Lee is my idol, I was super excited he agreed to do this “silly little interview” considering the media he usually deals with, he is so down to earth and really easy to chat to! Thanks so much Lee, you’ve made my week! I hope that I can follow in your foot steps and travel as much as you! (A girl can dream right…)
Ø Who are you?
Ø Where are you from/Where’s home?
Trumbull, CT/New York City
Ø What type of traveller are you? Backpacker, full time traveller, luxury traveller?
Adventure/Luxury/General Badass
Ø Where was the first trip you took?
England 1998
Ø Have you had any bad experiences whilst travelling?
You haven’t traveled if you haven’t had a bad experience!
Ø Do you have any funny or crazy travel stories?
Too many to answer on paper but I did get shot at during the Arab Spring in Libya and lived to tell the tale-Libya also happened to be the last country for me to visit every country in the world.
Ø What is the worst place you’ve travelled to and why?
Nigeria no question, I had a terrible experience with corruption, cops, shakedowns and everything else annoying!
Ø Where is your favourite place in the world?
Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York
Ø How do you fund your travels?
Money
Ø What is your most fond memory from your travels?
Making it to the South Pole…one of the few people to have ever gone there!
Ø What would you be doing if you weren’t traveling?
Still working on Wall Street 80 hours a week.
Ø Have you ever experiences any cultural faux pas?
Nothing really notable, I’m pretty aware of my surroundings and don’t offend people nor am I easily offended.
Ø What is your Favourite airline and why?
Singapore Airlines…if you’ve flown them then you know! (Sam – TOTALLY agree!!)
Ø Where are you off to next?
I have some really cool international trips to remote places over the next few months but coming up next is Canada.
Blogging:
Ø What is the name of your travel blog and why did you choose this name?
LeeAbbamonte.com because my name is Lee Abbamonte
Ø When did you start blogging?
2006, launched site in January 2007
Ø Why did you start a Travel blog?
I wanted to document my record of being the youngest person to visit every country in the world and I thought it sounded like fun.
Ø What are you tips for new Travel Bloggers?
Get out while you still can! Seriously, you have to work hard, network with decision makers, be nice to everyone and have an opinion and a personality! ALso this is so important, remember you are a business, a brand, and you need to always be selling yourself. Sounds simple but many don’t do these things and wonder what happened.
Ø Do you wish you did differently when you started out?
Concentrated more on SEO, mailing lists, and used tags etc…basically technical stuff but in the beginning I wasn’t doing it to make money-just for fun
Ø What has been your most successful blog post and what was it about?
Hard to say what most successful was but I’ve had a lot go pretty viral. People love lists so my 30 Best series have done pretty well in general and my Guantanamo Bay posts crushed it as well. I get a lot of TV gigs out of my posts so again depends what you mean by successful and what your goal is.
Ø What do you do to help make your articles successful?
Write about cool stuff…seriously that matters
Ø What social media platform is the most helpful for you and why?
Facebook 100%, I hate Twitter and Instagram doesn’t have links.
Ø Have you worked with any “big name” sponsors, if not who would be your dream to work with?
I work with some of the biggest companies in the world and in the travel industry and have for many years now.
Ø Do you have any tips for new bloggers who want to work with sponsors?
Again, have a personality and network like crazy with people who make decisions otherwise you’re wasting your time. Other bloggers do not make decisions that will make you lots of money-that’s important to remember. Focus your networking on people that make decisions.
Ø Which travel bloggers do you admire?
Those that can make a real living blogging-not just surviving, skating by or living in some third world cheap country but people who are aggressive, take risks, put money in the bank or back into your business and go out and get why they want so they can maintain the lifestyle they want.
Ø Do you have any advice or tips for aspiring travelers?
Save your money, do some research, decide where you want to go and just do it.
Ø What is your Travel Motto:
Nothing to it but to do it…more of a life motto but works for travel too!
Website url: www.LeeAbbamonte.com
Twitter: @LeeAbbamonte
Instagram: @LeeAbbamonte
Facebook: Lee Abbamote
You do know that he hasn’t really visited every country in the world — in fact, he has merely flown through the airports in many countries, but since he’s never asked about that in interviews, he glosses over the fact that he hasn’t seen anything in several countries.