Youngest American to Visit Every Country in the World, Now Going for All 325 Territories

by Adam

I’m currently at 76 countries, but I plan to be in the low 80s by the end of the year. That’s nothing compared to one Connecticut native.

Lee Abbamonte who is 38 hit all 193 UN member states plus the Vatican, Taiwan, and Kosovo 6 years ago at the age of 32. He’s now working to complete The Travelers’ Century Club list of 325 countries and territories (see the full list below). His currently count is 319 of the 325!

Condé Nast Traveler recently sat down with him for a full interview that includes how he got into travel, the scariest country he visited, and how he hit the record. Check out the full read here.

When you were going through the list of countries still missing from your list, were there any that gave you pause? Did fear get in the way of any of your travels?

Well, I never grew up thinking, Oh, I’d love to go to Somalia one day, or Afghanistan is wonderful in June.Obviously I went to places that I normally wouldn’t go, just to go. I was never scared, really ever. I’m tough to spook. I’m also pretty aware and street smart. I do take precautions though, and do a lot of research. Afghanistan was tough because that was during the war. In Libya, which was actually my last country, I got caught in a firefight between rebels and smugglers at the border. That was the scariest thing I’ve ever dealt with. I had never been shot at before.

  • Abkhazia
  • Abu Dhabi
  • Admiralty Islands (see Bismarck Archipelago)
  • Afghanistan
  • Agalega (see Mauritius & Deps.)
  • Aitutaki (see Cook Islands)
  • Ajman
  • Aland Islands (Mariehamn)
  • Alaska
  • Albania
  • Aldabra (see Zil Elwannyen Sesel)
  • Alderney (see Guernsey & Deps.)
  • Algeria
  • Amirante Island (see Zil Elwannyen Sesel)
  • Amsterdam(see French Southern & Antarctic Territory)
  • Anatolia (see Turkey in Asia)
  • Andaman-Nicobar Islands
  • Andorra
  • Angola
  • Anguilla
  • Anjouan (see Comoro Islands)
  • Ankara (see Turkey in Asia)
  • Antigua & Deps. (Barbuda, Redonda)
  • Argentina
  • Argentine Antarctica (Palmer Peninsula)
  • Armenia (Yerevan)
  • Aruba
  • Ascension
  • Atafu (see Tokelau Islands)
  • Austral (see French Polynesia)
  • Australia
  • Australian Antarctic Territory South Pole (Mawson, Davis, Macquarie, Heard)
  • Austria
  • Azerbaijan (Baku)
  • Azores Islands
  • Bahamas
  • Bahrain
  • Balearic Islands (Mallorca, Minorca)
  • Bali (see Lesser Sunda Islands)
  • Bangladesh
  • Barbados
  • Barbuda(see Antigua)
  • Basutoland (see Lesotho)
  • Bear Island (see Spitsbergen)
  • Bechuanaland (see Bechuanaland)
  • Belarus
  • Belgium
  • Belize (British Honduras)
  • Benin (Dahomey)
  • Bequia (see St. Vincent & Deps.)
  • Bermuda
  • Bhutan
  • Bismark Archipelago (New Ireland, New Britain, Bougainville, Admiralty Islands)
  • Bolivia
  • Bonaire
  • Bonin (see Ogasawara)
  • Bosnia & Herzegovina (Sarajevo)
  • Botswana (Bechuanaland)
  • Bougainville (see Bismarck Archipelago)
  • Bouvet (see Norwegian Antarctica)
  • Brazil
  • Brazzaville (see Congo, Republic of)
  • British Antarctica (see Falkland Islands Dependencies)
  • British Guiana (see Guyana)
  • British Honduras (see Belize)
  • British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago, Diego Garcia)
  • British Somaliland (see Somaliland)
  • British Togoland (see Ghana)
  • Brunei
  • Bulgaria
  • Burkina Faso (Upper Volta)
  • Burma (see Myanmar)
  • Burundi (Urundi)
  • Cabinda
  • Caicos (see Turks & Caicos)
  • Cambodia
  • Cameroon
  • Canada
  • Canary Islands
  • Canouan (see St. Vincent & Deps.)
  • Canton (see Line/Phoenix Islands)
  • Cape Verde Islands
  • Caroline Islands (see Micronesia, Fed.States of )
  • Carriacou (see Grenada & Deps.)
  • Cayman Islands
  • Celebes
  • Central African Republic
  • Ceuta (see Morocco,Spanish)
  • Ceylon (see Sri Lanka)
  • Chad
  • Chagos Archipeloago (see British Indian Ocean Territory)
  • Channel Islands (see Guernsey & Deps.)
  • Chile
  • Chilean Antarctica (Palmer Peninsula)
  • China, People’s Republic of
  • Christmas Island (Indian Ocean)
  • Christmas Island (see Line/Phoenix Islands)
  • Chuuk (see Micronesia, Fed.States of )
  • Cocos Islands (Keeling)
  • Colombia
  • Comoro Islands (Anjouan, Moheli, Grand Comoro)
  • Congo, Democratic Republic of (Kinshasa)
  • Congo, Republic of (Brazzaville)
  • Cook Islands (Rarotonga, Aitutaki, Penrhyn)
  • Corfu (see Ionian Islands)
  • Corsica
  • Costa Rica
  • Crete
  • Croatia
  • Crozet (see French Southern & Antarctic Territory)
  • Cuba
  • Curacao
  • Cyprus, Republic of
  • Cyprus, Turkish Fed. State of
  • Czech Republic
  • Dahomey (see Benin)
  • Davis (see Australian Antarctic Territory)
  • Denmark
  • Diego Garcia (see British Indian Ocean Territory)
  • Djibouti
  • Dodecanese Islands (Rhodes)
  • Dominica
  • Dominican Republic
  • Dubai
  • Dzaoudzi (see Mayotte)
  • Easter Island
  • Ecuador
  • Eire (see Ireland, Republic of)
  • Egypt in Africa
  • Egypt in Asia (Sinai Peninsula)
  • El Salvador
  • Ellice Islands (see Tuvalu)
  • Enderbury (see Line/Phoenix Islands)
  • England
  • Eniwetok (see Marshall Islands, Republic of)
  • Equatorial Guinea (Fernando Pṓ, Bioko Island, Malabo)
  • Equatorial Guinea (Rio Muni, Bata)
  • Eritrea
  • Estonia
  • Ethiopia
  • Fakaofu (see Tokelau Islands)
  • Falkland Islands
  • Falkland Islands Dependencies (British Antarctica,Graham Land, South Shetland, South Sandwich, South Georgia, South Orkney)
  • Fanning (see Line/Phoenix Islands)
  • Faroe Islands
  • Farquhar (see Zil Elwannyen Sesel)
  • Fernando do Noronha
  • Fernando Poo (see Equatorial Guinea)
  • Fiji Islands
  • Finland
  • France
  • French Guiana
  • French Guinea
  • French Polynesia (Tahiti,Tuamotu, Austral, Gambier)
  • French Southern & Antarctic Territory (Kerguelen,Crozet, Amsterdam, St. Paul)
  • Fujeirah
  • Funafuti (see Tuvalu)
  • Futuna (see Wallis & Futuna Islands)
  • Gabon
  • Galapagos Islands
  • Gambia
  • Gambier (see French Polynesia)
  • Georgia
  • Germany
  • Ghana (Gold Coast, British Togoland)
  • Gibraltar
  • Gilberts (see Kiribati)
  • Glorioso (see Reunion & Deps.)
  • Gold Coast (see Ghana)
  • Graham Land (see Falkland Islands Dependencies)
  • Grand Comoro (see Comoro Islands)
  • Greece
  • Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat)
  • Grenada & Deps. (Carriacou, Grenadines)
  • Grenadines (see Grenada & Deps., St. Vincent & Deps.)
  • Guadalcanal
  • Guadeloupe & Deps.(Marie Galante)
  • Margarita Island (see Nueva Esparta)
  • Guam
  • Guatemala
  • Guernsey & Deps. (Alderney, Herm, Sark, Channel Islands)
  • Guiana (see French Guiana)
  • Guinea (French)
  • Guinea-Bissau
  • Guyana (British Guiana)
  • Hainan Island
  • Haiti
  • Hawaiian Islands
  • Heard (see Australian Antarctic Territory)
  • Herm (see Guernsey & Deps.)
  • Herzegovina (see Bosnia & Herzegovina)
  • Honduras
  • Hong Kong
  • Howland (see Line/Phoenix Islands)
  • Hungary
  • Iceland
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Indonesian Borneo (see Kalimantan)
  • Ionian Islands (Corfu, etc.)
  • Iran
  • Iraq
  • Ireland, Republic of (Eire)
  • Ireland, Northern (Ulster)
  • Isle of Man
  • Israel
  • Istanbul (see Turkey in Europe)
  • Italian Somaliland (see Somalia)
  • Italy
  • Ivory Coast
  • Iwo Jima (see Ogasawara)
  • Izmir (see Turkey in Asia)
  • Jamaica
  • Japan
  • Java
  • Jeju Island (South Korea)
  • Jersey (Channel Islands)
  • Jordan
  • Juan Fernandez Islands (Robinson Crusoe Island)
  • Kalaallit Nunaat (see Greenland)
  • Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo)
  • Kaliningrad
  • Kashmir
  • Kazakhstan
  • Keeling (see Cocos Islands)
  • Kenya
  • Kerguelen (see French Southern & Antarctic Territory)
  • Kinshasa (see Congo, Democratic Republic of)
  • Kiribati (Gilberts,Tarawa, Ocean Island)
  • Korea, North (Democratic People’s Repbublic of Korea)
  • Korea, South (Republic of Korea)
  • Kosovo
  • Kosrae (see Micronesia, Fed.States of )
  • Kuwait
  • Kwajalein (see Marshall Islands, Republic of)
  • Kyrgyzstan
  • Lakshadweep
  • Lampedusa
  • Laos
  • Latvia
  • Lebanon
  • Leeward Islands, French (St. Martin)
  • Leeward Islands, Netherlands (Saba, St. Eustatius)
  • Lesotho (Basutoland)
  • Lesser Sunda Islands (Bali,Timor, Indonesia)
  • Liberia
  • Libya
  • Liechtenstein
  • Line/Phoenix Islands (Palmyra, Fanning, Christmas, Canton, Enderbury, Howland)
  • Lithuania
  • Lord Howe Island
  • Loyalty Islands (see New Caledonia & Deps.)
  • Luxembourg
  • Macau
  • Macedonia
  • Macquarie (see Australian Antarctic Territory)
  • Madagascar
  • Madeira
  • Majuro (see Marshall Islands, Republic of)
  • Malawi (Nyasaland)
  • Malaysia
  • Maldive Islands
  • Mali
  • Mallorca (see Balearic Islands)
  • Malta
  • Marie Galante (see Guadeloupe & Deps.)
  • Mariehamn (see Aland Islands)
  • Marquesas Islands
  • Marshall Islands, Republic of (Majuro, Kwajalein, Eniwetok)
  • Martinique
  • Mauritania
  • Mauritius & Deps. (Agalega, St. Brandon)
  • Mawson (see Australian Antarctic Territory)
  • Mayotte (Dzaoudzi)
  • Melilla (see Morocco,Spanish)
  • Mexico
  • Micronesia, Fed.States of (Pohnpei, Kosrae, Chuuk,Yap,Caroline Islands)
  • Midway Island
  • Minorca (see Balearic Islands)
  • Miquelon (see St. Pierre & Miquelon)
  • Moheli (see Comoro Islands)
  • Moldova
  • Moluka
  • Monaco
  • Mongolia, Rep.
  • Montenegro
  • Montserrat
  • Morocco, Kingdom of
  • Morocco,Spanish (Ceuta, Melilla)
  • Mozambique
  • Myanmar (Burma)
  • Nakhchivan
  • Namibia
  • Nauru
  • Nepal
  • Netherlands
  • Netherlands Antilles (see St. Maarten)
  • Netherlands Guiana (see Suriname)
  • Nevis (see St. Kitts & Nevis)
  • New Britain (see Bismarck Archipelago)
  • New Caledonia & Deps. (Noumea, Loyalty Islands)
  • Nueva Esparta (Margarita Island)
  • New Georgia (see Solomon Islands)
  • New Hebrides Islands (see Vanuatu)
  • New Ireland (see Bismarck Archipelago)
  • New Zealand
  • New Zealand Antarctica (Ross Dependency)
  • Nicaragua
  • Nicobar Islands (see Andaman-Nicobar Islands)
  • Niger
  • Nigeria
  • Niue
  • Norfolk Island
  • North Borneo (see Sabah)
  • Northern Marianas (Saipan, Tinian)
  • Northern Rhodesia (see Zambia)
  • Norway
  • Norwegian Antarctica (Queen Maud Land, Bouvet)
  • Noumea (see New Caledonia & Deps.)
  • Nukualofa
  • Nunaat
  • Nyasaland (see Malawi)
  • Ocean Island (see Kiribati)
  • Ogasawara (Bonin, Volcano Island, Iwo Jima)
  • Okinawa (see Ryukyu Islands)
  • Oman
  • Pago Pago (see American Samoa)
  • Pakistan
  • Palau, Republic of
  • Palestine
  • Palmer Peninsula (see Argentine Antarctica and Chilean Antarctica)
  • Palmyra (see Line/Phoenix Islands)
  • Panama
  • Papua (Irian Jaya)
  • Papua New Guinea
  • Paraguay
  • Penrhyn (see Cook Islands)
  • Peru
  • Rarotonga(see Cook Islands)
  • Ras Al Khaimah
  • Redonda (see Antigua)
  • Reunion & Deps. (Tromelin, Glorioso)
  • Rhodes (see Dodecanese Islands)
  • Rio Muni (see Equatorial Guinea)
  • Robinson Crusoe Island (see Juan Fernandez Islands)
  • Rodriguez Island
  • Romania
  • Ross Dependency (see New Zealand Antarctica)
  • Russia
  • Russia in Asia (see Siberia)
  • Rwanda
  • Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa)
  • Saba (see Leeward Islands, Netherlands)
  • Sabah (No. Borneo)
  • Saipan (see Northern Marianas)
  • Samoa (Apia)
  • Samoa, American (Pago Pago)
  • San Andres & Providencia
  • San Marino
  • Sao Tome & Principe
  • Sarajevo (see Bosnia & Herzegovina)
  • Sarawak
  • Sardinia
  • Sark (see Guernsey & Deps.)
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Scotland
  • Senegal
  • Serbia
  • Seychelles
  • Sharjah
  • Siberia (Russia in Asia)
  • Sicily
  • Sierra Leone
  • Sikkim
  • Singapore
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Socotra
  • Solomon Islands (Guadalcanal, New Georgia,Tulagi)
  • Somalia (Italian Somaliland)
  • Somaliland (British)
  • South Africa
  • South Georgia (see Falkland Islands Dependencies)
  • South Orkney (see Falkland Islands Dependencies)
  • South Sandwich (see Falkland Islands Dependencies)
  • South Sudan
  • South Shetland (see Falkland Islands Dependencies)
  • Southern Rhodesia (see Zimbabwe)
  • Spain
  • Spanish Sahara (see Western Sahara)
  • Spitsbergen (Svalbard, Bear Island)
  • Sri Lanka (Ceylon)
  • Srpska
  • St. Barts
  • St. Brandon (see Mauritius & Deps.)
  • St. Croix(see Virgin Islands, U.S.)
  • St. Eustatius (see Leeward Islands, Netherlands)
  • St. Helena
  • St. John (see Virgin Islands, U.S.)
  • St. Kitts & Nevis
  • St. Lucia
  • St. Maarten (formerly Netherlands Antilles)
  • St. Martin (see Leeward Islands, French)
  • St. Paul (see French Southern & Antarctic Territory)
  • St. Pierre & Miquelon
  • St. Thomas (see Virgin Islands, U.S.)
  • St. Vincent & Deps. (Bequia, Canouan Grenadines)
  • Sudan
  • Sulawesi (Celebes, Indonesia)
  • Sumatra (Indonesia)
  • Suriname (Netherlands Guiana)
  • Svalbard (see Spitsbergen)
  • Swaziland
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • Syria
  • Tahiti (see French Polynesia)
  • Taiwan. R.O.C.
  • Tajikistan
  • Tanganyika (see Tanzania)
  • Tanzania (Tanganyika)
  • Tarawa (see Kiribati)
  • Tasmania
  • Thailand
  • Tibet
  • Timor, Indonesia (see Lesser Sunda Islands)
  • Timor Leste
  • Tinian (see Northern Marianas)
  • Tobago (see Trinidad)
  • Togo
  • Tokelau Islands (Fakaofu, Atafu, Union)
  • Tonga (Nukualofa)
  • Tortola (see Virgin Islands, British)
  • Trans Dniester
  • Trinidad & Tobago
  • Tristan da Cunha
  • Tromelin (see Reunion & Deps.)
  • Tuamotu (see French Polynesia)
  • Tulagi (see Solomon Islands)
  • Tunisia
  • Turkey in Asia (Anatolia, Ankara, Izmir)
  • Turkey in Europe (Istanbul)
  • Turkmenistan
  • Turks & Caicos Islands
  • Tuvalu (Ellice Islands, Funafuti, Vaitapu)
  • Uganda
  • Ukraine
  • Ulster (see Ireland, Northern)
  • Umm Al Qaiwain
  • Union Island (see Tokelau Islands)
  • United States (continental)
  • Upper Volta (see Burkina Faso)
  • Uruguay
  • Urundi (see Burundi)
  • Uzbekistan
  • Vaitapu (see Tuvalu)
  • Vanuatu (New Hebrides Islands)
  • Vatican City
  • Venezuela
  • Vietnam
  • Virgin Islands, British (Tortola, etc.)
  • Virgin Islands, U.S. (St. Croix, St. John, St. Thomas)
  • Volcano Island (see Ogasawara)
  • Wake Island
  • Wales
  • Wallis & Futuna Islands
  • Western Sahara (Spanish Sahara)
  • Yap (see Micronesia, Fed.States of )
  • Yemen
  • Yerevan (see Armenia)
  • Zambia (No. Rhodesia)
  • Zanzibar
  • Zil Elwannyen Sesel (Aldabra, Farquhar, Amirante Is.)
  • Zimbabwe (So. Rhodesia)

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2 comments

Naomi April 26, 2017 - 5:28 pm

He also has a great interview on the Counting Countries podcast with Ric Gazarian (which I am addicted to!).

Reply
Michael W Travels April 26, 2017 - 7:22 pm

Lee’s been working on completing the TCC list for a while. I asked about it when I interviewed him a little over 3 years back.

Check it out: http://michaelwtravels.boardingarea.com/2014/03/interview-lee-abbamonte-youngest-american-visit-every-country-world/#sthash.Cl24C457.dpbs

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