World Hum’s Most Read: Aug. 23-29

What We Loved This Week: Las Vegas, Maui and the Street Art of Sao Paulo

R.I.P. ‘Staycation’

‘The Internet is About the Best Thing to Happen to Geography Nerds Since the Sextant’

A Tourist With a Shovel and a Hoe

When she arrived in Kenya to volunteer with the Maasai, Daniela Petrova looked down her nose at tourists there to have a good time. But was her own motivation much different?

How Should I Spend My Time in Spain?

Vagabonding traveler Rolf Potts answers your questions about travel

Paul Theroux: Invisible Man on a Ghost Train

Jim Benning asks the author of “Ghost Train to the Eastern Star” about his new book, aging and the challenge of disappearing in the age of the BlackBerry

Eat Ceviche in Lima

Grab a Cusqueña and get comfortable. As Nicholas Gill explains, a trip to a Peruvian cevichería can be an all-day immersion in good conversation and raw seafood.

Unsentimental Journeys: Wrestling With Paul Theroux

Bronwen Dickey considers “Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: 28,000 Miles in Search of the Great Railway Bazaar”

My Travels, My Feet

After taking one too many headless torso shots of herself, solo traveler Sophia Dembling started snapping photos of her feet around the world, from the Grand Canyon to Red Square

Seven Reasons to Have a Foreign Fling

Sure, having an overseas romance is fun. But Terry Ward points out seven other benefits to cross-border love, mon petit chou.

Zen and the Art of Strolling Past Bob Dole While Boarding a Plane

I’ve always found it strange to encounter celebrities in the “real world”. I recently saw Kim Thayil, guitarist for Soundgarden, in the parking ramp outside Safeco Field where the Mariners play. While he’s not Bob Dole, Soundgarden’s music has touched millions of people. I could have said something lame like, ‘Hey man, you rock!’ Instead I opted to walk on by because I didn’t have a clue what I’d want to talk to him about.

I’m surprised so many people were talking to him - I thought the general protocol was to stare long enough for them to notice you staring, then awkwardly carry on without speaking.

I saw Martha Reeves (from Martha and the Vandellas) getting off a flight from Detroit in Cincinnati Airport. No one else seemed to recognize her except the flight attendant, who made her promise him that she would sing next time she was on his route.

Don’t know if this counts, but a few years ago at LAX, I was waiting to check in for a Mexico flight and the incomparable Charo ("Coochie-Coochie") was holding court off to the side of the line. Posing for pictures. Signing autographs. I wanted to get my boarding pass signed, but by the time I checked my bag, Charo had vanished. Damn!

Again, I don’t know if this person counts as a celeb, but I recently had a very strange sighting while traveling.

In Santa Fe, New Mexico, at the Collected Works Bookstore, I overhear the counter clerk fawning all over someone I think is a customer. “Mam, we are SO HONORED to have you here! We’re HUGE FANS! Will you sign some books for us?” Turns out the author is Judy Blume. She wrote all those coming-of-age books for girls. Now, I’ve never bought a training bra or fretted over menstruation, and don’t plan to, but every female in that store had. And apparently Judy helped them through it. Man, they were going nuts. “Miss Blume, please tell us when we can expect your new book.” Mad love for Judy was in full bloom.

Finally…
Jim, don’t lie. We know what you said to Bob: “It was a pleasure voting for you, sir.”

Hey now, Judy Blume wrote coming-of-age books for boys, too. Just because you missed out on “Tales of a Fourth-Grade Nothing” doesn’t mean it didn’t change a lot of young boys’ lives, TambourineMan…

I once saw OJ Simpson while teaching SCUBA in the Hilton’s pool in Key West.  My students and I watched him limped away and then got back down to the business of watching floating band-aids and hairballs circulate around the pool.

I think you did the right thing, Jim.  I wouldn’t have anything to say to Bob Dole either. 

As for your question...I think the situation varies with the celebrity:  Bob Dole should get a polite head nod.  OJ Simpson a concerned glare.  Jimmy Buffett a hand shake etc…

Sorry, Eva. All I remember is ridiculing my little sister while she read “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.” Cruel, I know.

I’ll put “Fourth Grade Nothing” on my reading list. It’s not too late for me.

It’s never too late for “Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing,” Tambourine Man.

Perhaps you’ll identify with Fudge.

Fudge, huh? Smells like an insult to me. You better hope I don’t buy this book.

I was in an elevator once, and as the doors were about to close, heard a “Hold that door, please!” and in strolled Bob Dole.

He cracked jokes and pleasantly greeted each of us on the ride down, and then wished us all a good day.  Ranks up there as the best elevator ride I’ve ever had.  He seems like a really amiable guy - I would have at least said hi to him on the plane, he would have appreciated it.

When I was a newspaper intern in DC in ‘95, I rode in an elevator with both Bob Dole AND Sonny Bono at the same time! This was much more interesting than my airplane ride with members of Concrete Blonde, especially since I had no clue who they were at the time.

Sonny was cool, Bob was courtly (and I sang I Got You Babe after they stepped off..)

This is getting ridiculous. Am I the only person that hasn’t ridden in an elevator with Bob Dole?

I defo would have made a simpsons crack to Bob!