Arvinder Singh Bahal, 81, the first Sikh to have been to space as a tourist, second person in the world who have been to every 193 countries listed with the United Nations, continues to explore more tourist sites specially to visit forests.
Currently residing in Manhattan’s Beverly in the USA, he was in Amritsar on Friday to visit the Golden Temple. Now, his objective is to secure approval from the US government to visit The Wave, a famous sandstone rock formation, in Arizona.
He wishes to enjoy the natural beauty of The Wave, where access is granted through a lottery system, as only a limited number of people are allowed to visit each day.
Looking ahead, age is not a concern for him, rather the concern is to secure approval to visit Arizona’s star attraction, which he says is very difficult to obtain. A wildlife photography enthusiast, he wished to capture the natural beauty.
Talking about his sojourn into space back on August 3, 2025, he recalled that he had lifted off from West Texas in space aboard Blue origin NS-34 mission along with five other crew members. He said the lift lasted about 15 minutes but it gave him lifetime memories to cherish.
“I was sitting in a capsule with 6000 pounds of hydrogen burning under me to fire the rocket, and the nearest person was five miles away. By the time the rocket fires I was travelling three times the speed of sound when I reached Carmen, the edge of the space, I felt weightless and experienced micro gravity,” he said.
The return to the earth was equally thrilling.
“The moment I started falling five times gravity and the feeling of an elephant-like weight sitting on my chest lasted for 15 to 20 seconds,” he added.
He refused to give the exact cost of the space tourism he undertook last year.
Born in Agra and raised in Jalandhar Cantonement, he had migrated to the USA in 1975. He went into a clothing business importing apparels from India and Taiwan till 1989. Later, he ventured into the Real Estate in a suburb of Boston which is in Manhattan.
Along with his interests in business, he never shied away from venturing into adventurous sports.
Earlier, his passion for exploration took him to the North and South poles, Sky dived over Mt Everest and pyramids.
About his travels, he says the experience of travel makes you understand that there are other cultures in the world, and it deepens our relationships to one another.
Bahal recalled that his rare moment was when he had taken a polar plunge into freezing 23-degree arctic water in only his swimming trunks in 2002 when he was 63.
All his eventful works prompted him to come out with a coffee table book ‘Tireless Traveler’ and he is now in the process of rolling out a new coffee table book ‘My Planet My Playground’. Both his coffee table books are chronicles of his adventures.
