Lawsuits and controversy be damned. Perez Hilton is going to keep launching lasers with his laptop. Everyone’s favorite flamboyant celebrity blogger, born Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr., has shot to Internet stardom with his tell-all Web site where Perez breaks news, skewers pop-culture stupidity and generally has a good time at the expense of the rich, famous and spoiled.
Naturally, a man with rapidly evolving neon hair colors in such high demand has to travel a lot to keep up with his growing fan base and to make his increasingly busy appearance schedule. We managed to seize a few minutes of his precious time to hear about his various homes on the road.
Q: You’re from Miami. What would you tell a visitor to Miami to check out while they’re there.
A: Hmmm. Good question. I would just say find a nice hotel that’s within your budget and then don’t see anything.
Q: Seriously?
A: Yeah. There’s really not much to see! Just relax and enjoy the weather and enjoy the beach. That’s the great thing about Miami. It’s so relaxed. It’s about having a fun time and a weekend getaway.
Q: Wait a minute. No all-night clubbing in South Beach?
A: No. I wouldn’t recommend any clubs in Miami. It’s kind of changed. If your intention is to go clubbing, go to Las Vegas.
Q: OK, fair enough. So what’s your favorite place to take a vacation?
A: My vacation destination is London. That’s my favorite city in the world. I want to definitely go to Argentina and I want to go to Hawaii, but I keep going back to London.
Q: How come?
A: Well, I love the fact that it’s huge. You can fit a bunch of New Yorks in London. It’s massive. And I love that. I grew up in Miami, which is very suburban, and London is one of the most urban cities in the world, but not urban industrial. It’s a very old, rich city, and there are so many options. I look at it this way: In America, New York is the capital of finance, Washington, D.C., is the capital of government and Los Angeles is the capital of entertainment. London is all of that for the U.K., which makes it just this amazing, magical city in terms of interest for me.
Q: And one of those things is nightlife, no doubt.
A: Absolutely. In L.A., there’s probably 60 gay bars, and in New York there’s maybe 100. In London, there’s maybe 300. It’s insane. It’s what New York used to be. And my favorite parties in London are the ones that are polysexual — straights, gays and cool kids. It’s like New York in the 1980s where everyone would get dressed up to the nines and go out and have a sense of community, where they would try to outdo each other every week. It’s fantastic.
Q: You’ve been all over the place lately, jumping from city to city, country to country, appearance to appearance. Do you have any solid travel tips for the all-too-frequent flier?
A: I usually try to only fly at night. That’s when you’re supposed to sleep anyway. And I’m guaranteed to sleep on the plane. As soon as I hit that seat, I am asleep. Also, everybody should sign up for a miles program immediately. It took me a really long time to do it, I did and it’s the best thing ever. It’s wonderful to be able to upgrade. It’s great not to have to sit in coach.
Q: Do people in airports and on planes know who you are yet?
A: They’re definitely starting to. It’s easy to recognize me because I always have crazy colored hair. On one flight, a flight attendant was a big fan of the Web site, and she kept talking to me. It turned out that she knew stuff about celebrities that I didn’t even know, so I gave her my secret e-mail address. Thankfully, people are usually really nice, except for when they’re celebrities. Then they’re not so nice to me.
Q: One can only imagine ...
A: Well, sometimes they’re actually cool and they tell me they love the site, so that’s nice. I saw Mario Lopez on a Southwest Airlines flight, and he said hi to me.
Q: What can you positively not travel without?
A: My laptop, obviously, but if one breaks, I’ll just buy a new one. Otherwise, I’m really easy when I travel. I don’t stress and wonder if I didn’t pack this or that, because I figure I’ll buy whatever I forgot whenever I get to wherever I’m going. I think it’s healthy because I don’t stress. The only thing is that my hotel has to have wireless. I hate hotels with no wireless because I want to be able to work from bed. Also, it’s really important to have really nice sheets on beds. I’d rather be in a small, small room in a super-comfy bed with super nice sheets than in a big room with OK sheets.
Q: Alright. One last one. Where does Perez Hilton absolutely have to go someday?
A: I’d love to go to all the clichéd places: Egypt for the pyramids and Jerusalem. I’d love to go to Cuba because that’s where my parents are from and I’ve never been. Those are the three places I have to go to before I die.