As I write this, we’re sitting on a ferry taking us from Uig to the islands of Harris and Lewis, just off the West coast of Scotland. Despite the beautiful blue sky, the sea is a little choppy, which resulted in an unfortunate visit to the bathroom for some of the passengers who’d just finished their breakfast (fortunately, not us). For reasons I can’t really explain, that reminded me of the bathroom in our hotel room at the Uig Hotel in Skye (excellent stay)…and the vast expanse of counter space we had there.
Here’s the thing: when we travel around the US, pretty much regardless of which hotel we stay with, there is usually plenty of counter space. We get it, the US has space, so we use it. On the flip side, when we travel in Europe, there is far less available space, and it’s often retrofitted, leaving barely enough for a tiny sink. When we lose this space, interesting scenarios result. Does anyone else fight with their spouse/significant other/travel companion for your ‘fair share’ of the bathroom counter space? Someone, please tell me I’m not alone with this. Consider: if you have 1 full counter, and 2 people staying in a room, logically, each person gets ½ the counter space, right? Right. Glad we’re agreed. And this works out just fine…except when we’re in Europe.
This reminds me of the single piece of marriage advice we always give when asked – have separate bathrooms. No joke.
Back to travel – What we’ve found is our friends across the pond seem, for whatever reason, to not value bathroom counter space as much as we do (read: at all), even if there IS space for it. And that often leads to…war. It’s a familiar scenario for us: we get to the room to unpack (we’re definitely the type that unpacks as soon as we get to our room, less stumbling in the dark later), and I put my stuff on my half of the counter and then move onto something else. Tasha comes in, sees what I’ve done, and proceeds to move my stuff to the smallest possible space on the counter and then spreads her stuff out across the majority of the counter. Frustration, expletives, and threats to throw certain items in the garbage ensue. Anyone else? Sound familiar? Yes? Okay, good.
Unfortunately, there’s not much to be done about this when you’re faced with only a pedestal sink worth of counter space. Just keep in mind that while traveling in Europe, counter space is a premium and sometimes doesn’t exist at all. As a result, some of our bathroom bags can hang up on towel racks/hooks (which are also scarce), and some stuff just doesn’t make it in the bathroom at all. We’ve definitely used a kitchen sink and a countertop stove as a second bathroom before in a tiny (amazing) oceanside pod in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. We make use of window sills, the edges of tubs, and Tasha has even managed to downsize to one instead of two bags (eye roll…honestly). Is this a big deal? No. Can it result in war? Absolutely. And in war, all bets are off, right? Surely the Geneva Convention doesn’t apply to spousal warfare.
I digress… More than anything, keep the potential lack of space in mind and plan accordingly for your travels. If traveling to Europe, try to condense as much as possible and come up with creative ways to access your things that don’t require laying flat on the counter. Don’t bring more than you need of any products, downsize your containers, and only bring things you truly think you will use (I might be thinking of how Tasha always packs makeup and NEVER uses it. To clarify, the issue isn’t with not using makeup, but rather packing something you know you’re unlikely to use when space is at a premium), and even consider what type of bag you’re packing into and whether it can be stored multiple ways. As we’ve said before, the better you plan before heading out, the smoother and potentially less cluttered your travel experience will be. And it might just save your marriage, too.
