Marathon walker headed toward LV

Jeffrey Libby

Tuesday, June 25, 2002 | 11:14 a.m.

BULLHEAD CITY, Ariz. -- Karl Bushby had a glassy, vaguely derelict look about him Sunday afternoon, as if he was not all there, not quite settled in the front room of a curtained, jam-packed, double-wide trailer home.

A few miles north in Laughlin, Jet Skiers zipped along a choppy Colorado River, riding under the same bridge Bushby planned to cross into Nevada after the sun set and the pavement cooled some.

Bushby was a guest in a stranger's home, just passing through. After dinner, a movie and a combination birthday and Christmas cake, Bushby planned to throw on his backpack, hitch up his two-wheeled cart, and continue his trek by foot around the world.

In 3 1/2 years Bushby has logged close to 11,000 miles, starting from the southernmost tip of Chile and traveling north through South and Central America. Bushby, whose current pace is 18 miles a day, has at least another six years to go in his journey.

Today, Bushby is expected to be walking along U.S. 95 just south of Searchlight as he makes his way toward Las Vegas.

This is Bushby's life now, walking a 36,000-mile route around the globe -- the longest unbroken footpath ever attempted in human history.

For Bushby, after talking his way past Colombian guerrilla troops, floating for days on rivers, hacking through mangrove jungle and spending time in a Panama prison, "one of the scariest things would be having to go home. I couldn't cope with that," he said. "I'd be giving up basically what has become my life to me."

It's true, he says, that he will rely on the kindness of strangers to complete the expedition. He spent this past weekend here at the home of yet another generous family, the Marshams.

But in the abysmal moments -- like when Mexico reduced itself to a limitless green tunnel of heat and mosquitos cinched around his head -- the divorced, baby-faced 33-year-old turns to his Walkman.

Nothing heroic or wholesome like God or family to give him strength. Not the 12-year-old son he left behind. Just the radio.

"If I didn't have my Walkman I'd be insane a long time ago now," Bushby said.

When pressed, though, Bushby finds the coyote-tooth necklace at his throat. He slouches further back in his chair.

"It boils down to human nature," he said. "It's very primeval to do something like this. When people asked if I was alone, I used to say, 'No. Because behind me are the dreams of a million men.' "

Bushby, a former British paratrooper, began his journey Nov. 1, 1998. He stepped out of a taxi in downtown Punta Arenas, Chile, with $500 in his pocket. Nothing he had then remains with him now.

Three years before that, in 1995, shortly after a divorce, Bushby, the son of a cop and a chocolate factory assembly line worker, began plotting the trek. It didn't hurt that as part of his military responsibilities, he handled orders for maps. He began ordering his own.

A collection taken up by his mother at work helped fund his trip for some time. Shortly before crossing the U.S. border in April, Bushby picked up two sponsorships that bring in roughly $750 a month for food. Other companies supply him with boots and clothing.

By the weekend, Bushby will reach Las Vegas. He plans to stay with a friend for a week. His friend tried to tell Bushby he'll like Las Vegas so much that he won't ever leave.

Bushby was skeptical, though.

"Casinos. That's it, isn't it?" he said of Las Vegas. "An array of lights."

After Las Vegas, he will move on to Salt Lake City for his first publicity appearance. Then he'll continue to head north, bound for Canada and the Bering Sea.

Roughly 1 1/2 years from now, in temperatures of 90 below zero, he'll attempt an ice crossing into Russia. Then it's a long haul across Siberia. By 2009, he expects to stroll into London.

The entire expedition as planned will take Bushby through four continents, six deserts and seven major mountain ranges.

"It was the longest route I could draw from one place to the next," he said.

Chris Marsham, Bushby's host, laughs at the understatement. A casino security manager in Laughlin, Marsham has been listening to the interview, drinking soda from a 72-ounce plastic cup.

He heard about Karl in an advertisement, pulled up his Internet site and eventually offered his help.

"It's so that he's going to walk up to his front door in the U.K.," Marsham, an avid backpacker, said. "Make it home safe. And because I would like to do what Karl's doing."

When asked what stopped him, Marsham paused.

Finally, he said, "A wife. Commitment."

But his wife, Fran, looked up from her book, saying she wouldn't stop him if it was something he really wanted to do.

Another pause.

"It would probably scare the hell out of me," Marsham finally said.