From: tsm@fastmail.ca   
      
   On Feb 17, 2026 at 9:59:52 AM EST, "Tara"  wrote:   
      
   > “It's going to be a hard stop; the end of a life. There is also uncertainty   
   > about what happens next." - Karl Bushby   
   >   
   > "On November 1, 1998, a twenty nine year old British former paratrooper   
   > named Karl Bushby stood at the southern tip of Chile with five hundred   
   > dollars in his pocket and an idea that sounded unreasonable to everyone who   
   > heard it.   
   >   
   > He was going to walk home to Hull, England.   
   >   
   > Not fly. Not drive. Not sail. Walk. Every step. No shortcuts. No   
   > exceptions.   
   >   
   > The distance was roughly fifty eight thousand kilometers across four   
   > continents. His estimate was eight to twelve years. The reality would   
   > stretch far beyond that. More than two decades later, he is still walking.   
   > And he is finally close to home.   
   >   
   > From the beginning, Bushby set two rules that could not be broken. The   
   > first was simple. No motorized transport could ever advance the route. If   
   > he had to fly because of visas or borders, he would return to the exact   
   > point where he stopped and continue on foot. The second rule was even   
   > simpler. He could not go home until he could walk there.   
   >   
   > Those rules turned a long walk into a life.   
   >   
   > He crossed South America step by step. Then came the Darién Gap, the   
   > lawless jungle between Colombia and Panama. It is a place without roads,   
   > ruled by terrain, traffickers, and armed groups. Bushby spent two months   
   > hacking his way through it, fighting mud, insects, rivers, and fear. He   
   > came out alive. Still walking.   
   >   
   > Central America followed. Then Mexico. Then the entire United States. By   
   > 2005, he reached Alaska. Ahead of him was a challenge few people would even   
   > consider.   
      
   This must have been written by an American. The writer forgot to mention his   
   treck through Canada to get to Alaska. Lol   
      
      
      
      
   >   
   > The Bering Strait.   
   >   
   > In March 2006, Bushby and French adventurer Dimitri Kieffer stepped onto   
   > the Arctic ice. For fourteen days, they moved across two hundred forty   
   > kilometers of shifting floes. They jumped gaps of open water. They carried   
   > rifles for polar bears. They wore immersion suits in case the ice gave way   
   > beneath them.   
   >   
   > They reached Russia.   
   >   
   > And were immediately arrested.   
   >   
   > Only high level diplomatic intervention saved them. But the real problem   
   > remained. Russian visas allowed ninety days in the country every six   
   > months. Crossing Siberia on foot would take years and could only be done in   
   > late winter when the land froze solid. Bushby walked when he could. Then he   
   > had to leave. Again and again.   
   >   
   > In 2008, the financial crisis wiped out his sponsors. He retreated to   
   > Mexico, stuck for two years with no way forward. In 2013, Russia banned him   
   > entirely for five years.   
   >   
   > He responded by walking.   
   >   
   > From Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., nearly five thousand kilometers, to   
   > stand outside the Russian Embassy and protest in person. The ban was   
   > eventually lifted.   
   >   
   > He pressed on through Mongolia. Across the Gobi Desert. Into Kazakhstan,   
   > Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan.   
   >   
   > Then Iran denied him a visa.   
   >   
   > Then the world shut down.   
   >   
   > COVID closed borders everywhere. Bushby found himself stranded on the   
   > eastern shore of the Caspian Sea with no land route forward. Turning back   
   > would violate his rules. Waiting could mean years.   
   >   
   > So he made another decision that sounded impossible.   
   >   
   > He would swim.   
   >   
   > The Caspian Sea is nearly three hundred kilometers across. Bushby does not   
   > consider himself a swimmer. He does not even like swimming. But he trained   
   > for a year. He recruited fellow long distance walker Angela Maxwell. The   
   > Azerbaijani government provided support, including elite swimmers and coast   
   > guard vessels.   
   >   
   > In August 2024, they entered the water.   
   >   
   > For thirty one days, they swam in shifts. Three hours in the morning. Three   
   > in the afternoon. They slept on support boats at night. The seas were   
   > rough. The winds were relentless. The mental strain was constant.   
   >   
   > On September 17, 2024, they reached Azerbaijan.   
   >   
   > From there, Bushby returned to walking. He crossed Georgia and Turkey,   
   > covering more than two thousand kilometers in five months. On May 2, 2025,   
   > he crossed the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, stepping from Asia into Europe   
   > for the first time since 1998.   
   >   
   > Twenty seven years had passed.   
   >   
   > As of late 2025, Bushby is walking through Hungary. About fifteen hundred   
   > kilometers remain between him and Hull.   
   >   
   > One obstacle still stands in his way. The English Channel. To keep his   
   > journey unbroken, he must cross without motorized transport. Swimming is   
   > possible but dangerous. His hope is to walk through the Channel Tunnel’s   
   > service corridor, a maintenance route not normally open to pedestrians.   
   > After nearly three decades and tens of thousands of kilometers, he hopes   
   > permission might be granted.   
   >   
   > The numbers alone are overwhelming. Twenty seven years. More than forty   
   > seven thousand kilometers walked. Twenty five countries. Four continents.   
   > Thirteen years spent moving forward on foot. Fourteen lost to visas, bans,   
   > financial collapse, pandemics, and bureaucracy.   
   >   
   > Why do it.   
   >   
   > Bushby’s answer is plain. It was a challenge. No charity. No fame. It   
   > existed because it was hard and because no one had done it.   
   >   
   > But the real discovery came along the way.   
   >   
   > Nearly everyone he met helped him. Gave him food. Offered shelter. Pointed   
   > the way forward. “The world,” he says, “is a much kinder place than it   
   > often seems.”   
   >   
   > Somewhere in Europe right now, a fifty six year old man is still walking   
   > west. Just as he has been since 1998.   
   >   
   > Behind him lies an unbroken trail of footsteps stretching back to Chile.   
   > Ahead of him are the final kilometers to home.   
   >   
   > No planes. No cars. No shortcuts.   
   >   
   > If he reaches Hull in 2026, Karl Bushby will have spent almost thirty years   
   > proving something quietly profound.   
   >   
   > Sometimes the slowest way forward is the only way that truly counts.   
   >   
   > He is almost there.   
   >   
   > Almost home.   
   >   
   > After twenty seven years of refusing to stop."   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)