S'pore PR has visited 193 countries in 33 years

How long does it take to visit all the countries in the world?

For Singaporean permanent resident Phillips Connor, his visit to 193 countries took 33 years.

Last September, the 50-year-old director of interior design at architecture firm Aedas finally achieved his goal in a two-week trip through Western African countries such as Liberia, Sierra Leone and Senegal.

His final stop was former Portuguese colony Guinea Bissau.

'I was elated but I also felt some loss of focus. This goal has been with me for so long and would no longer be such a large part of my life. What's next?'

Visiting every country has been his dream since he was a teen.

'I told myself I would accomplish this before I turned 30; then I got a career and I pushed it back to 40. Then I got married and had a family and pushed it back further,' he said.

'Three years ago, I put my foot down and decided - it's before I turned 50 or nothing,' added the man who is married to Singaporean Linda Locke, 55, the CEO and creative director of Godmother Consulting. They have a 12-year-old son.

Mr Connor's passion for globetrotting was first ignited during a trip to Egypt with his parents in 1975 when he was 16.

Said the Chicago native: 'Because my parents grew up during the Great Depression, they were very frugal with money and did not believe in taking children on trips when they were too young to remember anything.'

He moved to Singapore in 1984 after a job opportunity to establish the design department of a furniture company came up. It was his first time in Asia, he recalled, and he has stayed since.

Missed flight connections, travel sickness and unexpected extreme weather do not faze the avid traveller.

'To me, the pursuit of knowledge is the most important aspect of life. I travel to fuel my need to know. My travels enlarge the frame of reference I use in life and are an inspiration for some of my creative pursuits,' said Mr Connor, who also runs his own furniture company, Space Partnership.

His pre-war Tanjong Pagar home is a museum of sorts, displaying masks and sculptures from various destinations, including his most prized possession, a 2m-tall tribal dance mask shipped home from the Sepik River region in Papua New Guinea.

He declined to reveal the total amount of money spent on travelling and said he does not believe that rough-and-tumble backpacker trips are the only true form of travel.

'I believe in arriving at a place in your best, relaxed state so you can be open-minded and comfortable enough to interact positively with the people around you,' he said.

Mr Connor said future trips will focus on more 'experiential travel', such as outdoor trips for father-and-son bonding, or activity-focused trips back to his favourite destinations and festivals.