Toilets
Photo: Joadl, CC BY-SA 3.0 at via Wikimedia Commons
The daily need for a toilet can be a frustrating challenge for travellers. While you likely know where public toilets are (or where they're missing) in your home town, this is not the case when traveling to places you're unfamiliar with. When visiting different cultural spheres, you may actually not be able to identify toilets or know how they work.
UnderstandEveryone Poops While one of human's most basic needs has to be taken care of no matter where you are, the way it is actually done can differ wildly from place to place, sometimes even within one country.
TalkSince it's such an essential need, along with "please" and "thank you", one of the first phrases any traveler should learn in the local language is "Where is the toilet?".
LocateDepending on where you are, finding an appropriate place to go can range from easy to arduous. This may be a real problem in the night, when most places are closed.
PayWhile in some countries toilets are available free of charge almost everywhere except in the wilderness, in other places you will be expected to pay, following the old Latin saying "pecunia non olet" ("money does not…
DoAlthough pictorial signs showing the correct way to sit on a toilet (such as the one above) may seem laughable, they stem from a genuine lack of knowledge.
CleanThis is a fairly common way to cleanse one's bottom. You're probably already familiar with it.
WashAs any doctor can tell you, washing your hands is an important step to prevent the spread of germs.
RespectPeople will need to use the facilities after you. Please leave them in a usable state as you would like them to be for you. Clean up after yourself in every way you require.
Stay safeEventually children become old enough to use public toilets unsupervised, but there's no agreed-upon age at which this happens; depending on the parent and child it could be any age from 4 to 10.
See also
Sources and licences
- Guide text adapted from the Wikivoyage article "Toilets" by its contributors, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikivoyage · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo: Joadl, CC BY-SA 3.0 at via Wikimedia Commons