To All the Friends I’ve Made in the Bathroom

There’s something magical and mysterious beyond that threshold.

It’s an unlikely meeting place.

But I believe the bathroom is somewhere that elicits true human connection.

The women’s bathroom is a sanctuary.

Something happens when we cross that threshold. It takes our guard down and brings us to the most human level.

I was at a market/café near the border of Montenegro and Albania a couple years ago, making a pee stop and giving my motorcycle a rest.

The workers and patrons of the shop looked at me quizzically when I walked in. They could tell I was a foreigner.

Plus, I was a woman on a motorcycle.

All of them looked perplexed and a little suspicious.

I ordered something at the counter and went to find the toilet.

I wandered into the bathroom in my dirty jeans, riding jacket, and dusty tennis shoes. I was still wearing my motorcycle helmet.

After I relieved myself, I came out of the stall and was face to face with 12 Albanian women, dressed elegantly in long flowing floral dresses and beautiful white headscarves.

They were all waiting to pee.

And you know what? None of them looked at me funny. They barely looked at me at all. I was just another woman using the bathroom.

As I was trying to find a soap dispenser that worked, a woman who had just exited a stall moved aside so I could use the one at her sink.

After I got paper towels, I motioned at the dispenser to the woman next to me who was looking for it.

In the bathroom, we are all the same women.

I’ve been at serious business events filled with stiff crowds, and ritzy places where all the women are just sizing each other up constantly. I remember many nights at bars and clubs in my hard-partying days, where most of the girls were just giving other girls the side eye and making sure no one was trying to steal their boyfriend.

But in all these places, as soon as you hit the bathroom, all that nonsense goes out the window.

People look you in the eye in the bathroom. They make random small talk.

Everyone is nice.

There’s camaraderie.

And everyone is your friend, even just for that moment.

It’s a place to check in with yourself. Give yourself a little pep talk. Or slap on some lipstick confidence. Its a special place.

I love the bathroom and everyone I meet there.

Why can’t there be more places like it?

Thanks for reading my writing! I travel the world looking for myself, connection, & beautiful places. I am currently building 🌴The Beachy Brunette to share travel tips, & ✨Sacred Solace Society to share spiritual practices I’ve picked up along my journey.

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💌Love, Ellise