Around the World at 18: Arjun's Self-Funded, Solo Gap Year to 100 Countries

In this Season 10 opener, I sit down with Arjun Malaviya, who began solo traveling on his 17th birthday and visited 100 countries in 13 months. We dig into how his parents’ “experiences over stuff” mindset shaped his love of travel, and how he built a rhythm for constant movement with flexible planning and a strong bias toward local connection. Arjun shares practical tools (Rome2Rio, Google Translate, GuruWalk, Facebook travel groups), his budget strategy for making $22K stretch across the globe, and the real safety calculations behind trusting strangers. We also talk about the harder moments, including a kidnapping experience in Myanmar, and what he learned about risk, perspective, and resilience. The episode lands on the bigger why: travel as a pathway to global citizenship, confidence, and the ability to connect with anyone, anywhere. Connect with Julia & Gap Year Radio: Listen to more episodes of Gap Year Radio: gapyearradiopodcast.com

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Around the World at 18: Arjun's Self-Funded, Solo Gap Year to 100 Countries is an episode from Gap Year Radio by Gap Year Radio.

This episode is 0:53:24 long.

This episode was published on Feb 16, 2026.

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