Years of walking, Karl Bushby has overcome jungle, desert and red tape. Now he's nearly home

Karl Bushby is nearing the end of a 28-year walk home to northern England, with the finish expected Monday near Market Rasen. The 57-year-old began the journey just shy of 30 on Nov. 1, 1998, leaving from the tip of South America and traveling roughly 31,000 miles (50,000 kilometers) across four continents. He crossed shifting ice over the Bering Strait and swam—by his description—across the Caspian Sea and the English Channel, while enduring conditions ranging from swampy jungle to scorching deserts and frozen tundra. He also faced multiple dangers, including a polar bear standoff, attacks in Peru, and a helicopter rescue from an ice floe drifting at sea.