Karl Bushby's Giant Steps By Steve Rudd

A modern-day hero in his own time, Hull man Karl Bushby is attempting to walk into the record books by being the first man to leave an unbroken trail of footprints from the tip of South America all the way back home to Hull. 36,000 miles - give or take a few. I'm sure many people have been following his progress over recent weeks, as his exploits have featured on most of the major news programmes, documenting his desperate plight to be allowed entry into what was once the mighty USSR.

However, since risking life and limb crossing the Bering Strait from Alaska and touching down on dry land in Russia, he's hit a major problem.

He's not being allowed to progress any further without the necessary authorisation, with the so-called authorities over there being somewhat paranoid that Karl and his friend Dimitri, who accompanied him across the Strait, could be spies of some sort, given the fact that they're trying to enter the country without proper documentation and with a whole host of hi-tech gear and detailed maps in tow. It seems that the authorities over there are finding it difficult to believe that Karl is simply walking around the world. When you think about it, such an ambition is - when all is said and done - a breathtaking and gob-smacking one to comprehend.

So far, Karl has trekked right up through South America, Central America and North America, and through Alaska to the point at which he left the Americas behind and headed across the treacherous Bering Strait towards Siberia. In the grand scheme of things, Karl isn't even half way home, and yet his strength of spirit and belief in what he is doing remains undimmed. In this day and age when sports-stars are held in such high regard for their athletic abilities, it's high time that adventurers such as Karl Bushby came to be mentioned in similar circles.

There aren't many people in the world like Karl Bushby. For an ex-paratrooper like himself to conceive this round-the-world trip whilst only in his mid-twenties, and to then actually put the theory into practise by flying out to South America to begin his long walk home is a simply extraordinary notion.

Imagine how daunting that must have felt, taking his very first steps, armed with the ambition of returning home on his own two feet. Imagine what sights he has seen on the way, and what kind of people and cultures he has experienced en-route.

Just imagine, if you can. Or, better still, read all about the trip so far in Karl's intimate diary-based book Giant Steps, a book that is now available (from the Amazon bookshop for starters), and that is the result of diary extracts that he has been mailing home all the time he has been away. Living the dream. Let's just hope that he is allowed into Russia on an official basis sooner rather than later, so he can proudly continue what he's started... For more information about Karl and his walk, please visit www.goliath.mail2web.com

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