Former paratrooper Karl Bushby, who began his global trek in 1998, has completed an extraordinary swim across the Caspian Sea as part of his 36,000-mile adventure around the world.

Now more than two-thirds of the way through the journey, Bushby never anticipated swimming across an open sea when he set off on this epic challenge.

Bushby, who has already walked across both the American and Asian continents, found himself stranded on the eastern side of the Caspian Sea, unable to proceed due to political tensions preventing entry into Russia or Iran. Faced with no other viable options, the adventurer made the daring decision to swim across the world's largest inland body of water.

Despite limited swimming experience, Bushby had previously crossed the Bering Strait by navigating through ice flows while wearing an immersion suit and carrying a gun to fend off polar bears.

In 2023, after walking 1,000 miles through the desert, Bushby attempted his first Caspian Sea swim but was unsuccessful due to a lack of support from safety officials. However, after receiving assistance from the Azerbaijani government, Bushby was accompanied by coastguard members and two national team swimmers. The grueling swim took 31 days to complete.

Bushby’s global trek, known as the Goliath Expedition, began at the southern tip of Chile. From there, he walked north to Alaska's coast before crossing into Siberia in 2006. Initially planned as a 12-year adventure, the journey has now spanned 27 years, which Bushby admits was far longer than expected.

With Europe now in sight, Bushby hopes to finish his journey in Hull, England, his hometown, within the next year. Reflecting on his upcoming return, he expressed mixed emotions about leaving his "life on the road" behind, saying, "I couldn't even begin to express what it's been, the world I've seen, and the people in it." Photo by AnastassiyaL, Wikimedia commons.