I love to travel. If I had my way, I would live on an airplane and see as many parts of this planet as possible. And while I have been many places, there is one particular friend of mine that has traveled more places than not only myself – but everyone else I know. From South Africa to Amsterdam to Australia to Dublin to Italy to France to Stonehenge – there are very few places on this Earth he has not been. While the fact that a friend of mine travels a lot does not seem out of the ordinary – it does when he is an eleven-inch tall South Park plush doll named Stan.

The original “Roaming Gnome,” Stan is the traveling companion of my friend Arthur who lives in England. Wherever Arthur goes, Stan goes with him – and Arthur goes everywhere. What is great about Arthur is that when he comes home from his travels, all he has is photographs of Stan and the sites they both saw. In fact, Stan even has his own website, www.travellingstan.com, which brilliantly documents Stan’s many world-wide adventures.

When I first met Stan, I was amazed at how much attention he received. Everywhere we went, people would ask about him – and even volunteer to take pictures with him. I remember two incidents where Stan actually took pictures with some celebrities. The first was when I took Stan, Arthur and some friends to see Beauty and the Beast on Broadway, and went backstage to meet the cast. As soon as we met the actress who played Belle – Arthur immediately handed her Stan and asked if she would take a picture with him – and to my amazement – she did so without any questions. Stan also took pictures with the entire crew of the Ron & Fez Show, which aired on 102.7 WNEW FM – and again, all did so without wondering why. Besides the famous, Stan also has pictures with his good friends, complete strangers – and world famous landmarks – which include Stonehenge, the Eiffel Tower, The Sidney Opera House, the Empire State Building, The Golden Gate Bridge – and of course – Buckingham Palace.

Traveling so much has certainly taken its toll on Stan. He frequently needs to be cleaned in the washing machine, and has needed his feet replaced from walking across the globe so many times. But no matter what ails him, Arthur is always there to fix him up, so they can be ready for their next adventure, which according to Arthur is in two weeks time, when he and Stan head to San Francisco on business.

I admire Arthur for being able to turn an inanimate object into an icon. In all my travels, I never would have thought to do something so unique and ingenious. He deserves a lot of credit for not only making me jealous of a “plushie” – but for being able to get so many people to join Stan for a picture that will forever document the “life” of an eleven inch world traveler.

See you soon Stan. Happy trails.