there are quite a few variables on this. Pee won’t need a bag though. I thought this would be a good idea when we lived in woop woop in Oz, 1600KM road trips to the city with very little in the way of civilization. Never did bother but for the elderly that can’t squat it’s a decent option that you can keep in the car. You could put it between open doors on the side of the road for some semblance of privacy.
“No way I could last four hours,”
I would have said the same thing but I find with attention to fluid intake, I totally can.
I’m the opposite. Because of being a nurse (working 12 hours with maybe one break, some days with no bathroom break), I trained my bladder. Not saying it’s good for you (it’s not), but many days I never had a chance to drink a full glass of water and might only get a few minutes to scarf down a sandwich. Going to the bathroom was always my next priority, but something would always interrupt.
So DH and I did a round trip to Houston and back to look at countertop materials and I never used a public restroom (10-11 hours round trip). DH just shakes his head at me.
This issue, though, is quite the dilemma in terms of traveling.
I’ve decided to use interstate rest areas after reading this article. I will go to the last stall, before the handicapped stall, hoping it is used least. I will need to use hand sanitzer after washing my hands. My trip is 7.5 hours, so no holding it.
Only a little. I didn’t have to show tho. I think people should be as careful as they need to make themselves comfortable. Everybody’s situation and comfort levels are different. I didn’t understand why bathrooms are singled out. I know about aerosolized fecal matter. It is gross but not any more germy than someone’s sneeze. Or is it? I would be more reluctant to step in a room full of people than a bathroom. I would think viral count from oral fluid is likely higher than that of fecal matter. We have enough risks to worry about. We don’t need to invent more if that is the case.
I admit it…
I’ve used porta-potties during COVID.
We like to bike, and often they are the only option on trails.
So far I’m fine. I do use lots of hand sanitizer after I go.
ETA - I say this as a person who has not been into a grocery store since early to mid March. We all pick what risks we are willing to take.
@Igloo, sorry if I overstepped. I thought I caught some snark and I reacted defensively but maybe I misunderstood your tone. I don’t mind anyone saying that they’re taking certain calculated risks (I mean, maybe I should let up a bit too, my D certainly thinks so) it’s just the sarcasm I thought was behind the words.
Somehow I’ve thought that viruses in fecal matter would be more concentrated than in the breath but maybe I,m imagining that. Or the force of it being flushed in the air is more powerful than someone just breathing or speaking softly (not usually a lot of loud talking in public bathrooms). I have read some study finding that fecal matter can hang in the air for at least 18 minutes to several hours. I haven’t read up on bathroom transmission in several weeks, though. I’m open to new Or contradictory info if it is based on science.
I do believe in adhering to public health practices as much as possible though. A village I lived in for two years was right in the center of an Ebola outbreak a few years ago. The former Peace Corps Volunteer who had followed me in that village years later returned to establish a health clinic etc. During the outbreak the clinic workers organized the villagers to do health education outreach In Ebola prevention to surrounding smaller villages. Among other things, they established hand-washing stations (though no running water) to the entrances to all villages and made the hand-washing mandatory. That chiefdom (similar in size to a small US county) was the only area of that region of the country that did not experience any Ebola whatsoever. I don’t think it was a coincidence.
Oh, re a bathroom vs a room full of people, I AM envisioning a room full of people…those interstate rest stops full of simultaneously flushing toilets with no lids and people lining up to wash hands. Ther’s the the one-seatersin gas-station convenience stores but the air circulation in those tiny rooms is not so great!
@1214mom, I think I’d feel much better in a Porto-potty on a trail …No flushing, air vents to the outside, and probably more time between users.
We used the rest stop. Wore our surgicalmasks… washed hands. It’s fine, the chance of you picking up the virus by walking by for 2 seconds where someone just was is very small.
I read somewhere that the best places to stop if driving on the highway are the big truck stops because (a) they have to keep the truckers healthy so the bathrooms are. Supposedly kept very clean and (b) not as many women use those bathrooms.
D is (crossing fingers) just about home from an 11 hour ride home today from Outer Banks with her BF’s family. Only public stop was for gas and only at the pump. They managed to find “pee spots” without much trouble in nature.
I have to say, with so many doing this I might wonder if you might “see” others doing the same thing!
It seems like poorly ventilated restrooms may be an issue, but still probably an acceptable risk, for me, as long as you can go in and out pretty quickly without standing in a long line.
My issue now is more with just the lack of availability of restrooms. All kinds of places will sell you coffee or sandwiches or other takeout but all the restrooms are closed in our urban neighborhood. I thought it was difficult the other day just trying to combine normal errands the one day that I decided it was time to take care of some post office/banking/prescriptions/groceries type errands that I’d been putting off. The usual places where you could use the restroom if you bought something are closed. The library is closed. But it is far too urban and busy for someone like me to be peeing by the side of the road! It’s not like camping or hiking somewhere with a little bit of tree cover!
I understand that some of the interstate rest areas are open but too many trips I usually go on do not have any of those. I usually rely on places where you can stop for a snack or meal and use the restroom. So I am kind of waiting to have those places open up again.
Not to dwell on this but the restroom/bathroom situation is going to need some attention - the more things open up, the more the need for restrooms. What would be an answer to bathrooms being more “safe” for the general public? Less stalls open? Better ventilation?
At our offices we are putting kickplates on the doors so that you can exit without touching the door. We’ve installed completely touchless soap and water dispensers and paper towel dispensers. Our stalls have doors that go to the floor, and automatic flushers, so I guess you just go and then run!
We did consider the bathroom issue when we planned our trip. Planned a stop at a rest area roughly halfway. Wore masks. No lines. We were prepared to stop on the side of the road also (hand sanitizer, beach towel and car doors for privacy, toilet paper, zip lock bag, etc) We left home an hour after lunch and I did not eat or drink until we were within 20 minutes of our destination. No issues. I guess our radius of 4 hours would have gotten smaller if we had not gotten comfortable with the idea of one stop.
We’re driving home later today. On this portion of the trip we will need to get gas, so we’ve decided to do so close to where we are since VA’s dashboard has very few cases in the area. Normally we get gas at a notoriously cheap exit off I95, but knowing how PA’s hot spots are along the I95 and I81 corridors we’re avoiding that place.
Hopefully traffic will be decent to make it home in 4 hours. With going around DC involved, it’s been known to take 7 hours on a particularly bad trip. No traffic and no stops can get us from A to B in 3 1/2 hours, but generally that’s a pipe dream. We consider 4 hours great.