While most teens spend their formative years tackling daunting tasks like getting their driver's license, Arjun Malaviya was planning a self-funded trip across the entire world. On his 17th birthday, he began a 13-month journey that would take him to 92 countries — all by himself. Having graduated high school at 16, and with two years of community college already under his belt, the California teenager wanted to take a gap year before starting higher education. As a student during the COVID-19 pandemic, Malaviya felt he missed out on opportunities to learn about different cultures. Inspired by trips he'd taken with his family when they were younger, he set off to do it on his own. "Since I was little, we would go on one or two family trips a year," Malaviya tells PEOPLE. "Just getting to meet the locals, learn their language, try their food, experience their culture — that was the main motivation for me." Like any intercontinental trip, Malaviya's grand excursion required plenty of planning. Plus, he needed to make specific considerations to convince his parents to let him go. "When I went to them and pitched this idea, it wasn't just, 'Hey, I want to solo travel for 13 months.' It was, 'Hey, I estimate this is what the cost is gonna be. I've saved up this much money, so I know I can cover the entire cost of this trip.'" Malaviya explains he saved up enough money from coaching tennis lessons and working as an administrative assistant through high school. Along with his pitch, he included an itinerary detailing his route, modes of transportation, preferred accommodations, and embassies along the way. "Quite frankly, it was a mixed feeling," Malaviya's father, Arpit Malaviya, describes his initial reaction. "First of all, we were very excited to hear what he wanted to do. He wanted to travel. But as he shared more details that he wants to travel and travel for an extended time and all over the world, a dose of reality started kicking in that he's serious." But his "mature" son's "meticulous" planning helped put them at ease. As the family continued their conversations and the plans became reality, the parents turned into Malaviya's "biggest champion." So on his 17th birthday in July 2023, Malaviya left the U.S. and headed to his first region: Southeast Asia. He picked this part of the world because of its recent tourism boom, English proficiency, and low safety risk, he says. Malaviya "snaked" his way through the continent, relying on public transportation and hitchhiking to reach each destination. After Asia, he traveled to Europe, then to Oceania and its island micronations, then South America, and finished in the Middle East. "I capped my journey off with the Middle East because I felt like it was kind of a progressive journey," he says. "I took all the skills I'd learned from the previous regions, and I needed them to make it out of the Middle East safely." Along the journey, Malaviya helped rice plantation workers in rural Indonesia, saw castles in Slovenia, visited salt flats in Bolivia, supported a young soccer team in Papua New Guinea, and so much more, which he all documented on his Instagram. Navigating the massive trip wasn't always easy, Malaviya tells PEOPLE. In Venezuela, he recalls having no issue entering the nation; however, on his way out, immigration officials wouldn't let him pass as they thought he was running away from parental control. As the clock ticked and the time of his flight departure approached, Malaviya thought there was no escaping the Google Translate interrogation. But he eventually convinced them to check the security footage of him entering the country on his own, he says. Another "scary" moment, according to the teen's father, was when Malaviya had the opportunity to visit Odessa, Ukraine, via bus from Moldova. When he arrived, he said the city was under a Russian airstrike, forcing his son to take cover in a bomb shelter for hours. When he returned to Moldova and told his parents, Malaviya remembered having a conversation with them about taking "more calculated risks." Despite the challenges, Malaviya says he gained one crucial takeaway: nearly everyone wants the "same thing." "I can confidently say that I noticed a lot of people want the same things in education for their kids, a better life for their kids, education for themselves, food, water, a job, opportunity to work, and even explore within their own country," he says. "If we leave political and religious differences aside, I realize, it was really the same for a lot of people." Even when Malaviya claims he met members of the Taliban in the Middle East, he saw a similar sense of "curiosity" about other cultures. "People higher up might have more extremist views, but a lot of them just seem like they were doing this as a day job, like how police officers do," Malaviya says. "And they, just like any human, had the curiosity, 'Hey, this person looks different. Let's try to get to know them.'"He adds: "While I don't support them in any way — my personal experience — they treated me with kindness and they let me make it out in one piece. So I'm grateful for that." Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. The entire experience gave Malaviya a new outlook on life and skills he could take with him into the future. He learned discipline and money management skills, having only spent $22,500 on the journey. By fully immersing himself in new cultures, the teen says he was able to grasp the daily struggles of people halfway across the world. And it is something he recommends to all who are able. "If you go and see something for yourself, that's something that no one can ever take away," he says. "If you see it with your own eyes, you can form your own opinion, get your own perspective, and you know for a fact that's not biased."