Round-the-world walker Karl Bushby has just £50 and can't call Uber as he has no phone
Round-the-world-walker Karl Bushby says he has just £50 in his pocket as he readjusts to normal life after 28 years on the road.
Bushby, 57, says he hasn’t a phone or bank account and he has been walking into town since arriving back on Monday, as he doesn’t yet know how the buses work.
Speaking at a new exhibition about him at the Monocle Gallery, on Ferensway, he said: “It hasn’t sunk it – it’s going to be a while. I still can’t get over that it has stopped.
“It’s day by day. I have £50 in my pocket and that is it – that is my life. I have no bank account, no phone.
“I’m literally on the baseline of life and coming in at zero, and now I have to start rebuilding. I have to figure out how I’m going to get a mobile phone, an address and a bank account.
"I can’t even get an Uber right now. How do I get around? I have to learn how the buses work. I’m just walking in and out of town every day.
"All of a sudden, there is a lot that needs to be done pretty quickly.”
Bushby, who set off from Punta Arenas, Chile in 1998, will be speaking about his adventures in theatres, starting with a show in Shrewsbury on November 12, ahead of his Hull City Hall evening on November 13.
Only about 15 years were spent walking, with delays caused by struggles obtaining visas and funding and the pandemic.
Prints of images from his journey are now on display at Monocle, alongside “The Beast” – the trolley which carried his belongings for more than 25 years and his camouflage tent.
His maps, some clothing, diary entries which he sent home to his father Keith over the years, are also among items on display.
Bushby left Hull for the Army at 16.
He said: “Home is a slightly odd concept right now. I’m spread all over the world in many ways.”
The free exhibition, sponsored by Hull print company Jadan Press, will run until early 2027.
Charlie Allenby, Director at Allenby Commercial, suggested the idea of an exhibition dedicated to Bushby.
He said the exhibition was a “unique opportunity to showcase as much of his amazing 28-year adventure as possible”.