I love, love, love traveling. I am experiencing, and learning more than I ever imagined. In the past few years, I’ve skied the Alps, strolled the Great Wall, snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef, stood on the Acropolis, enjoyed the view from the Eifel Tower, touched a glacier, floated in a Gondola, and now gone on Safari. I recently tasted Haggis. That might be an experience I’ll be trying to blot out of my memory banks for quite a while.
I’m a long way from done though. I still need to walk where Jesus walked, see firsthand where Paul traveled, stand on Machu Picchu, view the Galapagos ……
No matter how much I travel, at some point in the journey I begin to long for home. I guess it’s reconnecting with the people we love, and being in a comfortable place (even if our Iowa winters are horrible). There is one other thing though, we in the U.S. have the best toilets in the world, and the importance of a comfortable place to do what we all need to do every day cannot be overstated.
Here are some of the things I have come to appreciate about American Toilets:
1. You never have to pay.
2. There is never a female attendant in my men’s restroom expecting me to do my business while she’s there.
3. We value personal space and privacy when placing our urinals.
4. By international standards, our restrooms are clean; no day long toilet tours to find one Rhonda will actually use.
5. You are not expected to bring your own toilet paper, and when you are done with it, it always goes in the toilet.
6. You don’t have to choose between a big button flush, and a small button flush, neither of which will provide adequate water to get the job done anyway.
7. No squatting is required
8. In Japan, where you are lucky enough to find a western style toilet, you may have to choose between an electronic array of choices that could include, heat, spray, vibrations, music …. not sure what all the options were. I’m not that good at technology, or Japanese, “Arigato”.
9. Our sinks have modern mixing valves. You can adjust the water temperature and don’t have to choose between scalding hot, or glacial cold.
10. Drying hands is expected, paper towels are provided.
O.K., I know you’re not feeling sorry for us because we are on such an amazing tour of the world’s toilets. If you want to visit amazing places (and their toilets) join us on an upcoming adventure. There are lots of places to go and experience so you better get started. Don’t worry about the toilets, we’ll let you know what to expect, and they’ll give you something to look forward to coming home to.