A trek that began at the southern end of Chile in 1998 has ended in Hull, where adventurer Karl Bushby walked back into the city that raised him 28 years after he left it.
The 57-year-old completed the final stretch of his journey on Monday, pushing his cart, known as The Beast, as crowds gathered around him in the city centre.
Hundreds of people had turned out to watch him make his way to the City Hall, led by a piper, with his mother asking: “Where have you been?”
Mr Bushby told the crowds: “There has never been a welcome home quite like this.”
Waiting to greet him there were the Lord Mayor and Hull East MP Karl Turner, who read out a message of congratulations from Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
The message said: “To walk around the world from Chile and back again is an achievement of truly remarkable proportions.
“It speaks of courage, resilience, perseverance and unbreakable spirit.”
The Prime Minister also used his statement to thank Mr Bushby for his service to the country as a soldier.
He said: “Your journey has taken nearly three decades, crossed continents and tested you in ways that most of us can barely imagine.
“But today, as you return to the city from which you left 28 years ago, you bring something far greater than any world record or remarkable personal achievement.
“You bring a story of what can be accomplished through extraordinary determination and self-belief.”
Later came a more intimate homecoming at his childhood home in the Sutton Park area of the city, where his mother, Angela, met him with a hug.
Her first words to her son were: “Where have you been?”
Mr Bushby said: “Where have I been? Twenty-eight years later. Here we are.”
He then told the well-wishers and reporters: “I’m going to get myself a cup of tea.”
The former paratrooper was 28 when he set out from Chile in 1998, vowing to make the journey home entirely on foot and without using any form of motorised transport.
His son Adam was among those waiting in the front garden of his mother’s house.
Adam is now 36, but was only eight when his father embarked on the adventure.
At a press conference later, Mr Bushby was asked how difficult it had been to be away from his family, especially his son.
The former soldier explained that he had divorced Adam’s mother many years ago, and that she had remarried and moved to Northern Ireland.
He told reporters: “The way I’ve squared that circle with myself and my son was – how would I be of best service and use to my son?
“And with this kind of a journey, I thought, if I can pull this off, I would be of more meaning to him than any other way.
“And I think we managed to pull it off.”
Mr Bushby said: “We’re in a better state right now than most families are who haven’t had a father around.
“So, we’ve done pretty well out of this. Me and him, we’re still close.”
Asked about meeting his granddaughter, he said: “It’s been amazing. It’s been a very interesting time. And again, we’re just at that first step here.”
He described meeting his mother as “amazing”, adding: “That was truly an emotional moment.”
He said: “Walking down my childhood street, into my childhood home, with my mother – that’s been something.”
Mr Bushby said: “It’s difficult to explain how all that felt today.
“It’s all still one great big, blurry mess inside my head.”
Asked whether he had regrets about being gone for so long from his family, he said: “Regrets, no.”
He said: “Everyone understood what was going on, for the most part.
“They’ve all been behind me, 100% all the way.”
And Mr Bushby said: “Ever since day one, I let everybody know that I wasn’t coming home until I arrived on foot.
“And, eventually, they would start to take me seriously. It took a while.”
The hardest sections of the 31,000-mile (50,000km) journey, he said, were negotiating the notorious Darien Gap in Central America and trekking through Alaska and the high Arctic.
He said: “The Darien Gap is a truly special place.”
And he added: “Two-month boy’s adventure dream. Real Indiana Jones stuff. And it was kind of scary.”
Mr Bushby had arrived back in England earlier this month, after swimming the Channel.
Asked what he will be doing next, he said: “I’m going to find my way.
“I’ve literally rocked up with very little, everything in that (the Beast), with about £40 or £50 in my pocket.
“So, I’m starting from zero here. I’ve got my work cut out for me.
“I have a story that I’m going to be telling a lot of late.”
He said that he is “hanging up my boots” but still has a yearning for more adventure.
“You saw that guy in the Channel sea there, paddling for his life?” he said. “I’ve still got it.”
For 28 years, he said, Hull has been “this mythical place that’s been so far away, behind so many obstacles that it almost at times didn’t feel real.”
His walk from South America is now at an end, and Mr Bushby arrived in his home town on Monday to be greeted by his mother, Angela.
Read MoreAdventurer Karl Bushby arrives in Hull after 28-year walk from South America
Man who spent 28 years walking globe given hero’s welcome at finish line in Hull
Mexico bans cellphones in schools, despite opposition from parents worried about violence
King to speak about slavery with ‘unflinching honesty’ at Commonwealth summit
Funeral to be held for Irish Olympic star Ciara Mageean
PM’s Commonwealth ‘debt reset’ plan after opening door to slavery apology
