Karl Bushby Crosses Humber Bridge on Final Stretch of 28-Year Walk Home

British adventurer Karl Bushby crossed the Humber Bridge through thick mist on the last leg of his 31,000-mile (49,890 km) trek from South America to Hull, a journey that has taken 28 years.

Bushby set out from Punta Arenas, Chile, in 1998, aged 29, with a few hundred dollars in his pocket, and turned north for home. He kept to two self-imposed rules: not to return to the UK until the journey was complete, and not to use transport to advance.

The former paratrooper, now 57, said he was "absolutely overwhelmed" by the crowds who lined the bridge. He is due to finish the challenge on Monday, when he will be met in Hull by his mother, his son and his granddaughter.

Bushby said the chance to make the walk came after his marriage broke down, when his wife returned to Northern Ireland with their son. Speaking on Sunday, he recalled that the Humber Bridge was the only part of his early journey he remembered: "There's that mystic look to it where you can't see the other side of the river. It's kind of almost symbolic. The Humber Bridge has always been that iconic landmark in my mind."

By the time he swam back across the English Channel on 5 October, he had crossed four continents, a frozen sea, deserts, mountains and jungles.

"Just absolutely overwhelmed," he told BBC Radio Humberside. "And we're not even home yet." He may have meant The Beast, the cart he has pushed for 28 years, which he compared to the volleyball in Cast Away: "This is my Wilson."

"I'm just a homeless guy pushing a shopping trolley, and the next thing you know is this," he said, gesturing to the crowds. "And I have to really kind of just stop and think about what this means to other people."

On Monday morning he will walk from Hessle to Queen Victoria Square, where a reception will be held for him outside the Civic Hall, before heading to his mother's home in north Hull.