Road Trip 2020 More Adventures! — What's All This Buzz About....

In my last blog, I had not yet reached my daughter’s house in TN. I thought I might stop in or near the little town of Bonnie, Illinois, but it was only 4 pm when I drove through there and I wasn’t ready to check into a hotel. There was not a hotel in Bonnie but there were some not too far away. So I made the decision to keep driving! I had about 4 or 5 more hours to go and I thought I could push through. In retrospect, not the wisest choice. I arrived in Columbia, TN by 9:30pm and was beyond tired. The last leg of the trip was plagued by rain, darkness and construction on route 24 into Nashville that felt very precarious with all the truck traffic and single lane roads! Yikes! I was grateful that there were no accidents or delays and super relieved to arrive safely!

One aspect of camper van travel that I am still figuring out is the bathroom choices. My friend Leisa suggested that I write about my bathroom accessibility observations on my trip. I find it difficult to stay well hydrated when I travel because I never know when I will encounter a safe, clean rest stop along the way. Fortunately, I seemed to find a rest stop that was open most of the time I needed one. Most rest stops were open and clean, but most did not allow dogs, so I was leaving Charlotte in the van briefly. It wasn’t hot, to temperature was not an issue. The first rest stop in Idaho though only had a long line of porta potties that were not especially pleasant. That is when you need a “female urination device” that allows you to stand to urinate when you are in that “I don’t want to sit on that toilet seat” situation. I had one with me but forgot where I packed it! Darn.

The most remote rest stop was somewhere in Utah on a long stretch of road in the middle of nowhere. There was a small building with a non-flushing toilet- basically a toilet seat over a large hole. Grateful for the availability.

Another handy purchase is something called “Travel John! disposable urinal”, or pee bags as my grandson and I call them. They are a small plastic bag with a conveniently shaped opening that allows collection of urine without spillage and the bag contains a powder that instantly turns into a gel when the liquid comes into contact with it. No spill no mess! You just throw it in the trash can like you would a baby diaper. It took me a while to use one for the first time, I guess I was not being an early adopter on this one, but once I tried it for the first time, I never want to travel without them! Why didn’t I know about this sooner in my life! On my trip through Missouri, I had stopped at a gas station to fill up with fuel, use the rest room and then drove a bit further to find a Chick-fil-A. Then I realized I needed another bathroom break and I didn’t know where I would find the next available stop. So I found an area of the parking lot that was empty, got into the back seat area of the van, and gave the pee bag a try. My windows are very tinted and it felt comfortably private. Truly amazing!

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The pee bags have also been a life saver when I have been staying in my van on family’s property. Who wants to wake everyone up by traipsing into the house at 2am to use the bathroom, when you can use a pee bag instead? It’s the thoughtful thing to do and so convenient!

When I was looking at camper vans over the years, it seemed to me that the presence or absence of bathroom facilities in the vehicle was never very clear. It just wasn’t talked about. So I was left with the thought “so what do people do when they need to go to the bathroom”? There are some campers that have a flush toilet of sorts and then that requires a holding tank, or black water tank. this has to be emptied at designated areas in certain campgrounds. I haven’t had this experience so I’m not speaking as an expert here. My van does not have a toilet or a shower. It is up to each owner to decide what sort of portable toilet they prefer to add. I wasn’t sure what I wanted and I did some online research to try to figure it out. I like simple and small, something that doesn’t take up too much space, and that isn’t complicated to take care of. At home we had purchased a luggable loo, which is a 5 gallon bucket with an attachable toilet seat, for our earthquake prep supplies. You then use “double doodie” bags inside the bucket when you need to go, one bucket for pee and another one for poop. Then you can add some coconut husk to help with the odor and seal the bag and dispose of it after use. So I considered that kind of set up for my van, but it seemed like it would take up too much space.

Then I happened to find this collapsible potty that folds up into a small round disc shaped package and it can also be used as a stool. I love stuff that has more than one purpose! So that is what I decided to do. It also requires disposable bags. And it is not complicated to use. I have not had the opportunity to try it out yet, but I can already see that it will come in handy at the park with grandkids when the public restrooms are closed! (Thanks Covid)

Now I am in Columbia, TN. It is a super cute, small town, about 45 miles south of Nashville. My daughter moved here 3 years ago because Nashville was getting more and more crowded and busy and real estate prices were getting higher and less affordable there.

Next time I will fill you in on small town Columbia!

Hope you found this fun and helpful for your future travels.