Phil Buck didn’t come up with the idea for his journey all by himself. He had some help from an adventurer named Thor Heyerdahl. When he was 11 years old, Mr. Buck read Mr. Heyerdahl’s book, The Kon-Tiki Expedition. As soon as he did, he began to dream of exploring the world.

Thor Heyerdahl was an important adventurer and archaeologist from Norway. He had a theory. He thought people living in Polynesia had actually come from South America. Scientists disagreed with him. They thought Polynesians had come from South Asia. Mr. Heyerdahl wanted to test his idea. So he built a 40-foot raft. He called the raft Kon-Tiki. He set sail from Peru on April 28, 1947. Five friends joined him.

The journey wasn’t easy. Mr. Heyerdahl believed people had reached Polynesia by drifting there in wind and ocean currents. The adventurers were at sea for 101 days. The sea was rough. The sailors faced sharks. The Kon-Tiki even crashed once. At the end, they finally landed in Polynesia. What an adventure they had had!

People all over the world loved Mr. Heyerdahl’s book about the voyage. It was translated into 65 languages. But did the trip actually prove anything? People in Polynesia have languages and traditions similar to those of South Asia. Certain plants growing in Polynesia match plants in South Asia too. That probably means people brought them from South Asia to their new home. Mr. Heyerdahl may have finished his journey. But many scientists don’t believe he proved his theory.