For 28 years and one day, Karl Bushby took the long way home on an epic odyssey of human endurance back to northern England.
asserted
Bushby → take → England
His adventure was made even more difficult - physically and mentally - with his two self-imposed guiding rules: he could not advance his journey with the help of any machine and he could not return home during the entire time, even if family or friends died.
uncertain
family → make → time
His journey was delayed at various times for months, if not years, by illness, visa restrictions in Russia, Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and having to swim massive bodies of water.
asserted
journey → delay → water
His life was also threatened by armed gangs in the lawless Darien Gap in Central America, jail in Panama and a polar bear in Siberia.
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life → threaten → Siberia
Starting out at 29, he sported golden locks in his earliest pictures.
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he → start → pictures
Now 57, his beard is salt-and-pepper, and the elements and time weather his face.
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elements → weather → face
On Monday, he took his final steps of an estimated 75 million to a hometown hero's welcome of claps and cheers as he walked into Hull, a gritty and proud working-class port city.
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he → take → Hull
"I didn't do this alone.
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I → do → this
That's what it took to get me back," said Bushby to the assembled well-wishers in Hull, a working-class port city about 150 miles north of London.
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Bushby → take → London
"You wouldn't believe just how many people have been involved in this, to get us around the kinds of obstacles that we faced.
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we → believe → that
We faced down governments.
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We → face → governments
We faced down some of the hardest challenges.
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We → face → challenges
We've had to create two world records just to get back here.
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We → have → records
And I couldn't have done it on my own.
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I → do → own
Bushby began what came to be known as his "Goliath Expedition" in Chile on Nov. 1, 1998.
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what → begin → Nov.
He made his way north through Central America, the United States and Canada, then crossed the Bering Sea to Russia in the world's first recorded attempt.
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He → make → attempt
He then carried on through Central Asia and swam for 31 days across the Caspian Sea in another reported first, in order to circumvent the war in Ukraine.
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He → carry → Ukraine
Over the past few years, he crossed Europe, and just last month, he swam from France across the English Channel, setting foot on the country of his birth where British immigration officers had set up to check his passport.
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officers → cross → passport
"It's almost like arriving in a foreign country," Bushby told CBS News over the weekend as he neared home.
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he → arrive → home
"I've worked with dollars for 28 years.
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I → work → years
I don't know the brands in the stores.
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I → know → stores
So I'm going around wondering what I'm going to be buying.
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I → go → what
A couple of times I got caught out crossing the road because I'm looking in the other direction because these people drive on the wrong side of the road."
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people → catch → road
His home stretch Monday, quite literally, was a roughly 3-mile brisk walk from near Hull's town center to a quiet, sprawling neighborhood to the north of two-story, red-brick terrace homes.
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stretch → sprawl → homes
Children lined the turn to his mother's home and cheered while an honor guard led the way.
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guard → line → way
Bushby pushed the cart that had been with him for about 25 years the last few steps.
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that → push → years
He then embraced his waiting mother on the street outside her home.
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He → embrace → home
The cheers quieted, and the two shared a moment in this homecoming.
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two → quiet → homecoming
Bushby said he feels like a man wondering what home truly means after spending a generation around the world.
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home → say → world
And I almost feel guilt," he said.
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he → feel → guilt
"Like there are other parts of the world now that feel more like home to me.
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that → be → me
And now I'm going to be faced with this weird static thing."
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I → go → thing
Now, after more than 10,000 days away, Bushby faces a different task: processing it all.
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Bushby → face → it
Confronted with the question of whether the world had gotten better or worse, he acknowledged the troubles but did not give up on his optimism.
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he → confront → optimism
"The world's in a little bit messier time; there are more wars, you know," he told CBS News.
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he → be → News
So we all need to breathe a little bit, get through the tough times; we're going to be just fine.
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we → need → times
"
His final advice for anyone wondering if they could also accomplish something extraordinary: dream bigger.
"
uncertain
they → wonder → something
Maybe we need the art of dreaming big again.
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we → need → art
People seem to dream outside of a very confined space mentally at the world that they live in," he said.
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he → seem → that
"You've got to have that little confidence.
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You → get → confidence
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
