Jean Beliveau had been away from Canada for four years, slowly making his way through Ethiopia on foot, when he thought he had reached his limit.

The Quebec man had covered more than 27,000 kilometres in three continents on a 'round-the-world walk to raise awareness about children facing violence and conflict.

It was 2004 and he still had more than 50,000 kilometres -- and seven years -- to go.

"This is natural, we have some time in our life we want to give up," Beliveau said Sunday as he arrived in Vancouver to begin the final Canadian leg of his journey.

"Mid-Africa, the culture shock accumulated, I said to (my wife), 'I want to go home.' She replied to me, 'We love you, you're welcome home, but you've made too much (progress), you need to go farther.' We had some hard times, but it was step-by-step, day-by-day."

Beliveau left Montreal in August 2000 to coincide with the United Nations' "international decade for a culture of peace and non-violence for the children of the world."

The 55-year-old has walked nearly 76,000 kilometres in six continents, most recently making his way through Australia and New Zealand.

He landed at Vancouver's airport on Sunday, where he was welcomed by his wife, supporters and a live band, and plans to start the 5,400-kilometre trek to Montreal next month. Beliveau expects to arrive in Montreal in October.

The United Nations declaration, promoted by UNESCO, urged governments to end the "culture of war and violence" while ensuring children are protected from conflict and allowed to live in peace. It also aimed to bring together organizations and peace movements from around the world working towards that goal.

Beliveau said he was in his mid-40s and looking for change in his life when he heard about the UN declaration.

"Sometime in our life we want to escape something, it was in a time of my life when I needed to change something, mid-life, what will I do with my life before I die?" recalled Beliveau.

"I had a need to do something crazy. This idea came to walk around the world. I was thinking, 'It's crazy enough,' and she (my wife) said, 'Go."'

He left on his 45th birthday.

Many of Beliveau's supplies were donated, including his final flight between New Zealand and Vancouver, and he's financed the trip largely through sponsorships. He slept in hotels, churches, a jail and even spent one night in a mausoleum, he said, meeting thousands of people along the way.

He has already gone through about 50 pairs of shoes, and predicted he'll wear out half a dozen more before he's finished.

Beliveau's walk has kept him away from his wife and two children for most of that time, missing the birth of two grandchildren, one of whom he has yet to meet. His father died in 2006 while he was in Belgium.

When he was asked what kind of person it takes to spend a decade walking the globe, his 66-year-old wife, Luce Archambault, quickly interjected.

"A bit crazy," she quipped.

Archambault, who last saw Beliveau a year ago, helped organize the walk from her Montreal-area home. She said Beliveau has always had her support.

"I don't walk with my feet, I walk with my fingers on the computer," she said.

"It's mostly raising awareness of people -- it's more like an intellectual cause. I enjoyed it as much as he did."

She joked when asked how her husband's globetrotting had affected their marriage.

"We didn't quarrel," she said, laughing.