British adventurer Karl Bushby arrived at his mother's home in Hull on Monday after completing a 28-year, 50,000-kilometre walk from Chile.

The 57-year-old former paratrooper set off from Punta Arenas, Chile, in November 1998. He carried a tent, about $500 and a cheap plastic camera. He pulled a two-wheeled handcart called "The Beast" carrying his belongings. He aimed to reach his mother's doorstep without using motorized transport. He obeyed two rules: no motorized transport to advance, and no return until the journey was complete.

Born in Hull in 1969, Bushby began the adventure aged 29 after a marriage breakup. He had served as a paratrooper in Northern Ireland. His father had inspired him by asking whether it would be possible to walk from London to New York.

His route took him north through the Americas. He crossed the frozen Bering Strait from Alaska to Russia in 2006 with French explorer Dimitri Kieffer. He continued through Mongolia and China. He swam the Caspian Sea. Last month, he swam the English Channel from France to Dover over four days. He also crossed the Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama.

Bushby faced repeated obstacles. He was detained after entering Russia. He spent jail time in Panama for entering without a visa. The 2008 financial crisis cost him major sponsors. The COVID-19 pandemic caused delays. He spent about 15 of the 28 years actually walking. The rest was spent on bureaucracy and waiting.

Hundreds of cheering supporters welcomed him in Hull city centre on Monday. He was embraced by his mother, Angela, outside her terraced house beneath a banner reading "Welcome Home Son". He met his 36-year-old son Adam. He met his 12-year-old granddaughter for the first time.

"They say it takes a village, but literally it took a world to get me here," Bushby told the crowd. "I didn't do this alone. There was a big team, the biggest team, Earth." He joked to supporters: "Sorry to keep you waiting. Is that it, is it done?"

His mother asked: "Where have you been?" Bushby said: "It's good to be home. It feels surreal." He said he must get established in the "grown-up world" again. He added: "The only person worse off than the man who cannot realize his dreams is the man who has realized them. So what now?"

He described the challenges as "not so many giant Cyclops, but giant bureaucratic problems and hurdles to overcome." He acknowledged that Britain almost feels like discovering a new country after nearly three decades abroad. Critics have called him a reckless adventurer on an ego trip.

German filmmaker Werner Herzog is making a feature-length documentary entitled "Walk of Life". Bushby plans to begin a speaking tour around England in the coming weeks.