going to take him through the EU though, no major obstacles to expect here, so the 17km daily seem very much doable.
Ylpertnodi
> ...take him through the EU though, no major obstacles to expect here...
But, but...stifling of innovation. Gdpr. Etc.
compounding_it
>The world is a much kinder, nicer place than it often seems.
I realize that a lot these days. People are not inherently so bad but greed is a nasty drug that has the potential to ruin the best.
When you have nothing to offer but kindness and compassion, it is very simple to see the humanity side of things in this world and it can feel really amazing.
nly
It's not the people it's the situations they find themselves in.
People are more likely to be kind to you and give you your time when they're not in a cut throat corporate hunger games situation themselves.
thinkingemote
There's a kind of stereotype we have of people that we have not met. The truth is that those groups of people that we think are nasty people are often kind and nice and full of empathy and compassion.
There is a kind of psychological pain of cognitive dissonance when we discover this "Wait, but they are meant to be ${group_member} why are they so nice and kind to me?". But one can only experience (e.g. via travelling) and learn from these experiences, it's hard to convey to others that the world really is __much__ more kinder and nicer than our preconceptions demand it should be.
It's easier and less painful to box away people into nice and not nice groups. And it's often most common to label people similar to ourselves in the nice group. It's a narrow view of the world. Travelling opens up our preconceptions of people, the opposite of a narrow view: travelling broadens the mind.
Panzer04
Idk, people are usually nice in my experience. News, forum opinions and youtube videos are not remotely representative of how things work in real life.
keepamovin
Why do you think that is? The reality distortion field of the internet I mean
survirtual
A group of very mentally ill, insecure people with a lot of material wealth control the internet and media.
They get to write the narrative.
We can analyze just one small tool in the belt of narrative control: censoring. If you've been warned or banned on Reddit, you can imagine how this works. If you've said something against the mold of what they allow, you will get censored. With so many people commenting, some subset of people will always say what you want to see. You censor or derank opinions you don't want, and boost opinions you want. This is a defensible form of writing a narrative without actually having to artificially write anything.
Of course with AI, you can now just write anything and seed ideas.
Give such sick people the reigns, and you get a false reality has little connection to what's really happening.
mmsimanga
Not OP and not an expert but seems the aim is outrage which leads to more engagement and more advertising clicks, more followers and so on. Distorting news and social media from reality. I must say I too have found that people are nicer than what news portrays. I had the pleasure of being able to visit New York a few years and the people were just people and pleasant.
anomaly_
The internet is basically full of maladjusted people with sad lives. Strong chance that the post you read on HN, Reddit, X, etc is written by someone profoundly unhappy with their lot in life.
survirtual
Most people have significantly less than what we are spoon fed by media and the internet at large.
Just as in history we learn of emperors and kings instead of the common person, most digital content is about the modern day lords, barons, emperors, and kings. They call them billionaires, presidents, CEOs, prime ministers, etc now, but they are the exact same as they always have been.
If you turn the screen off and take a walk, start talking with real people that actually provide value to society, the world is much kinder than we've all been made to believe.
The real people are a good people, as they long have been. Their stories may not be written, but the Earth itself carries their memories.
corentin88
Reminds me of Mike Horn, who travelled around the globe trying to say on the equator as much as he can. That being the longest round-trip.
He walked a bit, but mostly sailed though.
The book (Equator) worths the read. Especially the part in Africa.
tasuki
I admire his determination! From the photos it appears he mostly walks on busy roads... that doesn't look much fun?
bwv848
Yeah thru hikers avoid roads like the plague. Judging by his route he could've walk a lot existing trails. Go southbound on Great Divide Trail and Continental Divide Trail, then somehow cross Mexico and central America into Andes, there you can follow Greater Patagonian Trail all the way to Tierra del Fuego. The European part can just reuse Trans European Alpine Route, then cross Black Sea and take the Transcaucasian Trail, afterwards maybe the work in progress Snow Leopard Track? It's gonna be a lot more difficult but definitely beats highway walking.
nly
Doing it solo, do you really want to be in isolated places all the time?
If you're hungry or sick being by a road has advantages
jve
Amazing
This reminds me of an adventured died just a few months ago at age of 40 after suffering insult. He has crossed ocean on a rowboat and more.
https://boredofborders.com/adventures/
DeepL Translation of wiki:
Bardel's largest and most notable expeditions involve crossing oceans and traveling around the world without external assistance. On May 4, 2016, he and his traveling companion Gints Barkovskis set out to cross the Atlantic Ocean from Namibia to Brazil. After 142 days, they safely reached the coast of South America, becoming the first two-person crew to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a rowboat. [6] During the voyage, both men encountered serious health problems (vitamin deficiency, skin inflammation) and Barkovskis broke his ribs, but neither wanted to interrupt their journey, and the expedition ended successfully. [6]
After crossing the Atlantic, Bardelis continued his journey in South America and began a new stage in 2018. From Brazil, with the support of Gints Barkovskis, he traveled by tandem bicycle through South America to Lima, Peru, completing the approximately 5,400 km stage in 102 days. [7] Bardelis then set out alone in a rowboat to cross the Pacific Ocean in June 2018. He covered a distance of approximately 26,000 km from South America to Malaysia, spending a total of 715 days on the journey; with this achievement, he became the first person in the world to cross the Pacific Ocean from South America to Asia in a rowing boat. [7] During this sea expedition, he had to overcome several stormy periods and was forced to stop at islands, but in the end, Bardelis became known worldwide as the first ocean rower in this direction. [7]
K0balt
For such a brave and spirited fellow, it is surprising to learn that he was so sensitive that he passed away from having his character besmirched.
fransje26
> This reminds me of an adventured died just a few months ago at age of 40 after suffering insult.
I did not understand what was meant with "suffering insult", so with the help of DeepL and his wikipedia page I could determine that he passed away due to a brain tumour.
An other link:
https://eng.lsm.lv/article/society/society/19.11.2025-farewe...
jve
Woops, translated it wrong. Insult I meant Stroke. But he had stroke earlier.
yolo3000
Sad to hear. Just watched his documentary 'Beyond the deep' on Prime this year. Trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFlSp17rTjY
junon
Isn't this the guy that abandoned his wife and kid to do this? This isn't heroics.
EDIT: Yeah same guy, this was posted to Reddit a while back. https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/1pfdkfs/...
K0balt
His wife took his kid to another country where he was denied entry. She’s the villain here, if there is one.
FWIW his son joined him and they walked together for a while when he was in his 20s, seems like they reconciled.
gizmo385
Is there a source for this that isn’t just a random Reddit comment?
szszrk
I have no such thing, but a few comments later another redditor gives a bit different perspective:
https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/1pfdkfs/...
koakuma-chan
Had to go around the world to find milk
nrhrjrjrjtntbt
That would haunt me and totally fuck up any fun from travelling.
victorbjorklund
That is messed up.
2muchcoffeeman
Do you have first hand knowledge of the situation? No? Then don’t fucking judge and shut the fuck up.
bncndn0956
[flagged]
lawn
On one hand we have this amazing personal achievement.
On the other hand we have sycophants like yourself, spending your time to brown nose the richest man in the world.
bncndn0956
What did you get done last week?
nrhrjrjrjtntbt
Not 5 but 7 I repeat 7 tickets moved to Done.
HeckFeck
I wrote 100,000 LOC using Grok, where's my christmas bonus?
tomalbrc
While utterly failing but we don’t talk about that, right?
https://archive.ph/2025.12.09-165741/https://www.washingtonp...