A backpacker has spent $17k (£14k) travelling to 55 countries in a bid to tick off every country in the world.
Connor Michalek, 33, has been on a mission to see the world since he was 18 years old.
He has so far travelled to 55 countries – including Bolivia, Australia, Mauritania, Iraq and Colombia.
In January 2023, Connor lost his corporate tech job and set about travelling the world.
He travelled to Mexico to experience the different cultures, he travelled to Thailand where he taught English to students and headed to Nepal where he spent 40 days hiking.
Over the last 11 months, Connor’s love of travel has reignited and he is aiming to travel to all 195 countries.
Connor, a blogger, from from Chicago, Illinois, US, said: “I decided to take a break from school and I booked a trip to Bolivia and spent three months there and staying with families.
“I really caught the travel bug from there really. It’s all about meeting new people and doing something out of your comfort zone.
“I always had a draw for human connection and relationships.
“At that point, it was one of my lowest points and I needed to do something, so I turned to travel as an escape and I immediately loved it.
“The Bolivia trip really opened my eyes that we are all human and that we all care about the same thing.”
Connor has been a fan of travelling since he left Texas Christian University where he studied economics and business.
After leaving university he headed to Bolivia where he caught the travel bug.
Connor said: “Bolivia is one of the poorest countries and it was such an eye-opening experience. That put me on a path to places where many people wouldn’t go to.
“I booked a one-way trip to Bolivia. They organised homestays and Spanish classes. I did volunteer work as well.
“Typically, when I was younger, I was working in these countries and I would be working and living with families.”
After losing his job in December, 2022, Connor headed to Morocco which kicked off his journey around the world.
He said: “I have always had a love for travel.
“It has always been a dream to travel the world, I flew into Morocco as it was a starting point where I could travel East around the world.
“Morocco kicked everything off for me – I enjoyed the food and the people are incredible.”
He then headed to Mauritania, Senegal and then flew up to Tunisia before starting his journey around Europe.
Connor said that things have not been “smooth sailing” on the trip and he has put himself in “dodgy situations”.
Connor said: “I’m 33 years old, I’ve built up careers and I’ve saved a lot of money and sold a lot of things such as cars and little bits to fund all these trips.”
“Not necessarily, everything has been smooth sailing on these trips. I have put myself in dodgy situations.
“In Senegal, we had problems at border control but that was the only incident we ever had that was a problem for us.”
He said he has fallen in love with Africa and has been to 22 countries in the continent over the last year and loved every moment of it.
Connor said: “I’ve gradually moved to love the continent of Africa, and I love Malawi. The people don’t have a lot, but they are definitely rich in some respects.
“What I did in Malawi was raise awareness of HIV and then bought a load of pigs and necessities for the farm.
“I also loved Mauritania which is one of the least visited countries in the world. I thought it was awesome.”
Connor has plenty of trips lined up in the upcoming months as he looks to return to Africa as he says he would ‘love’ to take his wife, Espoir, 25, there.
He said: “I’m planning a trip to French Polynesia and we are going to western Australia.
“We’ve got a one-way to Nairobi, Kenya doing some volunteer work in Uganda. The African rawness isn’t seen anywhere else.
“My partner hasn’t been to been to Africa yet and I would love to take her there.”
All of the 55 countries:
Belize
Mexico
British Virgin Islands
Cayman Islands
South America
Bolivia
Peru
Colombia
Argentina
Chile
Europe
Albania
Austria
Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Croatia
Czech Republic
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Montenegro
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Spain
England
Vatican City
Cambodia
India
Indonesia
Iraq
Israel
Japan
Jordan
Laos
Myanmar
Nepal
Pakistan
Singapore
Thailand
Turkey
Vietnam
Egypt
Malawi
Morocco
Mauritania
Mauritius
Tanzania
Senegal
Tunisia
Mozambique
South Africa
Australia
French Polynesia
