Lee Abbamonte
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Lee Abbamonte | |
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| Born | August 29, 1978 Bridgeport, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Maryland, College Park |
| Occupation(s) | Travel blogger, speaker |
Lee Abbamonte FRGS (born August 29, 1978) is an American travel blogger, on-air travel personality and entrepreneur[1] who has been to all 193 United Nations member states,[2] the North Pole[3] and the South Pole.[4][5]
Abbamonte was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut[6] and raised in Trumbull, Connecticut.[7][8] He graduated in 2000 from the University of Maryland, College Park, where he received a degree from the Robert H. Smith School of Business.[9] Abbamonte earned his MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management (now part of Arizona State University) in 2010.[10]
After college, Abbamonte worked on Wall Street, spending time at Cantor Fitzgerald at the original One World Trade Center,[11][12] Intercontinental Exchange, Citigroup, and Merrill Lynch.[13]
Travel career
By 2006, Abbamonte had visited more than 100 countries.[13] In that year he launched his travel blog LeeAbbamonte.com[14] and decided to make an effort to visit every country in the world, completing the goal in 2011 at the age of 32.[2] He is currently regarded as one of the world's most well-traveled people[15] and one of a handful of people to visit every country and both geographic poles.[16]
Abbamonte has appeared on television including as an expert on CNN,[17] FOX Business,[15] Fox News,[18] Bloomberg,[19] Fox 5 New York,[20] and Travel Channel.[21] He has been featured, quoted or written about in dozens of publications including USA Today,[22] BBC,[23] Bravo,[5] Chicago Tribune,[24] Forbes,[25] New York,[1] Slate,[26] Condé Nast Traveler,[27] ABC News,[28] The Washington Post,[29] Martha Stewart Weddings,[30] The Huffington Post,[31] and U.S. News & World Report.[32]
As a speaker, Abbamonte has appeared at The New York Times Travel Show, South by Southwest,[33] Public Relations Society of America Travel and Tourism Conference, Travel Bloggers Exchange,[34] the Travel & Adventure Show,[35] and New York Trav Fest,[36] among others.[37]
He is a member of the Travelers' Century Club[38] and a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.[9] During an interview on the Frommers Radio Travel Show, Arthur Frommer called him the "Marco Polo of the 21st Century."[39]