Forget Spring Break in Florida or Mexico. This American teenager had a loftier ambition – to see the world alone before turning 20.
And at 19 years old, he’s already clocked up 118 countries and become the youngest solo traveler to visit 100 nations.
Intrepid adventurer Arjun Malaviya set out from his home in Westlake Village, California on his 17th birthday two years ago with the goal of visiting the four corners of the Earth. His budget was $22,500, saved from working as an administrative assistant and giving tennis lessons to younger kids.
It was a journey that would take him from Pacific Ocean atolls to the favelas of Rio de Janeiro; from riding the rail lines of Europe to Saddam Hussein’s former Baghdad palace.
The teen began the 13-month trip with his parents’ blessing and a confidence-building itinerary that would take him from regions with good tourist infrastructure first — Southeast Asia and Europe — and then to the more challenging areas of South America and the Greater Middle East. But no accommodation at all was arranged in advance.
In a video chat with The Independent, Arjun recalled: “I would book accommodation the day before I went to a new city or country.
“Because of the risk of getting sick in hostels full of so many people from different places, I stayed a lot in Airbnbs. But I would contact the host directly and tell them, ‘Hey, I’m a young solo traveler. Can I pay you in cash directly, and you remove the Airbnb fees?’ A lot of the time, they would give me a 50 per cent discount. Some people let me stay for free because they were inspired by the story.”
Arjun revealed that he slept on the floor of a hut in a Papua New Guinea fishing village that he booked through Facebook. He also “woke up with two crabs on the bed” in Tonga, calling it a “lovely experience, no issues at all”.
When he couldn’t book a place to stay, he improvised.
He explained: “I slept a few nights in Australian airports because the hotels were far above my budget. I would go sight-see and come back to the airport and sleep in the terminal. Stuff like that was interesting.”
Arjun also recalled good times in the South Pacific island of Tuvalu, “because I could ride scooters on the airport runway, which was crazy”.
In Papua New Guinea, he played soccer with village kids and in Palau in the Western Pacific, there was the opportunity to freedive in stunning marine life.
In Slovenia, he had fun spending time near Lake Bled, and also loved Cambodia. “I have a lot of great memories walking around the Angkor Wat temple for hours,” Arjun explained.
“Additionally, Bolivia was fascinating because the nature was second to none and the salt flats felt like I was on another planet.”
The traveller also noted El Salvador, Albania, Italy, Greece, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Iraq and Syria for their “excellent food”.
Arjun described Iraq and Afghanistan, countries less likely to be on the tourist trail, as “surprisingly positive experiences”. When pushed to name the “least welcoming” countries, he wouldn’t be drawn. “If a place seemed like it wasn’t welcoming, it was because the people just didn’t know me,” he finally answered, diplomatically.
He added: “There was not a single country where I felt like they were just staring at me, where I felt like an outsider.”
Arjun did have a couple of scary moments, though. He was detained for two hours by airport security officials in Venezuela, who thought he was “fleeing parental control.” He was forced to take shelter from a Russian missile attack during a day trip to Odessa, Ukraine.
Plus, there were some disappointments and a couple of places that he found a tad boring.
He explained: “I was disappointed with some places that were too touristy, because I didn’t find them interesting.
“Singapore, Colombia, Thailand… when I went to the grocery store, every brand was American. I felt like I was in the US.”
And remote Nauru island, which at eight square miles is the world’s third-smallest country after the Vatican City and Monaco, wasn’t much fun as “sadly there wasn’t much to do, with all due respect to those that live there.” Paraguay was similarly uninteresting for the traveler.
Arjun’s father, Arpit, told The Independent that he “knew how much traveling could benefit” his son. And Arjun reflected that the odyssey had changed his perspective on life.
He said: “After visiting 118 countries, I noticed people are more similar than different. They could be Islamic, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Christian… but if you leave religion and politics aside, I noticed that a lot of people want the same thing.
“They want food, water, education, work, a better life for their kids than they had for themselves. They want to be able to explore either their own country or another country. They want to meet new people, have conversations, grow as a person. So that really changed my outlook.”
The traveler also believes that his global roaming helped him “feel comfortable being uncomfortable”, and vastly improved his negotiation skills, and situational awareness.
He added: “Traveling will help you live a more wholesome and purposeful life.”
