I Love Palm Beach

Local Personality Arvi Bahal Travels Around the World and Beyond

April 23, 2020 Arvi Bahal Season 1 Episode 10
I Love Palm Beach
Local Personality Arvi Bahal Travels Around the World and Beyond
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Show Notes Transcript

Long time North Palm Beach resident discusses his quest to travel to every recognized United Nations Country and to be one of the first missions into space with Richard Branson. With just 6 countries remaining learn about these extraordinary travel experiences and why he makes Palm Beach County his home.

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spk_0:   0:04
Welcome to I Love Palm Beach. We talk about everything Palm Beach County, Florida has to offer and why you should make it your home. We're a team of real estate professionals who love where we live, and we want to show you why you will love Palm Beach, too. You'll learn about our hobbies and our lifestyle stories for fun and amazing things to do. Follow in our search for stories to find the best of whether it's a specific food or service. Palm Beach has it all and does it bigger and better. Or follow our local heroes stories to discover the amazing people who called Palm Beach home. And now here's your host, Rebecca Guia Cova. Hi, everybody. We're here today with one of our most favorite residents of Palm Beach County. He's been here for probably about 30 35 years. He is a halftime resident he sent out, this time in Massachusetts and half this time in Palm Beach County, and his name is Arvida Hall, and he is uninterested person because his dream is to visit all United Nation countries. An RV. If I'm correct, it's 190 193 193. And then after he completes that, he's gonna go on one of Richard Branch and Branson's mission and go up into space. So RV tell us how many countries you venture says or under your towards the end of your journey.

spk_1:   1:39
Well, first of all, I got to tell you a full name. People call me Army. But my full name is a vendor and last name of the hall and I've been 201 187 countries. I got six countries left to finish every country member of United Nations. There are three countries which are we don't have a warring right in United Nations. And they are buy one for Moussa Liechtenstein. And I've been to all those three to Plus I've been to the North Pole and the South Pole right at the bull's itself.

spk_0:   2:20
Well, I think when you were, where did you see you saw? The polar bear is actually in Canada. Christ

spk_1:   2:27
will be is in Churchill, Canada, in Manitoba and also saw polar beers when I was taking this ship to the North Pole.

spk_0:   2:36
Okay, so how did this all start for you? And when did it start.

spk_1:   2:42
Well, I always had a us to travel around, and I never I had a motto in my mind that I want to finish every country in the world. But I always like you need visit unique bases in the word. So when I got to about 100 countries, I joined a ah club called TCC Travelers Century Club people who over 200 countries can become a member. And then I met some people who had made Ah, life came to travel to every country in the world. And I thought I should do the same and I started probably. But I was pretty young. I used to work in the tea plantations and we used to get six months off after four years of service, and I traveled abroad then and then. I started traveling after that, and I've been the United States since 1975 and basically most of my travelers started after I immigrated to the United States.

spk_0:   3:46
Okay, so when you came to the United States, you settled in Massachusetts.

spk_1:   3:52
I came to New York, landed in New York State there for a few days and then came to Boston, Massachusetts, and since then. Abandoned Massachusetts.

spk_0:   4:04
Then when did you make Palm Beach County your second home?

spk_1:   4:08
I want my property. Where? My house in Palm Beach in 1981.

spk_0:   4:15
Okay. The long time.

spk_1:   4:19
Yeah. And, uh, I could you know, since then, I've been a resident of a beach. I stayed at the whole pork or you've been to my place. You've seen my face. And because of my travel and my office being in Boston. So I basically commute between the two places.

spk_0:   4:42
Okay, so let's talk about your travels. You've been so many places. Can you give me a couple highlights?

spk_1:   4:52
Well, it's people always ask me what your favorite country that you arrested. It's very hard to name one country, which is the favorite. Every country has distinct Ah, place that I like or people. I basically traveled for traditions and cultures. Ah, last, uh, early this year, I went to you talk to your toe Omo Valley, where there are 11 tribes and I went and saw some private people, which was very fascinating. I think I showed you the picture of the woman with big lips. They put a plate in the lift, and it's surprising. They have these young guys there. It stayed traditional. These young guys, they call them jumpers. They have to jump over so many cows. And then they become jumpers. And the woman's parents, a young girl's parents, hired them to rip the woman at that. Ripping is done by the jumpers only, and they're clear the jumpers to rip the daughters or, you know, before they get married and after whipping is so strong and it leaves scars on the body. The more scars or woman has, the more valuable she is to appearance because bigot more cows or sheep when she gets married.

spk_0:   6:21
That was very culture. Yeah, what does the wising symbolizes? It symbolized. Just think.

spk_1:   6:27
I think you just get scars on the body

spk_0:   6:30
on. That's considered a sign of beauty and

spk_1:   6:34
beauty, but beauty. But it Z I don't know what they consider it. A great It's a tradition that they do that.

spk_0:   6:41
Okay, it's amazing in this day and age that still this took practice that yeah, still practiced that well, I'm always fascinated with your animal adventures. Can you tell us about some of the animals you've seen in the water, or sure they've then and

spk_1:   7:01
sure, uh, I've been do most. Um Ah. Safari passed the national box in Africa. I'm been Kruger National Park, which is supposed to be one of the best in South Africa. And I've seen I've been there. Absolute lines there, that's all leopards, elephants. However, my favorite dishes in Kenya and in Kenya, especially starting Getty area. Ah, I was there in June July, which is there animals migration season? Uh, when the plane landed on the field, there must have been, I don't know, thousands and thousands of Willoughby's and zebras, and it's and in the background you seek Mount Kilimanjaro snow snow on the peak affair. And they're these wild animals. It's a beautiful sight and then took safari drives in the morning and and leave Beings have seen elephants like family of elephants. I mean, 20 elephants with the matriarchal often family is straight on the front, and he safeguards the whole family. And, uh, when I was there, I saw baby elephant got stuck in mud. They were doing much bob of mud bathing And how the the elephant for the big dust and the female elephant The mother, I suppose how the hell this baby elephant to get him out of the mud. It was fascinating to watch that, uh uh, no fascinating thing. She was giraffes in the company watering hole. How the stretch their legs to bend down the neck to drink the water. I mean, very, very unusual. Very odd position, but that's how they have to because they're so tall, they have to kind of a bend their legs and spread the legs to bend down to drink the water. And when they're drinking water, their lines hiding in the bush. I didn't see them attacked. Probably they had a feast before that. They weren't hungry, but that's how the most of the cats get there. Ah, got the kill. You know, the ambush? Uh, the smaller animals.

spk_0:   9:25
Yeah. I was fortunate enough to go to South Africa and going safari, and we watch some a small group of young lions following some water buffalo. What about those supposed to be

spk_1:   9:38
the most dangerous Adam of most people? Think lines and cheaters and leopards are more dangerous. But more people in Africa on national parks that killed my buffaloes then by anything else, Because blood flows once the kind of a stare at you. And once you stare back at them, all they do is jog without thinking and they are killed. More people and in the wild and any other animals.

spk_0:   10:08
Yeah, I heard that. You kind of just think of them is a big cow. You're not so worried, but but they're leveraging huge on

spk_1:   10:17
their always in a group always in a group you hardly ever see Buffalo walking all by himself, The all resident group

spk_0:   10:26
it was Well, the migration sounds amazing. I heard that That's just

spk_1:   10:30
migration is amazing. Amazing. I didn't see it, but some of my friends told me how these alligators tried to get well. The reason they're crossing the or zebras on the crossing. The river I haven't written is that. But I've heard about it and I've seen it on TV. And that's amazing how these alligators get the animals and take them underwater and drove them. And once there drawn, then they can freeze from him.

spk_0:   10:58
Oh, still sticking with the animals. What are some of the most unusual or rare species I know? You were able to see some gorillas.

spk_1:   11:08
I saw silverback gorillas and Rwanda and in Volcanoes National Park. They're only about their cold silverback grillers. According to their estimate, there only about 600 of these left in the world because poachers kill them for their meat. Wow! And it's and they always these gorillas live in a family. And, ah, the older a gorilla who's head of the family of the young gorilla. It's a war. Hey, kind of a pushes. The old agree of the old ah, top of the back out of out of the plan and old agree, lays all by himself, left Bando, and he just wanders own load and very,

spk_0:   11:57
oh, well

spk_1:   12:00
and grill it for fascinating. They're fascinating came as close to a gorilla as about six feet away. Her and I took some from beautiful pictures of these gorillas, and actually, the most other fascinating trip I ever had was to the South Pole. Ah, it was amazing to see how are scientific National Science Foundation has the station there. They do research on neutrinos, but it's it's just I it doesn't snow there forgets Oh, frozen ice, I mean at certain places and ice is as thick as a mile down

spk_0:   12:48
isn't in you just together recently. Didn't you suffer some frostbite?

spk_1:   12:53
I actually, I I read I spent the new Year Eve on the South Pole. New Year, 2020 new area on the South Pole. Uh, I was very lucky. We were 11 people in my group, and you were very lucky that we were able to see when the full moved the every year the board shift from one place to another. Ah, Drew graph you could pull. And ah, I was rid the people when they took the marker off the old side of the pole toe new site. And I have some pictures of that too.

spk_0:   13:32
Well, that's something that many people can say they did.

spk_1:   13:35
No. No, really. You were very lucky. 11 of us with the people from the National Science Foundation who were who marked up all who where the new police they were there and 11 off us with It was fascinating trip.

spk_0:   13:50
Well, talk about fascinating truck. Tell me what you just hop into your recently. I think I got an interview by the BBC. Where were you when the pandemic kit? Let's start there. Well, pandemic it. You can

spk_1:   14:04
call the pandemic at that time, but they knew the widest was coming. A wireless was there. So from here to Egypt, there's no problem. Nobody checked anything over. He was worried about Krone. Wire is anywhere from Egypt. Cairo. I spent two days there and you know when the pyramids were had been before. Ah, the flight. There's only one flight to succour trial. And because Yemen that there they're having a war there now. Ah, because the local tribal the terrorists, they call them the Hootie's are they dont the local government. So they're fighting. And there's Mark and Saudi Arabi and people from United Arab Emirates. They sent their army forces there and the bomb These sites where the terrorist or however our flight left a cook look in the morning to succour trial in Yemen a second trial and also called the Galapagos off the Middle East. Ah, and it has the best beaches. This is where the Indian Ocean meets the Arabian Sea. Okay, there wipe milk, white sand beaches and the milk white sand dunes which go upto 3 304 100 meters high Amazing. A beautiful place starting coming back to what happened to me on the second last day. Third last day. We were sleeping on one of these tents on the beach at about 12. 30 in the morning. We got a knock. A bit. Get ready. We have to leave. You have to be evacuated because, no, they're closing the borders. If you stay here, you wouldn't be able to get out. There's a plane coming. You have to be there in corny minutes. So we had to back, are tense at all. And we moved out of there. The plane. Then come pills. Six oclock in the mornings. So we and then we got into the plane and we thought we were going. They were taking us to car all the way. However, the plan only took us to a place called Aidan and best said, You have to wait for another plan to come and take you. So we're stuck there at Aden airport waiting for the plane for 10 hours. Wow. Then the plane came and Lucas, at 10 o'clock in the morning for our flight really landed in Cairo. A 20 clock in the morning. I checked into a hotel read next day because all the borders are closing at noon that day. So going to the airport, trying to get a flight, a flight back home to Boston. Gonna get a flight? Actually, I was supposed to go to Lebanon, Sudan and Lebanon and then go to Syria for three days and come back. So all that all those later cancelled. So I had to get back, Couldn't get a flight. Very difficulty. I got a flight to Dubai, so I went to Dubai and I knew Emirates flew from Dubai to Boston. So with great difficulty, I was able to get one seed, which was probably the last seat family. And I got back to us.

spk_0:   17:32
How would you have felt if you got stuck overseas while this was going on?

spk_1:   17:37
A lot before do

spk_0:   17:38
that. That's sure you be probably in a hotel if you could find one, I guess.

spk_1:   17:44
Yeah. Ro, yo, I have I have friends there at that, won't having a problem. But you know, if I get stuck there for months or even 20 years, I mean, I'll just go out of my mind because I've been to Egypt. I've seen everything there is to see in Egypt. What would I do,

spk_0:   18:03
right? Well, that's a good problem to have, but they probably wouldn't let you go do much touring anyways. But, well, I'm glad you made it home safely, and you had quite an experience. But let's talk about so you've got six countries left. Let's mention what they are.

spk_1:   18:22
Well, to one in South America, which is Suriname. It's a small, contracted go during that. That's not a big deal, the other one in Asia, which is east e more, which is pretty hard to get through because you have to goto idea to Australia to get there or you have to go to Bali in nature to get there. Well, that should be a problem, but it's a long, long launch later, that's Ah, not on the top priority list of mine anyway. Ah, four countries in Africa are Angola, Congo, Democratic, not cargo itself. Democratic Republic of Congo, Mauritania and Somalia.

spk_0:   19:07
Okay, and you have plans to visit any of them anytime soon.

spk_1:   19:12
Well, I don't think 2020 is gonna be the year. I'll be

spk_0:   19:15
right out either. I absolutely don't either, but I think you're very, very close. So then your final thing that you're gonna dio we're gonna wait till you do all your six countries or I know you're planning to go with Richard Branson. Yeah, I'm,

spk_1:   19:34
you know, made a reservation on Virgin Galactic. I'm one of their Ah, uh, Voyagers. I think they call it Ah ah, and they call its future astronauts. Ah, we get together all the time. They've done all the testing and all. They also moved from Mojave Desert with shuttled from made, which is going to take us to, uh, space ah, to through the port where the planes will take off the land. It's a new Mexico. It's called Spaceport New Mexico. Ah, there moved the shot low there and they're doing tests, lights. And I think now they're just reading for all the FAA or whatever rules they have to get, uh, and the first flight Richard Branson himself on his found years ago. And after that, there's not the commercial flags commercial plates. OK, they're seven. People will go. Ah, in one you know, it can take seven up to seven people and and two pilots. And it's based on the principle of you play badminton no hard. No matter how you hit the shuttlecock. It always comes down with a head head down. So it's based on that principle. The there's a mothership which is called which is the plane and the shuttle riches will take Go to space is tacked it under the plane with mothership. And that flies through 50,000 free. And it let's go off the shuttle and the rocket fires there and you go up to about 100 miles of our and they say you get you get ah, pull off six. Gravitational force 60. Okay. And it goes up there and you get about 6 to 7 minutes. 5 to 7 minutes off weightlessness and the engine stops and you start falling back to it. And then and then you land back at Mojave. Well, at the Newport, New Mexico. Sorry.

spk_0:   21:51
Okay, So you're just gonna land like it? A body of water on the ground? No, no, no motherships gonna catch you.

spk_1:   21:58
No, no, no, no. It has from the shuttle comes down. There's no engine on the shuttle. Like the NASA shuttles. They go up from the land. But no, no, no engine on it. So you land as a player as a glider.

spk_0:   22:12
Okay. All right. That makes more sense to be a

spk_1:   22:15
man on a itt's Everland back at, uh, Spaceport America. Where in New Mexico. And I think the total total time probably is 4 to 5 hours.

spk_0:   22:29
Wow, What an experience. I would love to do that. That's amazing. Well, I'm so excited that well, if

spk_1:   22:36
you want a book or ticket called me and I'll outside so

spk_0:   22:39
I could sell a lot of real estate for that happens, But I'll keep trying. I'm not a quitter, But I'm thank you so much. This is actually the second time we did this interview was actually where he went to Yemen. We had a problem with our recording, so I'm so glad we had the opportunity to do this again. And I'm going to see you in a couple weeks. You're gonna be back in Florida, I hope.

spk_1:   23:06
Absolutely. I'll be there on May 2nd. And they said, Okay, we talk to you, then.

spk_0:   23:12
Okay. And then some point, you're gonna share your travels in a book or a document

spk_1:   23:16
show I ultimately, after I finish every country and I come back from my space life, I would probably Ah, right about photographic journey of my life. Ah, I'm not a good writer, but I've got plenty of photographs. I would be photographic journey of my life. He will show all the picture there have been and the book will be called around the word and beyond.

spk_0:   23:45
Okay, well, I can't wait to see that. And if anybody has any questions, I'll have them reach out through May. Thank you for listening to this week's show, and we hope you visit again next week. Please share with your friends, and we look forward to showing you around our amazing cities. Visit JIA realty dot com. That's G I a R e a l T y team dot com or you can call us at 5612034661