A Conversation with Lee Abbamonte — TripIt Blog

Likely Spots is a new sequence from TripIt that highlights recurrent vacationers to showcase their special travel models and insider recommendations. 

For entire world-report holder Lee Abbamonte, selecting where to journey to subsequent is not only about the spot, it’s also about choosing how to get there, who to invite, the time of yr, and weighing variables like: need to he spend points and miles, or income? Does he want to lease a car or truck, or rely on journey shares? 

All of these components matter when you’ve currently frequented each nation in the world—and you are the youngest American to at any time do so. 

Of course, there are myriad other variables to contemplate when traveling through a pandemic. “Before COVID-19, I would travel internationally to 30 or much more nations around the world per yr,” shared Lee. “Due to the uncertainty all over journey limits, I took just three global journeys in the past two many years. But, in the meantime, I have traveled a great deal far more domestically—and believed about what is next on my bucket record.” 

So, what are people bucket-listing locations at the top rated of his checklist? “Tripoli, Libya and Socotra, an island off the coast of Yemen.” 

Lee is no stranger to obtaining off the beaten path when he travels—even if reaching his spot requires many makes an attempt. 

“My favorite place I’ve ever frequented is the South Pole. It’s so exclusive, so hard to get to, and so few people have completed it,” he said. “My initially expedition in 2013 failed the disorders just weren’t correct for us to comprehensive the journey.”

But Lee had his eye on the prize, and the upcoming yr, he was ready to entire his expedition. 

Stats on stats on stats

While not each individual journey can be as unforgettable as traveling to the South Pole, when you have visited each individual country, U.S. state, nationwide park, baseball stadium—and the North Pole, for that matter—you nevertheless want to hold track of just about everywhere you’ve been. 

So, how does Lee remain on major of his past and foreseeable future travels? “TripIt, of training course! I’m a stats nerd, so in a natural way, I am obsessed with TripIt’s Travel Stats feature,” he stated. 

Lee also takes advantage of TripIt to keep all of his vacation bookings and confirmation quantities in a single spot. 

“I use TripIt—religiously—to establish itineraries for all my outings. From tee periods to restaurant reservations to tours, I count on the application to preserve me organized. Moreover, it’s just so pleasurable to look at to see what I have planned, and wherever I’ve been.” 

Professional guidelines for desire trips 

Making use of TripIt to continue to be structured aside, Lee shared some other tips for fellow tourists. 

Initially up, wherever to go: “Africa, in basic, but the state of Namibia, especially. It’s a lovely region with broad-open spaces, attractive beach locations, and sophisticated metropolitan areas. It is an underneath-the-radar vacation spot I just can’t suggest more than enough,” he said. 

As for tips on how to get there (or any where)? “It arrives again to weighing individuals diverse variables. Believe about what can make a lot more feeling for your vacation budget—do you want to book with hard cash, or do you have factors and miles to use to aid you offset costs? Do you want to commit funds to lease a car or truck for a week, or can you get around on public transit or journey shares?” 

Lee also proposed comparison browsing, i.e., not scheduling the initially flight or lodge selection you discover. “Shopping all-around for your flights and accommodations can help save you hundreds of dollars,” he stated. “And when you do choose on a flight, use TripIt Pro’s Fare Tracker attribute to discover out if the price tag of your airfare drops immediately after you’ve booked.” 

Lee’s also a massive lover of leveraging the sharing financial state when he travels. 

“The sharing overall economy has improved the way we vacation,” he claimed. “Whether it is trip rentals, like Airbnb, or ride-share programs—these possibilities give you much more overall flexibility to preserve funds, making travel much more economical and accessible.”

His final tip? “When it will come to vacation, there’s very little to it but to do it,” he quipped. 

Certainly, Lee is an inspiration to all of us tourists to go immediately after our vacation dreams, be persistent when a strategy doesn’t function out the to start with time, and to replicate on where by we have been—whether it is with the help of vacation stats, snaps, or one thing else. 

Want to maintain up with Lee’s future travels? Stick to him on Instagram and Twitter to see the place he’s off to future (hint: palm trees are certainly on the horizon!).

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