Cutting hair can be a boring, repetitive task, but this globetrotting Russian hairdresser has found a unique way to add some zest to his job. Denis Yushin calls himself a ‘motobarber’, giving extreme haircuts as he rides his motorcycle across the globe.

It all started last year, when Yushin announced that he would be touring the world for six years, leaving behind his wife and five-year-old daughter in his hometown of Krasnoyarsk. His plan was to fund the trip by giving people haircuts along the way, and it’s been working very well for him so far. He’s been riding a special motorbike across international borders, equipped with special pockets and power sockets for his hair-dressing equipment. These are really important because Denis has to give plenty of haircuts in exchange for fuel, food, and thrilling experiences.

As a close friend put it: “He’s passionate about hairdressing, travelling, and his motorbike. Some may think he’s bonkers leaving his wife and daughter for six years, but they understand.” Yushin’s daughter will be 11 years old when he sees her next.

Denis has put on extreme hairdressing performances in Mongolia, China, South Korea, and the Philippines, picking the most unlikely places – on top of a live volcano, on a nudist beach, and even while paragliding at a height of 1,000 feet above the ground. The sky is probably the last place anyone would want to get their hair cut, but Russian native Aleksandr Orlov wanted to experience just that. So he made Yushin an offer – a free ride in his paraglider in Vietnam, in exchange for an airborne haircut. Naturally, Yushin couldn’t refuse – it was just the kind of experience he was looking for.

“Denis started to cut my hair when we got to 1,000 ft,” Orlov later said. “He used a mechanical razor most of the time, but he also used an ordinary razor. It was kind of uncomfortable when someone is touching your neck while the paraglider is backing in the wind. I have some scratches left, but it is cool. We had three cameras, one on Denis’s forehead, the second was mounted to my hand, and the third was attached to a rope.”

The duo also attached strings to all the barber’s tools so they wouldn’t blow away in the wind. I suppose they’re quite lucky to have come away from that stunt without any serious injuries.

But Yushin’s toughest haircut yet has been underwater, for Kazakhstan diver Vasiliy Kalashnikov. The hour-long stunt was performed at the bottom of Sulu Sea, on Panglao Island in the Philippines. It was difficult for the diver to keep still, and the hair kept moving in the water as Yushin tried to cut it. He eventually managed to complete the haircut and even give Kalashnikov a shave, but there’s no mention of whether the diver liked his new hairstyle or not.

With five more years left of his epic trip around the world, there’s no telling what hair-cutting stunt Denis Yushin will pull of next, but if his previous exploits are any indication, they certainly won’t be boring.

Photos: Denis Yushin/Instagram