英國冒險家環遊世界徒步28年後返家

英格蘭赫爾，11月2日（路透社）——一名徒步環遊世界近30年的英國冒險家，預計週一完成他的長途跋涉，在他成長的那棟房子為這趟3.1萬英里旅程畫下句點。HULL, England, Nov 2 (Reuters) - A British adventurer who has been walking around the world for almost three decades is due to finish his trek on Monday, ending a 31,000-mile journey at the house where he grew up.

卡爾・布希比（Karl Bushby）曾在中美洲叢林中劈路前行，穿越阿拉斯加與俄羅斯之間的冰原，上個月又游過英吉利海峽，完成這趟全靠自己力量進行旅程的最後一段。Karl Bushby has hacked through jungles in Central America, crossed the ice between Alaska and Russia and last month swam across the English Channel on the final stretch of a voyage made entirely under his own steam.

週一上午，數百名歡呼的支持者在他的家鄉赫爾市廣場迎接這位57歲男子。Hundreds of cheering supporters greeted the 57-year-old in the square of his home city of Hull on Monday morning.

他對人群說：「28年後，能有這樣的場面，真的不能要求更多了。」隨後他推著裝著少數家當的手推車繼續前行，上頭綁著一個如今再也用不上的備胎。"After 28 years, you just couldn't ask for more than this," he told the crowd, before pushing on with his few possessions in a trolley, a spare tyre which will now never be needed slung on top.

他接著說：「我想我們還會常見面吧。」之後他前往家族住家，母親、36歲的兒子和12歲的孫女正在那裡等他。"I guess I'll be seeing you around," he added. He then headed for his family home where his mother, his 36-year-old son and a 12-year-old granddaughter were waiting.

布希比20多歲時曾在英國陸軍傘兵團服役。婚姻破裂後，他在世界地圖上畫了一條線便出發上路；他的父親曾好奇是否可能從倫敦一路走到紐約，這也成為他的靈感來源。Bushby served in the British Army's Parachute Regiment in his twenties. After the breakdown of his marriage he drew a line on a world map and set off, inspired by his father who had wondered if it was possible to walk from London to New York.

他帶著一頂帳篷、幾百美元和一台便宜的塑膠相機，從智利出發，向北穿越美洲，從阿拉斯加跨到俄羅斯、蒙古和中國，游過裏海後再經歐洲返回。Carrying a tent, a few hundred dollars and a cheap plastic camera, he started in Chile and headed north through the Americas, crossing from Alaska to Russia, Mongolia and China, and back through Europe after swimming the Caspian Sea.

他去年告訴路透社：「有時候那種單調感非常驚人。你身在沙漠裡，景觀好幾天、甚至好幾週都沒有變化。那會讓人有點精神錯亂。北極也是一樣。」"Sometimes the monotony is incredible. You're in deserts and the landscape doesn't change for days to weeks. That can get a little mind-bending. The same with the Arctic," he told Reuters last year.

他原本預期大約花10年在路上，但他沒有料到會面臨這些阻礙，包括在巴拿馬短暫入獄、在墨西哥遭人持槍挾持，以及因非法越境遭俄羅斯當局拘留，更不用說2008年金融危機和COVID疫情造成的延誤。He originally expected to spend about 10 years on the road but he hadn't anticipated the obstacles he'd face, amongst them a brief imprisonment in Panama, being held at gunpoint in Mexico and detention by Russian authorities for crossing the border illegally, not to mention delays from the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID pandemic.

他告訴《每日電訊報》：「這就是21世紀的奧德賽長征。當中有一半根本是在處理這些官僚和地緣政治問題，而不只是環境上的障礙。有些時候，解方就只是等待。」"This is what an odyssey in the 21st century looks like," he told the Telegraph newspaper. "Half of it is literally dealing with these bureaucratic geopolitical problems, not just the environmental hurdles. There are some times where the solution is just to wait."

布希比告訴BBC，在這28年中，他實際徒步的時間只有約15年；他會定期回到墨西哥，處理簽證、後勤，以及企業與媒體贊助協議。Bushby told the BBC he has only spent about 15 of the 28 years walking, returning to Mexico periodically to sort out visas, logistics and corporate and media sponsorship deals.

一部關於他這趟旅程的劇情長度紀錄片正在製作中，布希比也計畫在未來幾週展開英格蘭巡迴演講。A feature-length documentary about his journey is in production, and Bushby is planning to embark on a speaking tour around England in the coming weeks.

（Temilade Adelaja採訪報導，Sarah Young和Andrew Heavens撰稿）(Reporting by Temilade Adelaja, writing by Sarah Young and Andrew Heavens)