It’s a little gross, but when I travel I find myself fascinated by toilets. Before I’d traveled to many places I had assumed that they were the same everywhere. It sounds pretty basic. But, as I quickly learned, assumptions can be wrong. From places like Ecuador and Peru where you don’t flush toilet paper to places like Japan where the toilets vary from highly technical bidets to porcelain holes in the floor.

I started this post because I was surprised again. I found this self-lining toilet in the airport in Chicago during one of my layovers.

It just goes to show that cultural surprises can be closer than you think.