There's well-traveled, and then there's Lee Abbamonte.
Abbamonte, a 45-year-old travel writer based in California, said he is the youngest person to visit every country in the world and the North and South Poles. He's also visited all 50 US states at least three times each, and all of America's 63 national parks.
He caught the "travel bug" during college when he spent a semester studying abroad in London. But his passion for travel became his life's work after 9/11. Then 23, he was working in the World Trade Center at a Wall Street firm owned by financial-services giant Cantor Fitzgerald — which lost the most employees of any company that day.
"I lost one of my best friends and pretty much everyone I worked with," he said. "It was eye-opening."
After quitting finance in 2002, Abbamonte dedicated his life to travel. He started documenting his trips and tips on a blog in 2006, later appearing on TV as a travel expert.
Abbamonte said that while he never set out to break travel records, he finished visiting every country around 2011. Soon after, he also completed visiting every state in America thanks to several road trips.
"I'd gone to every baseball stadium and football stadium," he said. "I'm a big sports guy."
Abbamonte, who is also a nature lover, ranked all 50 states on Instagram on March 15. In the post's caption, he explained to followers that his ranking — which puts California first and North Dakota last — is based on his personal experiences and is admittedly subjective.
Abbamonte told Business Insider the reasons he loves his favorite six states, and why four wound up at the bottom of his list.