Mommy, where is the restroom? I have to go!

The most unanswered question tourists ask today: Where is the restroom?

Finding a place to go to the bathroom has always been a problem for tourists. For years fast-food restaurants and coffee houses were the only places with public restrooms. And today, many McDonald’s, Starbucks, Wendy’s, Burger King, Peet’s, and more are not all open to the public. However, many restaurants closed restrooms to anyone except clients. And that means far fewer toilets for the traveling public.

According to a Pew Research post, Brent Williams makes his daily deliveries around the city, and he runs into one persistent problem: “There’s almost nowhere to use the restroom. Restaurants and coffee shops that have shifted to carryout service won’t let us use their facilities.”

It’s hard to find any place where tourists can use the restroom, not to mention delivery drivers and the homeless.

We all have to go — daddy after his morning coffee, pregnant women, small children.

Finding public restrooms has long been a challenge. Finding a clean bathroom was an even more significant challenge. Women have perfected the ability to hover over toilet bowls. This means they never touch the toilet itself. However, their aim is not always perfect, and we all know how notoriously bad males’ aim is when relieving themselves.

We are instructed not to touch anything or as little as possible when using strange bathrooms while traveling. New studies claim that flushing a toilet causes a plume of germs to rise into the air. So, now we are told to wait at least a minute to let the germs settle before using the facilities.

…a new study underscores the potential risk, showing how flushing a toilet can send plumes of germs into the air.

PSA: Always put the lid down before you flush, if there is a lid!

Powerful hot-air dryers can be an issue, too. High-powered jet air dryers dispersed a virus up to 3 meters, a 2015 paper in the Journal of Applied Microbiology found. So use paper towels or just shake your hands.

What to do when you need to use a public bathroom. 

OMG!

The New York Times recommends the following. These rules were good at all times.

• Consider larger bathrooms with multiple stalls because they have more air circulation.

• If someone exits a bathroom stall or a single bathroom right before you, try waiting at least 60 seconds before entering — especially if the toilet seat lid is up, signifying more plume.

• Skip the paper toilet seat covers. They are likely placebos — we have no idea if they offer protection from bacteria or viruses — and they could easily be contaminated with toilet plume, so touching them with your hands could be a source of infectious transmission. (They are largely absent in other countries — we never had them in Canada, where I grew up, and when I moved to the United States they seemed so prudish.)

• Get out of there quickly. Chatting in bathrooms is the new smoking in bathrooms — it’s a relic of the past. If you have to open a door to exit, use hand sanitizer after you leave.

In public toilets, limit person-to-person contact.

National Geographic researchers and photographers use questionable toilets around the developing world. They say person-to-person contact is the leading disease transmission means.

“Using a public restroom, especially while taking precautions like maintaining physical distance from others and practicing good hand hygiene, is quite likely to be less risky than attending a gathering with people from other households.” That is the claim of E. Susan Amirian, a molecular epidemiologist at Rice University in Houston. She emphasizes that, “The major mode of transmission of any virus is person-to-person.”

Of course, Toilet Finder Apps help travelers in need. They range from sites focusing on the USA and the rest of the world.

What about the airplane bathroom?

Airplane bathrooms are some of the worst, according to many travelers. On a long flight, they may go a long time without cleaning. They’re also cramped, and the turbulence may lead to water or urine spray. However, cleaners can use new disinfectants regularly during flights. And planes are now cleaned more than ever, and the cabin air is changed every three or four minutes. Most experts feel airplane bathrooms are no worse than any other public toilet. Just be careful and wash your hands.

Some also say that passengers sitting in the aisle seat are in more danger. An unwell passenger may infect them as they walk down the aisle to the bathroom and back.

Featured photo by Syed Umer on Unsplash
Dirty toilet photo by Gabor Monori on Unsplash

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Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.