TOPIC – KEYNOTE
Trip to the Dark Side – Chasing Eclipses
Tips & Tales from a Lifetime of Solar Eclipse Travel. PC’s passion, ne obsession, with total solar eclipses began over thirty years ago and continues to stimulate his travel interests to this day. He sees it as a perfect opportunity to travel to lesser-known places that One might often not otherwise bother to visit.
He particularly relishes the always unique reaction/interaction of the local populations with the celestial event, and the sudden influx of outsiders in conjunction with it. The juxtaposition of people and animals from the “everyday” with those from “everywhere” is always magical, yet distinctly different in each locale.
Having participated in 17 out of the 22 totality occurrences since 1995, he has amassed a curious collection of experiences on this unique sub-set of travel and travellers over the last thirty years. PC will share his knowledge and impressions in a series of Tips & Tales that should be practical and informative as well as entertaining. Get ready to enjoy hearing about his triumphs, and failures – learning a bit about how to make your own future encounter(s) the best they can be.
With the so-called “Eclipse of the Century” coming up next year in August, you will want to hear how best to make the most of it, regardless of whether you’re an expert or amateur, geek or tourist, adventurer or just a “Traveller” of sorts ;)!
PC will touch on the fundamentals behind these cosmic happenings, talk about what makes this type of event so special, and key things to look out for/avoid. He will highlight his most memorable personal experiences providing further insight and light entertainment, so that all may come away with some useful knowledge to get the most out of these rare opportunities.
You won’t want to miss this virtual preparatory trip to the “Dark Side!”
BIO
PC began his quest to see the world early in life with his first overseas trip to Egypt at age 16. With an insatiable appetite for knowledge, he followed through on this dream diligently, and by age 50 in 2008 was able to reach every country in the world, (one of the first fifty or so people on record to do so).
As an early pioneer of this goal-type of travel, he worked to complete a self-created list of 250+ countries & distinct political/geo/ethno regions. With the majority of his journeys prior to the convenience of the internet, travel was hard and unpredictable. In those times, he was unaware of the greater community of similarly motivated travelers that we now all now enjoy, and battling the common layman’s perplexed perception of the endeavor. Nevertheless, since that time he has been an active member in many of the travel communities’ supporting organizations. Today, either alone, with family, or friends, he continues to pursue the quest, currently with visits to over 1,100 distinct regions, and more than 600 UNESCO World Heritage sites to his credit.
Aided by a career focused on international development projects, he has benefitted from deep-embedding on work oriented travels and experiences as well, providing another facet of unique experience. He is a globally awarded concept designer recognized for exceptionally creative design for immersive and emotive environments over a wide range of project types. His work spans the world, with completed installations throughout Asia, the Middle East and the Americas.
Born American, but based in Singapore for over 40 years, he is the first ever recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021, and one of Singapore’s 30 Most Influential Designers in 2025. He continues to balance career, personal life, and persistent systematic travel successfully. All the while working on further building his unique knowledge of diverse world cultures. He combines this insight with a finely tuned design acumen, to provide an unparalleled approach and point of view for his ongoing consulting engagements.
In addition to travel and career, a secondary passionate obsession with total solar eclipses began over thirty years ago and continues to stimulate his travel interests to usually less predictable locations to this day.