Toilets
Toilets
Going to the toilet on the road. I've read lots about all sorts of methods that people come up with to go to the toilet on the road. Stories of buckets, going to the toilet using plastic bags or in a kitty litter type sand. Okay, fine, that's all right for some. For me I figure if there's one thing you have to fork out for it is a porta potty. They cost about $100-$125 new in Australia. You can occasionally pick them up at garage sales or on eBay for about $60-80. They do tend to hold their value. If you can get hold of one of these, living in your car will be a lot more bearable than almost any other method of going to the toilet. If you can get hold of a porta potty it will make you life so much easier. They generally have a container to store wastes in, a container for flushing water and air tight seals to keep the smells inside of the container. They are usually easy to empty and have been designed to prevent spillage.
I have had to use a bucket to go to the toilet in a car before once when camping on an overnight trip to Sydney when I got the runs. It was not at all pleasant. I wasn't very impossible, but it was not pleasant. The bucket was half filled with water and I did have toilet paper but it was not all that easy. If you can get hold of a porta potty. it will make you life so much easier. They generally have a container to store wastes in, a container for flushing water and air tight seals to keep the smells inside of the container. They are usually easy to empty and have redesigned to prevent spillage.
I've read of some people who live in cars, both male and female using a funnel attached to a small hose to pee in. The pee drains out via the hose and a partially cracked open door. I've even read of one person who used this method but drilled a small hole in the bottom of his van for the pipe to drain out of. If it works, then by all means use this device. It would only cost a few dollars to make. It could be easily hidden inside the vehicle and if you use a small bottle of soapy water to rinse it out, it would remain fairly odorless. The main issue would be keeping the funnel level and not peeing at a rate too fast for the funnel and pipe to handle. This device could be used by both males and females with practice.
I have had to use a bucket to go to the toilet in a car before once when camping on an overnight trip to Sydney when I got the runs. It was not at all pleasant. I wasn't very impossible, but it was not pleasant. The bucket was half filled with water and I did have toilet paper but it was not all that easy. A variation on this is to have a bucket half filled with saw dust or sand and bury the shit. I've never tried it myself.
I have also read of some car dwellers who pee into a small bottle and later empty it when they can. This would obviously be easier for males than females. Wide mouth bottles like the Gatorade or fruit juice bottle seem to be ideal. Of course you don't want to use that bottle for anything than a pee bottle.
Some car dwellers don't have any real toilet facilities in their cars. They opt instead to park within close distance to public toilet facilities, or to pee in the woods. I could imagine that such an arrangement would not be too easy. Ensuring privacy would be difficult. Having to hold it when it was not convenient to leave the car or to pee in the woods would be a major inconvenience. It also could have some health implications.
