Conversations You Have Whilst Travelling

Travelling and volunteering and just generally larking about across the world having fun is great! For all the obvious reasons. It is great because I get to meet amazing people. And that’s great because I get to have great conversations.

I also get to have conversations whilst travelling that I wouldn’t have at home.

Here are just a few of the things that are regular discussion points:

• Shower etiquette and technique – do you wear a skirt / dress that you can drop over your head so you don’t have to do the thing of trying to balance on one leg on unbalanced wet bamboo trying to get a damp foot into a dry trouser leg without dropping the trousers and without tumbling backwards through the tarpaulin onto the ground in front of everyone (unfortunately I don’t, but that is the best argument in favour of a skirt that I have ever heard).
• Best ways of using a bucket shower, heating water, obtaining light if required, etc, etc.
• Whether one should use tap water to brush one’s teeth (no).
• Digestive health – this is a really big one. Back home I could go for several years having no idea of the state of the digestive systems of my friends, here, I am familiar with many of the gory details for people I have only met very recently, with very regular updates.
• Toilet facilities – what are they like, is there toilet paper or a bin (no problem, I have tissues and a spare nappy bag in my pocket, would you like to use them), is there water, is there light, is there somewhere to hang / put a bag, is there soap, is it a squat toilet or a western style toilet, does the flush work (do you need to open the cistern and pull the little handle / push the little button; or do you just dump bucketloads of water down the bowl); is there a door; does the door lock; does anyone have change for the toilets; do you need to collect toilet paper from the person on the door before going in; how far till the next available toilets just in case they are likely to be better; etc; etc; etc.
• Sleep environment and good sleep hygiene – use of ear plugs and face masks; hanging towels / blankets etc to act as a light / noise / privacy shield; which way up should I put my air mattress (hint, put the fuzzy side down so that the smooth plastic side doesn’t spend all its time noisily slipping over the plywood board); who are the people who snore the loudest and most consistently; do I snore; does sighing heavily count as snoring; does the light from my phone screen bother you; etc.
• How many live animals were on / in the bus / taxi / jeep / van etc.
• Whether a particular restaurant / café has any / all of the items that its menu claims.
• How much should that three wheeler journey cost so I don’t get massively ripped off.
• Whether the tourist fee that you have to pay to visit a cultural site is required if you’re just scooting round the side to go to a nearby restaurant.

And of course all the usual things: hotel recommendations; transport tips; bus station locations; tourist sites worth seeing; ATMs that work; etc etc.