What 27 Years of Travel Teaches You About Packing Light - A Nomad Story
Most people who want to change their life set a date, make a plan, and then find a reason to wait.
Karl Bushby didn't wait. On November 1, 1998, he left Hull, England, with a cart and two rules: no motorized transport, and don't come home until he'd walked around the entire world.
Twenty-seven years later, he's in Turkey. The Bosphorus is a kilometer and a half away. He's almost done.
The story of how he got there is one of the most useful things I've read about what it actually takes to build a life on your own terms—whether that means walking 47,000 kilometers or just deciding you're not going back to the office.
Photo：DailyMail
The Journey That Redefined Impossible
Bushby's "Goliath Expedition" began at the southern tip of Chile with a straightforward plan: walk 58,000 kilometers home to England in eight years. The route would take him north through the Americas, across the Bering Strait to Russia, through Asia and Europe, and finally back to his front door.
Simple in concept. Brutal in execution.
His first major test came almost immediately in the Darién Gap—a 320-kilometer stretch of roadless jungle between Colombia and Panama. This lawless region, controlled by drug cartels and armed groups, has no infrastructure and remains one of the most dangerous places in the Americas. Bushby spent two months hacking through dense jungle, dealing with venomous snakes and the constant threat of armed encounters. Midway through, Panamanian authorities detained him for 18 days, convinced no legitimate traveler would attempt such a crossing on foot.
By 2005, he'd reached Alaska, facing his next seemingly impossible challenge: crossing the Bering Strait to reach Russia. In March 2006, Bushby partnered with French explorer Dimitri Kieffer to attempt the 240-kilometer crossing of the frozen Bering Sea. For 14 days, they walked across shifting ice floes, dealing with temperatures that dropped to -40°C and navigation challenges in one of Earth's most hostile environments.
They made it to Siberia, but Russian border guards arrested them immediately for entering without going through official checkpoints—technically impossible since no checkpoints exist in the middle of a frozen sea.
Photo：Canada Goose
When Bureaucracy Becomes the Greatest Challenge
This began Bushby's long, frustrating relationship with Russian visa regulations. The country's rules allowed only 90 days per 180-day period, completely incompatible with walking across the world's largest country. Every few months, Bushby had to exit Russia, wait, then return with a new visa.
In 2013, Russian authorities dealt what seemed like a fatal blow: a five-year entry ban. Most people would have found alternative transportation or given up entirely. Bushby did neither.
Instead, he walked 4,800 kilometers from Los Angeles to the Russian Embassy in Washington D.C.—one of the most remarkable protest marches in modern history. The journey took months and attracted international media attention. More importantly, it worked. In 2014, Russian authorities lifted the ban.
Photo：Red Bull
By 2018, Bushby had crossed Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, but faced a new obstacle: Iran refused him a visa, blocking the most direct route to Europe. His solution was typically extreme: he decided to swim across the Caspian Sea, despite being a poor swimmer who actively disliked water.
Working with adventure partner Angela Maxwell, Bushby spent months training for the 288-kilometer crossing. In October 2024, they entered the water from Kazakhstan's shore with a support boat following their progress. For 32 days—27 actual swimming days due to dangerous weather—Bushby alternated between three-hour swimming sessions and nights sleeping on the vessel. They battled massive waves, powerful winds, and Bushby's own fear of deep water.
When they reached Azerbaijan's shore, Bushby had accomplished something that seemed impossible even by his own extreme standards.
Almost Home After Nearly Three Decades
Today, Bushby stands in Turkey, just kilometers from the Bosphorus strait that separates Asia from Europe. At 55 years old, having spent more than half his adult life walking, he's approaching the symbolic gateway to his home continent.
"Only 1.5 kilometers, but that's a symbolic crossing that will take me from Asia into Europe, the last stage of the journey," he says. Once he crosses the Bosphorus, he estimates one to two more years of walking to reach England.
The man who left Hull when Tony Blair was Prime Minister will return to a country that's had five different leaders since his departure. "I've been away so long, I'll probably not recognize home anymore," Bushby admits.
What This Has to Do With How You Work
Bushby's story sits at one extreme of a spectrum. Most people building location-independent lives aren't walking across continents—they're figuring out how to leave a job they've outgrown, work from a city they actually want to be in, and stop treating freedom as something they'll get to eventually.
The distance is different. The underlying thing is the same.
What Bushby demonstrates, across 27 years and four continents, is that the obstacles are never really the obstacle. The Russian visa ban wasn't the end—it became a 4,800-kilometer protest march. Iran closing its border wasn't the end—it became a 32-day swim. Every time the path closed, he found a different path.
The nomads who make this life work long-term operate the same way. Not because they have fewer problems, but because they stopped treating problems as reasons to reconsider the whole thing.
The Gear That Carries You
Twenty-seven years of continuous movement taught Bushby hard lessons about what gear earns its place. When you're carrying everything across four continents, every item has to justify its weight and perform across desert heat, Arctic cold, jungle humidity, and urban streets.
The principle scales down exactly. Whether you're moving between cities every few weeks or building a permanent base somewhere new, your bag is your mobile infrastructure. It either works quietly in the background or it creates friction every single day.
The 8805 Lightweight Business Travel Backpack 28L is what I use for this kind of movement. 0.8kg empty. 360° opening. Six compartments. 16-inch laptop protection. Waterproof seam binding throughout. It works the same way Bushby's best gear worked—you stop thinking about it, which means you can think about everything else.
Keep Walking
When Bushby finally walks into Hull after nearly three decades, he'll have completed something genuinely unprecedented. But the more useful thing he'll have demonstrated is simpler: that extraordinary outcomes come from ordinary decisions made consistently over a very long time.
Set clear rules. Prepare thoroughly. Keep moving when everything seems impossible.
The scale is yours to choose. The approach is the same.
For the work-from-anywhere setup—what actually travels well and what the location-independent life looks like in practice—start here.
