Ok, I know the topic might be problematic for some people, but we need to bring it up. I’m talking about bidets, and more in general about hotel and airport bathrooms - which should have their own separate ratings on Google Maps.
As a passionate traveler - and incidentally, a woman - I’ve been struggling for years with personal hygiene when traveling. You may already know where this is going, fellow girls out there: yes, I’m talking about our period. Is it acceptable, in 2019, to be planning our work week, our trips and timetable based on whether we’re going to have our period or not, that specific week?
Since my answer was “no, that’s not acceptable,” i’ve recently set off on a 20-hour and 3-flight journey across the ocean on my first day of period. Bad idea. I won’t complain about plane lavatories, because we know that that’s a disgrace for just about anybody. That being said, the current conditions of airport restrooms are nothing short of uncomfortable, too. There’s room for improvement, for sure.
First of all, many restroom doors open towards the inside; how is a person supposed to be comfortable, if s/he has to drag a suitcase and countless personal bags inside?!
Secondly, there’s a very limited space to be comfortable changing a pad or - God forbid! - a menstrual cup, like I had to do. That leads to women spending a much longer time in restrooms than men when a few small changes could drastically improve our overall experience.
The situation is slightly better in hotels, but only because I can take a shower. Flash news: a woman shouldn’t be forced to take a shower every 2 hours or less just because she’s got the period.
My point is that modern technology should be able to provide solutions such as the Japanese-style toilet with several extra functions, or even a regular bidet like the ones we have everywhere in Italy.
I’m a bidet activist, and I won’t stop until I see a bidet in every restroom!
And since we’re at it, I will also campaign for a drastic change in American showers; you should be able to regulate the amount of water, in addition to the temperature. Honestly, we don’t need to be flooded by hot water or lightly touched by ice cold water - we should be able to regulate that!!