World walker Karl Bushby is back in Fairbanks. The Englishman who’s been making his way around the planet since 1998 — and crossed the Bering Strait in 2006 — has been regrouping in Fairbanks due to permit issues in Russia.
Bushby and traveling partner Dimitry Kieffer of Seattle walked 400 miles into Siberia this past spring before finding out what they thought was a six month permit was only good for two months. Bushby says that forced him to return to the U.S. where he’s been sorting out the situation and trying to raise money in anticipation of the next segment of his journey.
Bushby plans to return to Siberia in early August to resume his walk where he left off. Busby and Kieffer have parted ways as Kieffer continues his own journey by bicycle and Bushby keeps walking. Fairbanks has become a second home of sorts for Bushby, where friends have aided him in organizing his travels across Alaska and Siberia. He says he’ll likely be back in town again for a couple months this fall to renew his visa before heading out on Siberia’s Kolyma River next winter.
Bushby figures he still has five years and 16,000 miles to make it home to London. He’s trying to become the first person to travel from the Southern tip of South America to England on foot.
Dan Bross, KUAC – Fairbanks
