News Beat
Brit who spent 27 years walking globe fears he must SWIM last leg if not allowed to trek through Channel Tunnel
A BRIT nearing the end of a round-the-world walk fears he will not be allowed to use the Channel Tunnel – and might have to SWIM to England.
Former paratrooper Karl Bushby, 56, has spent the last 27 years trekking across the globe.
He set off from Chile in 1998 with the aim of returning to Hull – and, almost after almost 36,000 miles on foot, he is nearly home.
However, Karl is worried he might not be allowed to use a service tunnel in the Channel Tunnel.
According to the rules he has set himself, Mr Bushby cannot use any form of mechanised transport – including ferries.
So, if he is told no, Karl will have to find another way – and said he might swim the English Channel.
Karl said: “We haven’t reached out officially yet, I’m sitting on a letter right now that’s ready to go, I just need to find the right contact.
“Getting permission to use that tunnel – I don’t know, I have no real preconception about how hard that might be. I’m optimistic, but we’ll see.”
Karl joked: “The first alternative would be to take hostages, and lastly, to swim.
“I’m just not in to the swim thing. I’ve had to do a couple of swims here and there, the Bering Strait there was a bit of swimming, and the big one was the Caspian Sea.
“[The English Channel] is a different stretch of water, it’s colder, we’ll see. Hopefully, I’ll never have to think about it.”
Karl has taken to the water before, when he swam more than 170 miles over 31 days across the Caspian Sea from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan, in order to avoid entering Iran or Russia.
He is currently in Hungary and, as he approaches the end of his 27-year-long journey, Karl reflected on some of the people and challenges he’s faced around the world.
He said: “People just generally appear to be the same, you see only really shallow differences with cultures. I’ve been surprised at just how overwhelmingly receptive people have been in every country. I’ve made friends in every country.
“There are a couple of spots where there are some noticeable differences – Russia was a little bit colder in personality, they didn’t quite take to someone who didn’t speak Russian as well.
“But still, I had a lot of people helping me, a lot of friends there.”
When he eventually arrives back in Hull at the door of his mother’s house, Karl faces a new challenge – having to figure out what to do with his life.
He said: “It’s a little daunting, it’s like anyone who’s had a long career, it’s retirement day. My purpose for living for the last 27 years will just come to a grinding halt.
“I have a good idea what I want to do for the rest of my life, I’ve got to get busy, I think. I don’t want to be sitting around. I really don’t know what it’s going to be like that side of the horizon.
“There’ll be a period of time where there’ll be all the media and all the fuss. I’m going to have to start thinking about making a living now. I’ve got to grow up and get a job, so that sucks. But we’ll figure it out.”
