The Brief

Arjun Malaviya is an overachiever and a planner. So, when he told his parents that he wanted to save up for a solo gap year to travel the world, they weren't all that surprised.

Now, at 19 years old, he's got five completely full passports and a slew of remarkable life experiences under his belt. Malaviya told NPR that he's the youngest solo traveler to visit 100 countries.

"I was 17 years and 228 days old when I reached my 100th country," he said, adding that he celebrated the milestone in Nadi, Fiji, by visiting the colorful Sri Siva Subramaniya, one of the largest Hindu temples in the Southern Hemisphere. Another superlative: Malaviya said, based on his research, he's also "the youngest person to visit every country in Oceania." (NPR has not independently verified these claims.)

Arjun Malaviya enjoying the milky way limestone mud bath in the rock islands of Palau.

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The intrepid teen said he's hot on the heels of Lexie Alford, who holds the Guinness World Record for being the youngest person to visit every sovereign country in the world. By the age of 18, Alford had only visited about 70 nations.

Malaviya set out on his expedition on his 17th birthday in July 2023. Over 13 months, with occasional trips back home — Westlake Village in Southern California — he sojourned through some of the world's most populated cities and its most remote islands. He spent time in Bali's rice paddies, sipped tea with a Taliban guard in Afghanistan and bathed under the green skies of the aurora borealis in Norway.

All the while, Malaviya said he had one goal: to meet the locals and make a genuine connection. He preferred visiting small villages rather than glitzy locales, wanting to see how people truly live.

"The big thing that I took away is that people are more similar than different," he said.

Arjun Malaviya befriended a group of Taliban members in Kabul, Afghanistan. "Everyone treated me with so much kindness," he told NPR.

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"Even if it's in Afghanistan and you're sitting down and talking to a religiously devout Muslim goat herder, you'll see that he still has a lot of the same desires and life that someone here might have; A better life for his kids, a consistent job and education for his kids and the ability to explore within his own country and just take vacations."

Building up confidence and life skills, from Seoul to Kabul

Malaviya launched his grand tour in Seoul, South Korea: From all he'd read, the country would be a safe and tourist-friendly launching pad with outstanding public transportation systems. He moved on to other Asian countries including Japan, Myanmar and India.

His lodgings included a mix of Airbnbs, hostels, hotels and family friends' homes. He traveled light, outfitted with an iPhone, a small gym bag and a standard-sized backpack. And though Malaviya is fluent in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and has studied Japanese, Malaviya said Google Translate proved to be one of his most valuable tools. Using the app on his phone, he said he was able to engage in deep conversations with strangers. It especially came in handy in places like Afghanistan, Venezuela and Syria, where people opened up to him about what everyday life looked like under authoritarian regimes.

He said they impressed upon him the idea that, while news coverage may dwell on the economic and humanitarian hardships of a place, there is still a lot of beauty and cultural richness that can be taken in by visitors if they give it a chance.

"As a tourist when you go to a lot of these places you don't feel all of the negatives that the government imposes on the people who live there," he said. " So, just because we say that a government is bad, that doesn't need to dissuade you from visiting that country as a tourist."

In Damascus, Syria, which was still under Bashar al-Assad's dictatorship when Malaviya visited, he said he met with an impassioned bed-and-breakfast owner who spoke openly about his wish for Assad to be overthrown so more people like him could take in the wonders of his country.

Other highlights included a free Madonna concert on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro, where Malaviya said he happily lost himself amid the enormous crowd of fans who showed up. On the Korean peninsula, he fulfilled "a lifelong dream" of visiting the DMZ, the demilitarized zone that separates South Korea from North Korea. He also got to bathe in the milky mud baths in Palau, an island in Micronesia.

Arjun Malaviya visited several of the most popular sights during his stop in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, including Christ the Redeemer.

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The islands of Oceania as whole, Malaviya said, contained some of the most breathtaking and pristine landscapes he's ever seen. However, he said his trip to the island nation of Nauru — the third-smallest country in the world and one of the least-visited countries on Earth – was slightly depressing. "It was sad for me to see how much the country is struggling," he said, referring to the small republic's reliance on foreign aid to sustain its economy.

Arjun Malaviya travelled to Odessa, Ukraine in November 2023. He told NPR the city was attacked by Russian bombs shortly after arriving, forcing him to run to in a nearby bomb shelter.

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The most harrowing stop came in November 2023 as the war between Ukraine and Russia raged.

"I was in Moldova and someone told me Odessa was just four hours away. I thought that would make a great day trip since, from what I'd read, most of the fighting was taking place in Kyiv and Lviv. But I get there and we start getting bombarded with [Russian] bombs," he said.

He scrambled to find cover in a nearby bomb shelter before fleeing back to Moldova, but not before taking a selfie.

The final region he toured was the Middle East, including Iraq and Iran, "which I actually loved," he said. Malaviya explained he'd waited to visit this part of the world "because I felt like it was a build up where I had to use all my skills that I had gained in the first 10 months of travel."

Arjun Malaviya pictured with an Iraqi guard. Iraq was one of the last countries visited by Malaviya during his 13-month long odyssey.

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The opposite of helicopter parenting

So how does a teenager persuade his parents to embark on such a daunting adventure? Research — lots and lots of research, Malaviya's mother, Anita Venkataraman, told NPR.

Arjun Malaviya told NPR he was blown away by the beauty of the Bolivia's salt flats. "The moisture on the surface of the salt flats causes a beautiful reflection to show," he explained.

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"When he started speaking to us about what he planned to do and how we planned to execute it, it became quite clear that he had put more thought into it than the casual tidbits we had heard from him," Venkataraman recalled.

The pitch was straightforward: He'd start off in easily navigated counties where communication home would be most reliable. He'd check in every two days. He wouldn't stay out past 10 p.m. if he could help it. And he'd finance the entire trip on his own.

Malaviya was just 15 years old when he initially proposed the idea in 2022. And despite some trepidation, both of his parents agreed to the odyssey within a couple of weeks. It took him two years of working a series of odd jobs — tennis lessons, a minimum-wage administrative assistant job and working at his parents' software company — to raise the funds to set off on his journey, he said.

"That was one of the things I made clear to my parents. That I wanted to pay for the entire thing on my own. I didn't want to ask them for any money," he said. (All in all, Malaviya said he spent $22,500 on the entire voyage.)

Venkataraman said the isolation of the COVID pandemic is what really ignited her son's wanderlust. In her view, Malaviya has always been an intuitively curious and independent person who craved social interaction. Being cooped up for much of his adolescence was frustrating for him, she said. But he took advantage of the situation, graduating a year early from high school in 2023 and getting a two-year head start on university by completing all of his general education coursework at a local community college.

Arjun Malaviya, pictured inside of Saddam Hussein's Babylon Palace in Iraq.

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"I think as parents, a lot of times we don't want our kids to even fail. We just want them to be successful," she said. "But I do think there's a lot that kids learn from failing at things. Doing things, taking a chance and then failing, but then picking themselves up and going for it."

Venkataraman described her son as responsible and knowledgeable about the various visa and documentation requirements for different countries. That's why it was easy for her to be his "cheerleader, offering "support with a little bit of caution."

That support did not waiver, even when Malaviya called to notify his parents that he'd been "sort of kidnapped" in Myanmar. A stranger had offered to show the boy around the town and offered him a home-cooked meal, but then refused to let him leave his house until Malaviya forked over $100.

"It was scary of course," his mother said, but she and Malaviya put the incident in a more comprehensive context. "I understand that there are people with so little, that they resort to things that perhaps if they had some, they wouldn't, normally resort to," she said. Plus, she added, the experience made Malaviya even more careful and aware of his surroundings.

Arjun Malaviya on a boat ride with local children in Papua New Guinea.

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Encouraging other young people to take up travel

Malaviya is currently a junior at University of California in Santa Barbara, studying engineering. Although he's not traveling at the moment, he's still committed to meeting people from backgrounds different from his own — on and off campus. And he's planning future trips to squeeze in during vacations. He's now up to 118 countries.

He hopes to be an inspiration to other curious young people who may be apprehensive or fearful about being on their own in a new place where they may not speak the language. Malaviya has a mantra for that: "Get comfortable with being uncomfortable."
Copyright 2025 NPR

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Since 1977, Richard Santillan has been to every Opening Day game at Dodger Stadium. 

“The tradition goes from my father, to me, to my children and grandchildren. Some of my best memories are with my father and children here at Dodger Stadium,” Santillan told The LA Local, smiling under the shade of palm trees near the entrance to the ballpark Wednesday morning. He was there to protest the team less than 24 hours before Opening Day.

Santillan, like countless other loyal Dodgers fans, is grappling with his fan identity over the team’s decision to accept an invitation to the White House and owner Mark Walter’s ties to ICE detention facilities.

More than 30 people joined Santillan on Wednesday morning for a press conference held near 1000 Vin Scully Drive to convey a message directly to the team. 

“We are demanding the Dodgers stop participating in funding of inhumane treatment of families and do not go to the White House to celebrate with the criminal in chief,” Evelyn Escatiola told the crowd. “Together, we have the power to make a change.”

Escatiola, a former dean of East Los Angeles College and longtime community organizer, urged fans to flex their economic power by “letting the Dodgers know that we do not support repression.”

Jorge “Coqui” Rodriguez, a lifelong Dodgers fan, spoke to the crowd and called on Dodgers ownership to divest from immigration detention centers owned and operated by GEO Group and CoreCivic.

Jorge Coqui H Rodriguez speaks at a press conference outside Dodger Stadium on March 25, 2026, to demand the Dodgers not to visit the White House following their 2025 World Series win.

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In a phone interview a day before the protest, Rodriguez told The LA Local he did not want the Dodgers using his “cheve” or beer money to fund detention centers. 

“They can’t take our parking money, our cacahuate money, our cheve money, our Dodger Dog money and invest those funds into corporations that are imprisoning people. It’s wrong,” Rodriguez said. 

Rodriguez considers the Dodgers one of the most racially diverse teams and said the players need to support fans at a time when heightened immigration enforcement has become more common across L.A.

The team’s 2025’s visit to the White House drew ire from the largely Latino fan base, citing the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on immigrants. 

In June, the team came under further scrutiny when rumors swirled online that federal immigration agents were using the stadium’s parking, which immigration authorities later denied in statements posted on social media accounts.

The team again came under fire after not releasing a statement on the impacts of ICE raids on its mostly Latino fan base at the height of immigration enforcement last summer. The team later agreed to invest $1 million to support families affected by immigration enforcement.

When he learned the Dodgers were pledging only $1 million to families in need, Rodriguez called the amount a  “slap in the face.” 

“These guys just bought the Lakers for billions of dollars and they give a million dollars to fight for legal services? That’s a joke,” Rodriguez said. “They need to have a moral backbone and not be investing in those companies.”

According to reporting from the Los Angeles Times, former Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershawsaid last week that he is looking forward to the trip.

“I went when President [Joe] Biden was in office. I’m going to go when President [Donald] Trump is in office,” Kershaw said. “To me, it’s just about getting to go to the White House. You don’t get that opportunity every day, so I’m excited to go.”

The Dodgers have yet to announce when their planned visit will take place. 

Santillan sometimes laments his decision to give up his season tickets in protest of the team. His connection to the stadium and the memories he has made there with family and friends will last a lifetime, he said. On Thursday, he will uphold his tradition and be there for the first pitch of the season, but with a heavy heart.

“It’s a family tradition, but the Dodgers have a lot of work to do,” he said.

A local favorite mom-and-pop bookshop in Eagle Rock is facing displacement due to a steep rent hike. The owners say theirs is just one of several small businesses along Eagle Rock Boulevard struggling to keep up with lease increases.

Over the past 19 years, many in the neighborhood have come to love READ Books for its eclectic collection of used titles and shop dog Florence.

Co-owner Jeremy Kaplan said it’s been a delight to grow with the community over the years.

“Like seeing kids come back in, who were in grade school and now they’re in college,” Kaplan said.

But the building where Kaplan and wife Debbie rent was recently sold, and the rent increased by more than 130% to $2,805 a month, Kaplan said. He told LAist it was an increase his small business simply could not absorb.

Kaplan said he originally was given 30 days notice of the rent increase. After some research, assistance from Councilmember Ysabel Jurado’s office and some pro-bono legal help, Kaplan said he pushed back and got the 90-day notice he’s afforded by state law.

California Senate Bill 1103 requires landlords to give businesses with five or less employees 90 days’ notice for rent increases exceeding 10%, among other protections.

Systems Real Estate, the property management company, did not immediately respond to LAist’s request for comment.

What can small businesses do? 

Nadia Segura, directing attorney of the Small Business Program at pro bono legal aid non-profit Bet Tzedek said California law does not currently allow for rent control for commercial tenancies.

Outside of the protections under SB 1103, Segura said small businesses like READ Books don’t have much other recourse. And even then, commercial landlords are not required to inform their tenants of their protections under the law.

“There’s still a lot of people that don’t know about SB 1103. And then it’s very sad that they tell them they have these rent increases and within a month they have to leave,” Segura said.

She said her group is seeing steep rent hikes like this for commercial tenants across the city.

“We are seeing this even more with the World Cup coming up, the Olympics coming up. And I will say it was very sad to see that also after the wildfires,” Segura said.

Part of Bet Tzedek’s ongoing work is to advocate for small businesses, working with landlords who are increasing rents to see if they are willing to give business owners longer leases that lock in rents.

What’s next 

After READ Books posted about their situation on social media, commenters chimed in to express their outrage and love for the little shop.

While he looks for a new spot, Kaplan says he’s forming a coalition of local businesses and activist groups to see what can be done to help other small businesses facing similar displacement. He wants to address the displacement issue for businesses like his, which have made Eagle Rock the distinctive neighborhood that it is today.

Owl Talk, a longtime Eagle Rock staple selling clothing and accessories in a unit in the same building as READ Books, is facing a “more than double” rent increase, according to a post on their Instagram account.

Kaplan said he’s been in touch with the office of state Assemblywoman Jessica Caloza and wants to explore the possibility of introducing legislation to set up protections for small businesses like his, including rent-control measures or a vacancy tax for landlords. Kaplan said he also reached out to the office of state Sen. Maria Durazo.

By his count, Kaplan said there are about a dozen businesses within surrounding blocks that are at risk of closing their doors or have shuttered due to rent increases or other struggles.

When READ Books was founded during the Great Recession, Kaplan said he knew it was a longshot to open a bookstore at the same time so many were struggling to stay in business.

“It was kind of interesting to be doing something that neighborhoods needed. That was important to me growing up, that was important to my children, that was important to my wife growing up,” Kaplan said.

“And then somebody comes in and says, ‘We’re gonna over double your rent.”

Topline:

Frozen budget: Most of the city’s Bureau of Street Lighting budget comes from an assessment that people who own property illuminated by lights pay on their county property tax bill. The amount people pay depends on the kind of property they own and how much they benefit from lighting. A typical single-family home currently pays $53 annually, and in total, the assessments bring in about $45 million annually for the city to repair and maintain streetlights. Changing the amount the Bureau of Street Lighting gets from the assessment requires a vote among property owners who benefit from the lights.

Ballots: L.A. City Council’s vote gives city staff the green light to prepare and send out those ballots. Miguel Sangalang, who oversees the bureau, said at a committee meeting earlier this month that he expects to send out ballots by April 17. Notices about the ballots will be sent out prior to the ballots themselves.

Near unanimous vote: L.A. City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez was the only “No” vote Tuesday, saying she wanted to see a more current strategic plan for the bureau. Sangalang said the bureau developed a plan in 2022 that lays out how money will be spent. Councilmember Imelda Padilla was absent for the vote.

Vote count: Votes will be weighted according to the assessment amount. Basically, the more you’re asked to pay yearly to maintain streetlights, the more your vote will count. Ballots received before June 2 will be tabulated by the L.A. City Clerk.

How much more money: According to a report, the amount needed in assessments from property owners to meet the repair and maintenance needs of the city’s streetlighting in the next fiscal year is nearly $112 million.

Use of the money: Sangalang said at a March 11 committee meeting that the extra funds would be used to double the number of staff to handle repairs and procure solar streetlights, which don’t face the threat of copper wire theft. That would all potentially reduce the time it takes to repair simple fixes down to a week. Currently, city residents wait for months to see broken streetlights repaired. The assessment would come with a three-year auditing mechanism.