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IrelandKarl Bushby swam the Channel to finish his long walk home
His Hull homecoming brings a reunion with his mother and a reckoning with the personal costs of a journey begun in 1998.
United KingdomStory of Why this story? One of ITV News's most watched videos since yesterday, with 102,414 views.
ITV News: The news division of ITV, Britain's oldest commercial television network. 2.3M subscribers and 1.7B views.
Watch the moment Karl Bushby completes 28-year walk around the world
Things we can learn from the video
Press to jump
- 0:00Crowds in Hull welcome Bushby home after his 28-year expedition.
- 1:21Archive footage of his departure contrasts with his return to embrace his mother.
- 3:34A route timeline follows his journey through the Darién Gap, Bering Strait and Central Asia.
- 6:38Bushby explains his Channel swim after permission to walk through the tunnel was refused.
- 8:56He reflects on family separations and the personal costs of completing the journey.
- 9:44The interview turns to rebuilding everyday life and keeping busy as a documentary release approaches.
"Plan B was always get wet. Not my favorite sport," Karl Bushby says of the water crossing near the end of his journey home. Denied permission to walk through the Channel Tunnel, he swam the English Channel instead.
That final obstacle forms part of ITV News, the United Kingdom television news service's, account of Bushby's return to Hull after a 28-year expedition from southern Chile. Hundreds of well-wishers gather to greet him in the northern English city, with homemade signs welcoming him home.
The report sets the celebrations beside footage from his departure in 1998. Standing outside his mother's house then, Bushby explained that he did not want to grow old regretting an adventure he had never attempted. Back home, he embraces her beneath a banner welcoming her son back from his adventure.
His son Adam struggles to take in the finish: "It doesn't feel real." Local MP Karl Turner describes the journey as something that can inspire generations.
A mapped timeline traces Bushby's route through the Darién Gap between Colombia and Panama, across the Bering Strait and through Central Asia. The report describes a journey undertaken without motorised transport, with swimming supplying a way past water that could not be walked across.
The interview with reporter Matt Price moves beyond the cheering crowds. Bushby reflects on the long separations from his mother and son, and the sacrifices involved. Cameraman Paul, who filmed his departure, is there again for his return.
Bushby also describes the practical task of rebuilding an ordinary life, including setting up bank and phone accounts. With a documentary release approaching, he says he plans to keep busy rather than simply stop after reaching home.
An English walking adventurer, author and former paratrooper.
More on Wikipedia ›The MP for Kingston upon Hull East since 2010. He was reinstated to the Parliamentary Labour Party in October 2026 after a suspension.
More on Wikipedia ›Published on Trari
Where next?
- Channel
- ITV News
- Subscribers
- 2,260,000
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 10,275,770
- Channel views, pace per day
- 1,318,693 (on a normal day: 1,497,249)
- Video published
- November 2, 2026
- Video views so far
- 102,414 (less than a day online)
- Video views, pace per day
- 188,262
The numbers
The homecoming report drew about 102,000 views since yesterday, placing it among the United Kingdom's most-watched new news uploads.
💡 Test your knowledge
In which country did Karl Bushby begin his journey home?
Bushby set off from southern Chile in 1998, intending to reach his home in Hull without motorised transport.