First Ever Guest Blogger! What Toilets and Travelling Have in Common

Hi, I’m Miri from Germany and I’ll be guest blogging today for our new best Canadian friends Jason and Sarah. It might sound a bit weird talking about “best friends” (Canadian or not), when you find out that we only spent two days together (also Jason and Sarah actually are the only Canadians we know… ). But let me tell you, you will soon find out why this does make sense.

We met them in November in Botswana at an incredibly breath-taking place called the Chobe Bakwena Lodge. Jason already took you there in his blogpost (in which, by the way, he never even mentioned us. Bloody good best friend, eh?!).

But first things first: the toilet thing!

We met Jason and Sarah the day we checked into this marvellous, luxurious lodge in Kasane, right after my husband Manu and I returned our rooftop-tent-camper-van, in which we had been travelling through Africa for the previous 17 days. Getting back to comfortable accommodations was an incredibly good feeling as I am not the most passionate camper (although this whole roadtrip-living-outdoors experience in Namibia and Botswana was absolutely amazing). If you understand German (or if your browser has a translation function), visit our blog to read about our adventures!

The most important reason for our obtaining “best friends” status with Jason and Sarah is that I (like Jason) have strong feelings about toilets. Specifically I don’t really like sharing. I’m not high maintenance but having a clean and private toilet is something I consider to be priceless. Well actually, not priceless… On our first honeymoon roadtrip through Western Australia – also in a camper van without any facilities – we purchased this practical travel toilet for the very affordable price of 35 dollar-adoos. Just look at it. Can you imagine how luxurious this was for me on this trip and how much hilarity was billed to this “thing”?

I should mention the plastic disposal bags were not solid white like on the box but transparent.

So the four of us met and we were a perfect fit – like a toilet seat to toilet porcelain or like “Arsch auf Eimer” as we used to say in Germany. Having the same interests (toilets! but also Kebabs and traveling) and the same sense of humour is most probably the best base to build a friendship on. Have you ever heard someone say: Hey, our relationship is based on a mutual love of toilets?

So, what about the travelling? Why do Manu and I love to travel so much? First, it’s because of all the experiences, adventures, breathtaking landscapes, wild animals, and exotic food, the things that are stunning and so diversified in every single country. Second, it’s because of the people: the locals that open their homes and hearts for you and tell you their stories and secrets.

Jason took this photo! 

And then, there are these other travellers, like-minded people you meet along your journey and that might sometimes become friends. A good thing about travelling is that you develop a pretty refined sense of human nature and it helps sharpen your gut feeling. It’s this feeling as if you have known someone for a long time, although it’s the first time you’ve meet. I like to call it “friendship at first sight”. We had that feeling when we met Jason and Sarah.

So finally, what is the proof that, in fact, we are (best!) friends? Well, true friends know what’s best for you, right? With that in mind, it recently came to my attention that Jason and Sarah assumed that Manu and I would prefer to spend the final night at the luxury lodge with them and a bottle of free champagne instead of being pampered by the lodge in private with a special dinner for our second honeymoon. And then (without any consultation!) they proceeded to make their assumption a reality!

We may never know if this story is actually true, but in the end it doesn’t really matter as Manu and I would have made the same decision anyways. Or maybe it does matter, because now that I think about it, Sarah and Jason now owe us a special dinner the next time we meet! Maybe a Kebab…

If you want to read more about this (and other) shenanigans, check out Jason’s guest blog post on our Professional Travel Magazine Website (it’s mostly in English!)

Miri
https://teilzeittravels.de
Jan 11, 2019

PS: The pics in Jason’s Botswana Post are not as shitty as he thinks, but if you want to see more, feel free to visit our Botswana post!