Interview with Lee Abbamonte of Lee Abbamonte Blog
Lee, please give my readers a background about yourself. What made you want
to start leeabbamonte.com?
Actually, I was approached to do it by a friend who works at another travel
site. He thought it would be a cool idea to document my travels and trying to
be the youngest to go to every country.
In all of your travels, in your opinion what country has the best food?
and the worst food?
I love food so this is a hard question and it's impossible to pick just one
but Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Italy, France, Greece and Turkey are probably
my favorites and my least favorites are places in Sub-Saharan Africa like Chad,
Sudan and Niger where it's a must that you carry Tabasco with you. I must say
I am not a real fan of Chinese food either.
When you first started traveling, did your family support your decision?
Sure, they thought it was cool and they knew I enjoyed it...still do.
Did you always have a love of travel or did you develop your passion for
traveling as you got older?
I never left the US before I was 20 so I guess it came later on in life. I always
wanted to as a kid but was always too busy with sports, school, etc.
What impact has leeabbamonte.com had on your life?
It has given me a lot of credibility
and a lot of people who read about my adventures. It makes it fun to write because
I know thousands of people are reading it and hopefully getting positive inspiration
from my adventures.
What has been the least exciting destination you've traveled to?
Tuvalu had to be the most boring country I've ever been to but it's hard to
say.
What has been the most surprising destination you've been to? Meaning,
you had a specific mindset about a certain destination but it was totally a
different experience than you had imagined.
I never have a specific mindset of expectations about a place because I don't
like to be disappointed. However, North Korea and Libya blew my mind and my
experience in both is hard to put into words. I will never forget either and
hope to return to both in the near future.
If you had to decide which destination has been the most influential in
your life, which destination would you chose?
I'd probably say England and London specifically because that was the first
place abroad I traveled to when I studied abroad in college and lived there
for 5-6 months. It changed my life and my outlook.
Lee, if you could travel with any celebrity for one week, who would you
choose and why?
Haha, I don't know...Mila Kunis or Scarlett Johansson for obvious reasons!
What advice would you give to a newbie traveler?
There's nothing to it but to do it...don't be scared...make yourself uncomfortable
and dive right into new things, people and places. You'll thank yourself later.
In 10 years, do you see yourself still traveling or slowing down?
Travel is a hobby you can do your whole life. Things and places always change
so it'll never be the same twice. I will always travel but as far as how much
and at what pace; it will obviously depend on the course your life takes and
is impossible to say. I'm thinking about what I'm doing tomorrow!
Thanks Lee for the interview. Please visit his blog @ Lee Abbamonte / Bookmark his blog
Please also visit his Facebook page !
A few of his recent blog posts:
Short Bio:
From LeeAbbamonte.com (reprinted with permisson from Lee Abbamonte)
Lee Abbamonte is a travel writer, global adventurer and worldwide travel expert living in New York City. Lee is the youngest American to ever visit all sovereign nations of the world and aims to become the youngest person to travel to every country and territory in the world. He has currently been to 299 countries and is only 33 years old. From his site you can relive his past travels, read his current trip blog and interact with him, while following his adventures in pursuit of the record. The record is visiting all 321 countries and unique destinations in the world per the Travelers Century Club list. The current record is 37 years, 9 months, 17 days and Lee aspires to beat it.