Imagine that you set out to visit every sovereign nation in the world, but the last country you need to get to before you complete your goal suddenly becomes a war zone. Lee Abbamonte, travel writer and global adventurer, found himself in just that position. Lee calls Peter from Libya, where he has just become the second youngest person to visit every sovereign nation, to report on his world travels and life on the ground during a revolution.
Peter Greenberg: Was your trip to Libya planned or did you decide to travel there after the revolution started?
Lee Abbamonte: I actually had the trip planned back in March. Then the war broke out so I had to change it up. This time I planned to go, but I had no idea exactly how I was going to do it.
PG: I’m sure a lot of people think you’re out of your mind for being there right now.
LA: Most of my family and friends probably think so. It was funny because Libya ended up being the last sovereign nation that I had to go to. Additionally, I was just going to be in the area, so I figured I’d just pop in since I had heard that they had basically dropped the visa restrictions to enter over land. I decided to give it a shot and it worked it.
Credit: Lee Abbamonte
PG: You came in from what country?
LA: Egypt, from the Sallum border station.
PG: Was it easy?
LA: No, actually, it wasn’t. Getting there was half the fun, of course. Once we got through the Egyptian border there was actually a gun battle, but not one between the Libyan rebels and the Gaddafi forces. The battle was actually between some smugglers that were trying to smuggle cigarettes from Libya into Egypt and the Libyan rebels. It was pretty crazy. We were about 50 feet from it when we were trying to get through the gate. The smugglers delayed the boarder crossing for about two hours.
PG: Where are you staying right now? And don’t say the Libyan Sheraton.
LA: No, absolutely not. I didn’t make it all the way to Tripoli. I’m in a place called Tobruk, which is in Eastern Libya.
PG: If you know World War I and World War II history, you know Tobruk. Richard Burton was in a famous movie about it. Where are you going to be heading to next?
LA: I’m going to probably going to end up heading back to Egypt. The goal was to go all the way to Benghazi, but the timing is probably not going to work out. I’m probably going to head back to Egypt whenever I get a chance.
I’m having a great time in Libya. It’s been an amazing experience. The Libyan people are wonderful. We met a family that literally took us in, made us dinner, talked to us about the situation, and gave us a real first hand appreciation of what’s going on.
PG: Well the bottom line is you’ve been to every sovereign country in the world. I’m assuming you’re a member of the Century Club.
LA: Yes.
Credit: Lee Abbamonte
PG: Me too. It’s interesting because the Century Club is not just going to a hundred countries. They actually define it as going to 321 countries and unique destinations.
LA: The Century Club has a whole complex criteria, as I’m sure you know. They say you need to visit 321 countries for a lack of a better word, but it is really 195 UN countries plus all the unique destinations. Remember going to French Guiana is not the same thing as going to Paris, so it really should count differently. It’s a more comprehensive list.
PG: So you’ve now been to 298 countries not counting Libya?
LA: Counting Libya, I’ve been to 298.
PG: We had Charles Veley on the radio, who claimed to be the world’s most traveled man, but Charles would literally put his hand out at a boarder crossing, touch it, and keep going. That’s not really visiting.
LA: No, not at all. Charles is a buddy of mine, and I’m actually trying to break his record to become the youngest person to go to every travel Century Club destination. He’s kind a controversial figure because he counts going to an airports as visiting a country.
PG: I thought I was doing well at a 151 countries, but I think you got me beat. Having been to 151, I’ve ben to 150 more than most Americans––only 26 percent of Americans have a passport.
LA: I didn’t even think it was that many.
PG: Did you get a Libyan stamp on your passport?
LA: I did. And I didn’t even have to ask for it. It was great. I’m a stamp collector, but it is pretty cool one to have especially with this date on it.
By Peter Greenberg for Peter Greenberg Worldwide Radio
Photos by Lee Abbamonte
