Travelling Frogs try* wherever they go to respect the culture and behaviours of the places they visit. Often though it’s not really clear what to do, or what not to do. So the Frogs welcome initiatives like this one, from one of Japan’s most popular tourist destinations.
*with varying success, I suspect, despite the best of intentions
How did you welcome the New Year? Eating twelve grapes (one on each toll of the midnight bell) in Spain? Making as much noise as you possibly could when the clock struck 12 in France? Smashing chipped glasses or crockery against the front doors of your friends in Denmark? Letting off fireworks at the stroke of midnight in Germany? (as people do elsewhere, of course. But the Germans seem to be the most enthusiastic.) Ringing a bell 108 times at a temple in Japan? In Mexico, giving your friends and family a handful of raw lentils each to ensure good fortune?
Or maybe you decided on an early night, and woke up this morning* to greet what Travelling Frogs hope will be, for all, a joyful, healthy, and fulfilling 2019. Whether this year will take you travelling far or near, or on a personal journey, this traditional Irish blessing says it all:
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields,
and until we meet again
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
*(possibly feeling more alert than the late night revellers?)
I recently read an article* about toilets. Why, asks the author, does someone think it’s OK to close the lavatories after passport control at Heathrow’s Terminal 5? Why are decent toilet facilities so difficult to find? And it’s not just at Heathrow and not just in the UK. Why, in many parts of the world, aren’t public conveniences – well, convenient? (As for whether they are clean, tidy, well-designed or even safe – I suspect that lots of travellers have unsavoury stories to tell on that subject).
So, for any decision makers out there who happen upon this blog: think about toilets, and think about Japan. Japan has public toilets. Lots of them. Sparkly clean and tidy. In stores, on railway platforms, at the entrance to parks. In Tokyo’s (successful) bid to host the 2020 summer Olympic games the organisers pointed out that clean and available toilets are essential in welcoming the world….
And while the Travelling Frogs are campaigning for better public toilets – here’s another good idea, from Austria. This public toilet in Vienna is a delight. It was playing the Beautiful Blue Danube when I visited… What fun.
* by Tyler Brule, in FT Weekend. Tyler is editor of Monacle magazine and travels more often than most of us have hot dinners.
“When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends”
(Japanese proverb)
travelling frogs 