As they had agreed years earlier, Bushby’s mother, Angela, waited for him at her home in Sutton Park, where she raised him.
He appeared almost lost for words, telling the BBC moments after the meeting: “It feels surreal. It’s the end of a 28-year journey.”
His mother, who had not seen him for a decade, told Bushby: “Where have you been?”
She told the media: “It’s good to have him home.
“I feel relieved.”
Bushby said he was “still processing” being home, admitting his head was “one big blurry mess”.
Asked what is next for him, he said: “I have a story to tell.”
As well as working with acclaimed German filmmaker, Werner Herzog, on a documentary, he confirmed he is working on a second book about his travels.
Bushby admitted he never expected such a homecoming.
Addressing a large crowd in the city centre, Bushby, when he was received by the lord mayor, Maria Coward, said: “There has never been a welcome home like this, I am sure. It’s madness. An enormous thank you.”
He added: “The biggest team – Earth – got me back here.”
On Sunday, when he crossed the Humber Bridge into East Yorkshire, he was met by his 36-year-old son Adam, his 12-year-old granddaughter whom he had never met, his father and brothers.
“It was amazing,” Bushby said of that reunion.
