The Goliath Expedition is Karl Bushby’s attempt to walk around the world “with unbroken footsteps”, from Punta Arenas, Chile, to his home in Hull, England. He began his journey on November 1, 1998 and originally expected to finish the over-36,000+ miles (58,000+ km) trek in 12 years, though there were questions about the three gaps that created uncertainty. The first gap would be the Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama, the Bering Strait between the US and Russia, and the Channel tunnel between France and the UK. The journey was defined by two rules:
- Karl will advance unassisted by any form of transport.
- Karl will only return home on foot.
In 2001 Karl crossed the treacherous Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama, taking two months to travel from the city of Medellin to Panama city, crossing the frontline of fighting between the Colombian government and FARC. Traversing 200 miles of dense jungle and spending many days floating down jungle rivers, Karl avoided FARC (revolutionary armed forces of Colombia), yet would spend 18 days in jail in Panama detained by Panamanian police after crossing the closed border zone due to the conflict. Karl was released to continue once his intent was clarified.
In March 2006, Bushby crossed the Bering Strait on foot, having to take a 14-day route across a frozen 150-mile (240 km) section to cross the 58-mile (93 km) wide strait from Alaska to Siberia. He was detained by Russian border troop officers for not entering Russia at a correct port-of-entry.
Over 6.5 years, across 4 continents, over 20,000 miles, 14 countries, and a handful of islands, Angela Maxwell discovered her innate courage, strength, and conviction. She traversed desolate deserts, snow-capped mountains, and bustling ancient cities….alone. Twelve pairs of shoes and too many cups of noodles consumed to count, she walked nearly the circumference of the earth.
A novice adventurer when she began, Angela faced the incredible odds of surviving the outback in Western Australia, dengue fever in Vietnam, a physical attack in Mongolia, and the sheer challenges of being a solo woman sleeping in a tent wherever she could lay her head for the night.
Angela’s goal was never about the pace of her travels, but rather the faces she met along the way.
“I wanted to truly feel and experience the world, not just be an observer,” says Angela. “I wanted to sink in, to learn and understand the ‘them’ as I learned more about the ‘me’.”
Although she set goals for where to start and end within a given country, she took breaks to have once-in-a-lifetime experiences. She helped renovate a sheep farmhouse in Sardinia and learned how to mush sled dogs in Alaska. She assisted on a cattle ranch in Australia and did interior design for a floating hotel in Thailand. And when Karl invited her to join a camel expedition in Mongolia in 2017, she didn’t hesitate.
Together, Karl and Angela created a team of five other adventurers (and ten camels) and embarked on Steppes to the West. Although short-lived, this is when they realized how well they worked together in some of the most dangerous and extreme conditions. Now, Angela is thrilled to walk with Karl and be part of a team.
In this podcast episode, we talk about their upcoming challenge of swimming across the Caspian Sea before Karl finally completes his several decade-long Goliath Expedition.
Follow Karl and Angela at https://www.westboundhorizons.com/
Enjoy the conversation. Be bold. Be intrepid.
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