Good News!!!!
5th May 2006
Karl and Dimitris’ appeal hearing was heard at the court in Anadyr on 5th April May. It was decided at that time that the initial deportation order should be overturned. K & D will now be allowed to walk through Russia. It is believed that once they have retrieved the equipment held by the authorities they will return to Alaska, where Dimitri can return home and Karl will have the chance to re-equip and begin getting together the paperwork for his return to Russia. In the best possible case he will return to Uelen at the very start of next winter to begin the walk where he was picked up by the authorities. He has decided to cross that region during the winter, despite the extreme cold, as it has numerous rivers, lakes and wetlands which would make a crossing in summer even more difficult.
A great weight has now been lifted from Karl’s shoulders and the courts generous decision is the icing on the cake that was the Bering Straits crossing. The expedition as a whole thanks the authorities of the Chukot region for allowing Karl to continue his dream.
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Great News! and congratulations on being able to continue on your journey. I look forward to following your future progress. Continue to inspire people around the world. Good fortune and take care.
-Brad
http://www.OARnorthwest.com
Seattle, WA - USA
Congratulations. I managed to get a copy of your book here in Seattle, and was quite enthralled. Looking forward to reading the next half….
I have to admit I am a little confused. I thought the goal of this journey was to walk around the globe continuously. But now Karl is returning to Alaska to regear and won’t start his walk again for 6 months? Will he stay in Alaska that entire time? Why not make the trek in the summer. Sure it will be difficult, but it will make for a great story.
Can anyone clear this up?
Excellent news, might I ask how Karl will be filling up his standing time in prepartion for his next leg, six months to re-stock an prepare seems excessive, does he have any plans to return home to raise awareness and future funding for the remainder of his trip?
Congratulations again.
Matt
The goal of this journey is to walk from the tip of South America back to England leaving one continuous trail of footsteps. Because of border controls and different seasons etc its not possible to walk that journey day after day without delays or trips out of that particular country now and again. While walking through Russia for instance Karl will have the leave the country periodically to renew his visa in a neighbouring country before returning to the point where he left off. That’s just the way of things. Karl is prepared to wait in various places until the weather or season is to his best advantage. Walking across the Chukot region in summer may be one helluva story but he’s the guy that’s got to do it and believe me crossing it in the depths of winter should be worthy of a tale or two as well.
David
Once Karl returns to Alaska the first thing to do is to continue getting the paperwork sorted out which hopefully he has already started in Russia, that will get him the special permissions and permits he needs to walk through that region. I would imagine this will take a couple of months or so at least. At the same time he will begin to get his kit together and resupply for the trip across Russia. I’m sure he wouldn’t want to be delayed any longer than necessary but as I stated in my last message that’s just the way it is. He won’t be returning to the UK at any point other than walking there.
This entire trip is starting to sound ridiculous. No offense, but when I first heard about this expedition a couple months ago, I was under the impression it was about one man walking through rain, sleet, snow; at no point stopping to deliver the mail!
I thought this was about a man taking what he needed with him and making it as he went. Sure, he’d get some monetary support through sponsers and donations, but in this day and age that is a necessity.
But, now it turns out he treks till he needs a break, regears etc…at what point do we say this isn’t so much a “continuous walk around the world” as much as it is a guy who walks through each country he visits when he gets around to visiting it.
I’m sorry but all this moving back and forth between countries and waiting between journey’s detracts from the adventure in a major way.
Take a cue from this guy
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/US/05/09/walkingacrossamerica.ap/index.html
Sleeps where he can. No formal support team. Just walking across the US and doing it quite quickly.
That’s adventure. Not planning every step of the way and taking 6 month breaks when need be.
Matt, I think walking around the world is a little different than walking across the US. I can’t see anyone else doing what Karl is doing any differently.
Matt and other potential nay sayers,
It pains me to see the comments thay you people post here. The definition of continuous is to be “unbroken or without gaps”, it is not to suggest without rest. What Karl is attempting, and WILL complete, is an unbroken journey around the world. If he laid a string while he was walking I can assure you it would not have any gaps. I personally have met Karl and spent a week getting to know him when he came through Grande Prairie and I can vouch for his integrity to maintaining a journey without gaps. When he stops walking he will accept a ride to where ever, but he was always vigilante to resume walking from the exact point he left off!
All of your negative comments and unreasonable expectations only serve to undermine what he is going to accomplish. I dare say that not a single one of you would hope to accomplish 1% of his journey without failing, and unless you have met him you will only have assumptions to his drive and his goal.
In this day and age of the world falling apart around us why can we not look to this adventure as proof that we don’t always need reasons to do what we do or follow everyone else’s expectations of us. Follow the journey and have a good laugh knowing that this guy is doing something for no other reason that to say “I’ve done it”.
If you can’t follow this journey with a light heart then find someone else to dump your critisim onto. Have a look in the mirror and ask yourself “what can I do better” or “who’s day can I brighten”!!!
Keith,
Say hi to Karl for me next time you talk to him and let him know that there are still several people that are behind him. I still plan to be in Hull when he “comes home”.
Walking across the USA…Christ of course he can do it quickly without stopping. Theres no borders to cross, no visas to run out, no special permits required, marked trails virtually furrows in the ground from the number of people that have done the routes, towns at regular distances where you can get anything you need and you’re walking through a country where the people speak the same language and help is readily available. The temperatures will not drop to -60C and stay there for long periods. It won’t take five years and can be done well inside one.
Other than that the walks are very similar.
Matt, for starters I don’t think Karl is doing this for your entertainment, he’s doing this for himself.. If it were me and you had a problem with what I was doing, tough. Him having to go through the proper governmental channels to do the expedition legally and correctly (and not get thrown in a foreign jail) hardly takes away from the amazing accomplishment in my eyes. I personally find his journey inspirational and unimaginable, regardless of what administrative issues he faces.
Walking through a south american warzone, through alaskan blizzards, across a (partially) frozen sea, is nothing compared to walking across civil and friendly American states. Give me a break.
I’m just not sure I understand why you keep coming back to this site if you’re not interested in this.
Matt says: Take a cue from this guy…
Both Matt and Keith are adventurers in their own ways, but I will point out that the article you pointed at also indicated that Matt took a break from November until January. While I could see myself doing what Matt has done, I think Keith’s expedition is at an entirely different level. Quite impressed with what Keith has accomplished so far.
I’ve also found that as one does adventures like this, you sometimes need to define the rules as they make sense. For example, my first bicycle trip across the USA wasn’t continuous since the Macinaw Bridge didn’t allow bicycles (so I took the ferry from north side to south). I came back that Labor day and walked the bridge. A different example is I took a bicycle “around Australia”, though did include a ferry across Murray river.
I think quibbling over how much one has to regroup, detracts from the overall achievement represented here so far and on a scale we’re talking about here seems a bit silly.
Wow, great news! Five years would have been too long to wait!
Congratulations Karl!
-Bryan in Seattle
this news makes me so happy.
i’ll be following every footstep for the rest of the way.
now i’m impatiently waiting for that book. my copy allegedly shipped on 21st april…
cheers, you guys.
Excellent news about the overturn of the deportation order! K
I have been following Karls progress for for the last 3 or 4 years now and think what he is attempting - and so far achieving - is tremendous. Truly awe inspiring in fact. Even if you don’t get caught up in the dramas of the various adventures then the sheer distance alone makes this adventure worthwhile.
To suggest then that waiting for the correct time and permission to continue the trip in order to maintain the integrity of the whole journey in some way lessens the overall achievement is ridiculous!
Good luck Karl and I hope I get to meet you on your return home to England
Its great that the Russians are going to let you continue.
Good luck and God speed on the task ahead!
Dave
Spring Tx.
WELL DONE GUYS DELIGHTED IT IS ON AGAIN.YOU PEOPLE WITH NEGATIVE VIEWS TO WHICH YOU ARE ENTITLED,JUST BUY SOME BOOTS AND GO OUT FOR A 50 MILE WALK .IT WILL HELP YOU PUT THIS IN PERSPECTIVE.
ROGER IN DUBLIN
I have just recently started following Karl’s progress and must say that this is absolutely amazing. What is has, and will, accomplish is an inspiration! I will definitely be making regular checks on the progress of this amazing journey!! Good luck! Oh, and, if someone thinks this is not an awesom feat, they should not bother logging on to the website!! This is incredible!
Please pass on congratulations and best wishes – and of-course to you too, Keith, as I know you’ve put in a lot of hard work supporting Karl. You must have felt pretty despondent when he was locked up