Travelling……… to go or to wait?

‘I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.’ Henry David Thoreau

Thanks to the wonderful anonymous person who suggested this next travel topic, when completing my survey from June 2024.

I wrote a note in April, about the Great Dunny Hunt in Australia (click on link below). Note on Voting favourite Toilet

Cistern Chapel Toilet

You may also recall my interesting experience on the train in Africa and my chuckle about the nun having to squat over holes in the ground whilst probably having her habit thrown over her head to prevent any unsightly, smelly spots. Revisit Issue #2 to be reminded.

All jokes aside, often finding a handy clean toilet whilst travelling can be an issue. I know whilst in India and China, we would take it turns in sussing out a public toilet and then rate it for fellow travellers, before taking the leap of faith and venturing in.

I read an interesting article by fellow Substack writer HiTravel Tales about ‘paying to pee’ and would thoroughly recommend the read.

Being forced to pay to pee when traveling gets me a little 'pissy'

What’s in a name?

Loo – The upper-class British author Nancy Mitford first put ‘loo’, meaning toilet, into print in her 1940 novel ‘Pigeon Pie’. People have put forward different theories about its origin, but none is conclusive. Perhaps the most plausible suggests the source as Waterloo, a trade name for iron cistern in the early 20^th century. A popular, but unlikely one, not least because of the discrepancy in date, refers it to gardyloo, a cry used in 18^th century Edinburgh to warn passers-by that someone was about to throw dirty water or slops out a window into the street. It is based on pseudo-French gar de l’eas ‘mind the water’ (real French gare de l’eau) Another French phrase is behind a third suggestion, that British servicemen in France during the First World War picked up liux d’asiance – places of ease, used for a toilet.

Toilet – You would not dream of putting what you wear in the toilet, but a toilet was originally a cloth used as a wrapper for clothes or a covering for dressing table, from French toilette ‘cloth wrapper’. From the first meaning developed a group of sense relating to dressing and washing and attending to your appearance, now rather dated, which is also expressed in French for toilette. In the 18^th century it was fashionable for a lady to receive visitors during the later stages of her ‘toilet’, which led to used that would cause misunderstandings today, such as this by the dramatist Sir Richard Steele in 1703: ‘You shall introduce him in Mrs Clerimont’s Toilet’. People started using the word for dressing room, and in the USA, one with washing facilities, but it was not until the early 20^th century that it became a particular item of plumbing, namely a lavatory. Americans often use bathroom in a euphemistic way to mean a toilet, as in ‘I have to go to the bathroom’.

^The origins of words and phrases.

Latrine. The word Latrine has its roots in both Latin and French. It comes from the Latin word for wash, 'lavare'. Over time, this Latin word evolved into 'lavatrina' which was then shortened to 'latrina' before eventually becoming 'latrine' courtesy of the French people in the mid-1600s

Some slang words - crapper (taboo, slang) dunny (Australian, New Zealand, old-fashioned, informal) people who don't wash their hands after using the dunny. water closet. khazi (slang)

The WC - Still in use today, the abbreviation WC stems from the term “water closet” which is what we used to call toilets in the Victorian era.

Outhouse or backyard dunny - The little sheds in each back yard are outhouses. "Dunny" or "dunny can" are Australian words for a toilet, particularly an outhouse.

You’ve probably waited long enough now and I will excuse you for a toilet break, but please come back and read more.

National Public Toilet Map Australia

So in Australia if you want to find a toilet – download the toilet finder app

This app provides information on over 19,000 publicly available toilets across Australia, including accessibility, opening hours and facilities.

The HogeNood app is the most reliable toilet app in the Netherlands. With more than 9,500 verified locations, you can fully rely on the app. It is therefore no coincidence that the app has won several awards at home and abroad.

Flush Toilet Finder is a great bathroom locator app that works all over the world, including Africa. Simply open the app and it will display the nearest toilets to you.

WC Rome is the App that helps you to find public bathrooms in the city of Rome. With the map you can see easily what are the public toilets near you. For each public bath are indicated days and opening hours and additional information to help you find it.

GoHere^® helps users find washrooms across Canada by mapping: the closest available washrooms to where you are, or available washrooms along a planned route, for instance on your commute to work, road trip, or when using public transportation.

Sit Or Squat was developed by Charmin to help you find a public restroom near you, wherever you may be (even traveling outside the US). Boasting 100,000 listings, this app has you covered, and is easy and free to use.

Squat or Not allows you to rate and review public restrooms as if your life depends on it (because let's face it, sometimes it does). No more guessing which public restroom to avoid, or walking into a less-than-pleasant surprise.

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So now you have all the answers before you travel, not only pack some tissues/toilet paper but download the app most appropriate to where you are going. You will then be at ease and hopefully have no unpleasant accidents.

Lastly, whilst I was travelling in India, everyone in my group was talking about the shortage of toilet paper in Australia and to bring some home with us. Why you might ask? I can’t give you a valid answer, but COVID had just spread its wrath and there was a shortage of toilet paper on the supermarket shelves. Having recently just recovered from a bout of COVID, I can’t say that it impacted on any of my ablutions.

Toilet paper – the unsung hero of the bathroom, always there to wipe away your troubles and keep you feeling fresh. Don’t take it for granted!

Also, as a teenager who was used to using a flushing toilet (even if by a septic tank) I was very angry with my parents when we moved to Gladstone in the mid 1960s and the house had a backyard dunny as the sewerage system hadn’t been installed!

Fun fact - the first flushing toilet was invented in 1596. It was built for Britain's Queen Elizabeth I by her god son, Sir John Harrington. It is said that she refused to use it because it was too noisy. The first patent for the flushing toilet was issued to Alexander Cummings in 1775.

So whether you are sitting on a padded, heated seat or squatting over a hole in the ground, you now at least know where to find one. And don’t forget the toilet paper!