Being Privy to Strategies for Finding a Restroom--Fast

You’d just as soon not talk about it. Or read about it. But when you and millions of other Americans travel, you leave behind the comforts of home--home plumbing, that is.

Finding a clean and convenient restroom when you need one may not be on the top of your list of hoped-for travel adventures. But it’s a challenge we all face.

Pamela Hirst was on her first trip to Europe, and not long after landing in Milan she emerged from the restroom of a historic church, obviously puzzled and embarrassed. “The toilet,” she gasped. “It’s only a hole in the floor.”

Hirst is my wife’s sister, and we had invited her to join us for two weeks in Northern Italy. She was of course impressed by the cultural sights of ancient Europe, but the story she invariably tells with the most relish is her first encounter with ancient European facilities.

This is the test of a true adventure. And so, in the interest of public comfort, I’ve compiled a list of strategies for negotiating a world with insufficient public restrooms.

My own oddest experience occurred years ago while crossing Afghanistan by bus. Bathroom pauses, as best I could judge, came only at the whim of the driver, who generally chose the open countryside. Stopping in the middle of the highway (thankfully lightly traveled), he waved the men to one side of the road and women to the other.

A colleague remembers how amused he was, a couple of decades ago, over making use of a French pissoir, the open-air public urinals for men that once were common on the streets of Paris. Standing at the pissoir, he could watch the passing crowd. And they could watch him--although just from the shoulders up and from the knees down. To him, the easygoing Parisian attitude was “liberating.”

In some countries, public bathrooms are still staffed by attendants, who expect a few coins as a tip. In developing countries, you also are wise to carry your own supply of toilet paper. I’m glad I heeded this rule a while back when I took the overnight train from Moscow to Leningrad. Even in my first-class car, no paper was provided.

Modern Japan is astonishing visitors with new high-tech toilets that will wash your backside with warm water, and then you can hit a button that starts the blow-dryer. On the opposite end of the technological scale, backpackers in America’s wilderness parks are being urged to carry out their body wastes in disposable bags.

Unfortunately, too many destinations that seek visitors and profit from them do not provide convenient restrooms. America’s cities are major culprits, and you usually can tell right away when public facilities are scarce. All the neighborhood’s bars and cafes carry signs in the window warning “our restrooms are for our customers only.” I find this rude, and I tend to shun these establishments.

But improvements may be on the way. In San Francisco’s popular Fisherman’s Wharf and Embarcadero areas, officials have installed a number of street toilets that are something of a modern-age version of the pissoir--with two big differences. They are fully enclosed, and they can be used by women as well as men. To enter, you insert 25 cents into a coin box. A door slides open and then closes behind you. To leave, you press an exit button. Between occupants, toilet and sink are automatically washed and then sprayed with a disinfectant. Not bad for a quarter.

But until these new devices become more widespread, how does a traveler find a clean, comfortable restroom with no cultural surprises?

* Look for the golden arches.

Throughout America, McDonald’s, Burger King and other fast-food outlets have become primary providers of on-the-road restrooms. They typically are clean, unlocked and readily found along major highways. And the management seems not to begrudge their use by anyone. I suspect that the presence of inviting bathrooms draws spur-of-the-moment customers who might otherwise have driven on by. Some offer diaper-changing stations.

The combination mini-marts and service stations that have sprouted up in recent years also offer restrooms, although they often don’t match the fast-food outlets in cleanliness.

A warning: Be wary of using roadside rest stops after dark or in isolated locations or places where there are few if any other motorists stopping. Assaults and robberies have been reported.

* Head for a hotel.

When exploring city streets almost anywhere in the world, a busy hotel is your best bet for finding a comfortable, well-supplied bathroom. Generally, it is near the public telephones, usually off the lobby. Or ask a bellhop. The more neatly you are dressed, the more eager the hotel will be to volunteer its bathrooms.

* Get literary.

In some big U.S. cities, bookstores have become almost as cozy as home, offering magazines to browse, coffee, cakes and clean restrooms. Barnes & Noble, a bookstore chain, is where I head in need in New York City, which is notorious for the scarcity of public facilities. Borders Books is also customer-friendly.

* Go shopping.

Well, not exactly. You really don’t have to buy anything. But you almost always can find a public restroom in any of America’s malls and large department stores. The same is true in Canada. The drawback to a store, however, is that the facilities may be located in an inconvenient corner. On the other hand, many of the newer, big chain department stores--including Wal-Mart, Kmart and Target--have prominently located public restrooms.

* Don’t forget the train station.

This isn’t much help in the U.S. because so few train stations are still in operation. But Europe is well served by trains, and almost every community of moderate size maintains a train station with generally well-scrubbed public restrooms.

* Step into a bar.

I’ve never come upon a bartender who questioned my use of the establishment’s restroom--even though I had to walk the full length of the bar to get to it, and I didn’t stop for a drink on my way out. If I’m aware that someone has noted my presence, I’ll offer a grateful “thank you.” It may help the next passerby get the same polite welcome I did.

* Keep your eyes open.

I tend to explore strange cities on foot, and my path can take me far from ordinary tourist haunts. When in need of a restroom, I look for any public place--a courthouse, city hall, a university lecture hall, a municipal auditorium, a city park. In a foreign country, the door is usually unlocked; however, in security-conscious America, you might be out of luck.

In Philadelphia recently, a long morning jog took me far from any of these alternatives. Where could I go? Why, just down the street to a small construction site, where I spotted a couple of portable toilets.

Christopher Reynolds is on assignment.