KINGSTON, Nov 3 — British adventurer Karl Bushby enjoyed an emotional reunion with his mother and family on Monday as he arrived back home after a 28-year, 50,000-kilometre (31,000-mile) trek from South America, crossing four continents on foot.

Cheers erupted as the 57-year-old former paratrooper was greeted in the street outside his mother’s house in the northeastern UK port city of Hull.

Bushby, who set off on his odyssey from Chile in 1998, had two golden rules for his journey—avoid all forms of transport to advance and not return until he completed his challenge.

He was met in the centre of Hull by a crowd of up to 1,000 cheering people before being reunited with his mother, Angela, 36-year-old son Adam and a 12-year-old granddaughter he had never met.