Public representatives announced this week that British traveler Carl Bushby has set foot on British soil after swimming the English Channel. He completed a 50,000-kilometer trek that lasted 28 years, starting in Punta Arenas, Chile, in November 1998.
Bushby, a former parachutist aged 57, set out with the goal of reaching his mother's home near Hall in northern England without using airplanes, trains, boats, vehicles, or any other form of transport.
Nearly three decades later, and after visiting 29 countries, Bushby reached the coast in southeast England on Monday afternoon. For this, he received permission from the authorities of the UK and France to cross the busy waterway of the English Channel from France.
He and his team decided not to publicize the swim for safety and privacy reasons. In a brief statement published on Tuesday, the traveler noted: 'It feels good to have British ground under my feet after so many years' and added that it was not easy, but it proves his greater capability than he attributes to himself.
During his long journey, Bushby made numerous stops. For instance, Moscow repeatedly denied him a visa, and the 2008 financial crisis and the subsequent Covid-19 pandemic presented other obstacles. At such times, he paused his journey, for example, staying in Mexico, and then resumed it at the same location where he had stopped.
Return to the 'Adult World'
On Monday, when he emerged from the water, Bushby was met by a small group of friends and family, including his father and brothers, at Shakespeare Beach, south of Dover. He was also greeted by legendary film director Werner Herzog and his crew, who are filming a feature documentary about his journey titled 'Walk of Life.'
The production company behind the film has supported Bushby's progress for 16 years, providing financial and logistical assistance, as well as equipment to document his expedition and archive footage.
His grand journey included crossing all of America, traversing the Bering Strait from Alaska to Russia, and then moving transcontinentally from east to west. In an interview with AFP last month in northern France, Bushby expressed some anxiety about returning to ordinary life in Britain. He stated: 'I need to try to get back on my feet in the adult world because I will arrive home with nothing.'