The Field Guide to Facilities at the Terminal...
Airport Restrooms
Let the other travel gurus tell you where to go and what to see. They can cover the best places to stay and the top restaurants. Mr Wanderfool is going to help with what really matters when you travel: Navigating the airport bathrooms like a pro.
Cleanliness and privacy are the key criteria in determining the best pre or post flight restrooms to visit. Join the select few who are NOT:
- Forced to hold their breath or walk on their toes
- Pressured by the silhouette of a distressed soul waiting outside the stall door
- Thrown off their game by an adjoining cell phone talker
Be aware there are variables. Like urgency. Did you just deplane from a 12 hour window seat flight next to two sleeping passengers? Guzzle coffee and/or use all your free beverage tickets? Drink the water in Mexico? If these factors are in play, you do not need to read further or weigh options. Sprint to the closest restroom from the gate.
Ah but that’s exactly what not to do if time is on your side. This is especially true if you were seated in the back of the plane and last to get off. Bypass that first bathroom and the one after that too. In fact keep on trucking all the way to the exit/baggage claim area. No one has the fortitude to wait for that one. As such it’s the cleanest and most vacant facility on premises. An oasis.
Airport Bathrooms
What if it’s a layover? Baggage claim is out of the question. What’s the pro move? If you have access to a lounge that’s your best bet by far. Is it worth burning a free pass ticket just for a clean potty? Probably not…unless you are in Cancun (see airport restroom reviews).
Two story airport? Seek an upstairs facility.
Notice a corridor without much passenger activity? Head that way. If you intentionally target the wing occupied by the airline on strike, you are elite status.
Are you an envelope pusher? Do you only look out for number 1 when it’s time for number 2? This is highly controversial but most airports do have the family restroom option. As a matter of travel blogging ethics, I only suggest this in a truly precarious situation. Say an overcrowded Charlotte or again Cancun. Just be warned: if mama bear is waiting to change little one’s diaper, you will be face the wrath. Please don’t tell her Mr Wanderfool sent you.
