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Traveling can be eye-opening—that's why we do it. Hello, profundity. Okay, so that lede was about as revelatory as 'eating food can make you full—that's why...' But hear me out—because the fact that traveling exposes you to foreign languages, customs, ideas, etc, etc doesn't limit you to the role of an observer.
It can also expose you to new ways of conceiving of your daily routine—traveling makes for a fine opportunity to examine your own instincts, habits, and customs in contrast to the culture you're visiting. And it gives you a prime chance to reevaluate just how environmentally taxing your daily life back home is.
Case in point: I've been wandering around Thailand for the last few weeks and among the many, many, many other discrepancies between American norms and the Thai culture is the fact that if you enter a bathroom, there's about a 98% chance there's not going to be any toilet paper inside.
Americans are already squeamish towards bidets—for some reason, wiping our butts with paper is less unseemly than washing it with water—but in Thailand, you don't even get a proper bidet. What you do get is a little pressurized hose that comes out of the wall next to the porcelain hole (I should mention that seat-style toilets are a bit of a rarity in many places too) you've just done your business in, and sometimes a bucket with a sort of plastic bowl inside. I'm still not entirely sure what that's for. I'm not sure I want to know.
Point is, most western travelers I've met carry around a spare role of toilet paper to combat this supposed malady—and I did too, at first. And then I went for it. You just aim the nozzle, pull the trigger, and that's that. The best part is, it really works. A couple bursts of well-aimed hosing, and you're good to go—and you're paper-free on the pot. Nary a virgin forest has to suffer on the account of your butt when traveling in Thailand. That should be a t-shirt slogan.
And I've gotten used to the idea of doing it indefinitely now—the Thais don't have any problem with it and they do it day in day out, and they're very hygienic people. And my rear quarters have been cleaner than ever. It's made me serious about springing for a bidet when I get back home. Using one is simply not gross—in fact, I think using the bidet (yes, sans toilet paper) is simply more effective than dry paper.
So next time you travel, especially to a place with a radically different set of cultural values, put out the feelers—even if a custom seems unseemly. It could just be a stark difference to the norms you're used to back home that's triggering your trepidation. And chances are, if that home is in America, people elsewhere have some greener ideas about routines than we do. Embrace them; you might be surprised how easy it is to adapt.
More on Green Traveling:
Green-Travel Network
Make 2009 the Year of Green Travel
Are You a Green Globetrotter
How to Go Green: Spring Break
Got a tip or a post idea for us to write about on Planet Green? Email pgtips (at) treehugger (dot) com.
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