// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
He left 28 years ago, now after 36,000 miles Karl Bushby is almost home
Karl Bushby bears down on Hull, with his heavy duty gear trolley "The Beast"
With his journey almost complete, Karl Bushby reflects on adventures that have taken him across four continents, as well as strained relationships and how life as he knows it is about to change dramatically.
Back in 1998, the former paratrooper, then aged 29, set off from Punta Arenas, Chile, to walk an unbroken path to his home city of Hull, without breaking two self-imposed rules: not to return to the UK until he had completed his journey, and not to use transport to advance.
Now 57, he is embarking on his final few miles having hacked his way through the jungles of the Darién Gap, crossed the frozen Bering Strait and, just a few weeks ago, swum the English Channel.
At the end, he will be met by his 36-year-old son Adam, a 12-year-old granddaughter whom he has never met, his father and brothers. His mother will be waiting at his childhood home that he left 28 years ago.
"We're definitely in terra incognita [unknown territory] right now, or pretty soon will be," says Bushby, as I join him in rural Lincolnshire.
"Right now, I'm comfortable because I'm doing what I do, but pretty soon that's going to screech to a halt."
A bit like "The Beast", Bushby's heavy duty hardcart.
Just a couple of miles into this leg, Bushby's handcart, which he uses to carry essential supplies, sustains a puncture.
"We haven't had one of these for a long time," he says. "This could be a pain. Damn."