Satoru Yamada wants to be the youngest person to travel solo to the North Pole.

But that’s just one goal out of many he has for his three-year global adventure.

The 20-year-old from Tokyo, Japan also plans to spend the winter learning how to live off the land from the people of Inuvik or Tuktoyaktuk or Old Crow.

He wants to hitchhike from Whitehorse to Alaska, and also ride a bicycle from Dawson City to Inuvik.

He might ski across the Bering Strait, from Alaska to Russia, he said in a recent interview in Whitehorse, if the North Pole expedition falls through. (Crossing the Bering Strait by land is notoriously difficult to do as the skier must get Russian permission – a challenge in its own right – and the ice can be frighteningly thin close to the middle.)

Yamada was in Whitehorse earlier this month getting ready to paddle up the Yukon River to Dawson on a raft he built with a fellow traveller from Brazil.

“I just want to do more crazy stuff and make a lifestyle of travelling; that’s my aim,” he told the Star.

All this might sound like wishful thinking on Yamada’s part, but to use his own words, he’s already done some pretty crazy stuff. Yamada, who has long, messy hair that’s shaved on the sides and a big grin that seems never to fade, began his adventure when he was 18 years old.

He hitchhiked from Japan to Iran, which took him about a year, he said.

In Iran, he caught a ride with a man who offered him an old bicycle for free, which he happily accepted.

Thus began his cycling journey, which took him through Armenia, Georgia, Russia, Finland, Sweden, and Norway – in winter.

“I started in October, it was getting cold, and then in Russia it was December,” Yamada said.

No one gave him a hard time, he said; it was quite the opposite, actually.

“Everyone helped me a lot,” he said – even in Russia, during the darkest time of the year.

“I love Russia,” said Yamada. “Everyone looks so serious, but they’re really friendly.” Yamada tries to lead a spartan life.

He doesn’t carry any electronic devices: no phone, camera nor laptop.

And he doesn’t care all that much about material possessions, the comforts of home, or dining out.

“I just want to change the system of the money thing,” he said

“I don’t like everything money and hotels and restaurants and stuff.

“I try to be as local as possible, just travel cheap, sleep everywhere, eat everything, appreciate everything.”

Often in his travels, people he meets will take him in and feed him, he said.

Of course, it’s virtually impossible to travel without spending any money at all, so how is Yamada funding all his rambling?

For one thing, he has a couple of sponsorships and is trying to secure new ones.

Hilleberg, an American tent company, is a sponsor, as is Klättermusen, a Swedish outerwear company, he said.

He also saved up back in Japan, where he did road work on a small island, he said.

His parents are not helping him out financially, he added.

Yamada said, he’s spent about $3,000 since his adventure began.

From Norway, Yamada flew to Boston. By then, his bike was wrecked, so he junked it in Europe.

He hitchhiked to Montreal, Thunder Bay, Ont. and Calgary, where he found a new bike.

From Calgary, he cycled through Banff and Jasper, Alta., the Liard Hotsprings, Watson Lake and Whitehorse.

Yamada said he came up north because he figured it would be a good place to prepare for the treacherous expedition to the North Pole.

Though now that it’s summer, he has some time to kill.

“I was thinking what to do for the summer, because there’s no snow and I can’t really practise and I know Yukon very well; I’ve read many books,” he said.

“I just wanted to make a raft and just do crazy things.”

So that’s what he did.

The raft’s floor was built out of lumber from Home Hardware and measures eight feet by eight feet.

It sits atop four plastic barrels, which are tied with heavy-duty rope. A fifth barrel was placed on top of the raft, and in it will go dry bags and food, Yamada said.

He and his new friend from Brazil built the raft together.

They even fashioned their own paddles in the traditional style, he said.

Yamada’s paddle is 1 1/2 times his height, and the top is sharp and doubles as a spear.

It’s to offer some protection against bears, Yamada said. He’s already seen a lot of them on the road.

After his rafting adventure, Yamada hopes to ride his bicycle to Inuvik in November or December and spend the winter north of the Arctic Circle.

“I just want to learn the traditional way of living with Inuit people; I just want to go to a small community and just live there and learn from them,” he said.

At some point, he will begin planning the logistics of his North Pole expedition.

But, “my head is all about the rafting now,” he said.

He admits that the solo North Pole trek would be no easy feat.

“I have to collect some sponsors; it has to be a big project, the charter airplanes cost $200,000 to pick you up,” he said.

True to his free-wheeling style, Yamada isn’t married to the North Pole trip, and wouldn’t be fazed if it doesn’t work out. If some other escapade calls his name, he’ll follow.

So what does Yamada’s family think about all this?

“They’re really supportive and really understanding of my journey,” he said.

“They understand me; that’s the most important.” Yamada said he doesn’t miss back home at all.

But does he ever get lonely?

“Never, never, never,” said Yamada. “There’s always people around.”

“I just feel really happy travelling.”

By Sidney Cohen Star Reporter