When nature calls

Something I thought long and hard about before we came here was the bathroom situation. Digging a hole would work just fine if you were staying somewhere for a few days. We actually did that for a while here before we got our toilet setup. But what is the solution for long term stays?

When you have five people doing it, it’s kind of hard to keep track of where everyone has buried what. Having a dog that likes to dig things up doesn’t help either!

So after putting our heads together we figured out something that works well for all of us.

We have 5-gallon bucket with a toilet seat lid and we cut the bottom of the bucket out. Then we dug a hole about 1 ft deep and made the diameter the same as the bucket so it fit snuggly inside. We formed a little bit of dirt around the base of the bucket and packet it to prevent our stool from sliding around or rocking back.

If you want, you could use a little cat litter after each sitting to keep the smell down. Once the bucket is full, we simply pull the it out and cover everything with the dirt we used to dig the hole, then repeat the process.

For cold evenings and nippy mornings, we have another solution. This method is for liquids only! A while back I found this nifty little portable car urinal that came in handy during my final stages of pregnancy. It also doubles nicely for camping so of course we brought it with us.

We have an oil funnel connected to a water hose inside our tent and the part that is outside is buried underground and spills out into a 1ft hole that is filled with various sized rocks and pine needles. I have the smallest rocks settled at the bottom of the hole and the biggest rocks on the very top. As we pour the liquid out from inside the tent, it drains into those rocks and the dry ground sucks up all the moisture. This is a great method because you never smell the urine from outside since the ground absorbs everything so well.

Be sure and flush your hose out with clean soapy water every once in a while

Whether it’s #1 #2 or #3… doing your business while camping shouldn’t be embarrassing or messy! I don’t know about you but one thing that will never get old for me is not having to scrub the bathroom. Yep, no mirrors, ceramic toilets or bathtub rings here!