--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I sat on a toilet watching the water run…" description: "\"I sat on a toilet watching the water run thinking what an odd thing tourism is. You fly off to a strange land, eagerly abandoning all the comforts of h..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/726/bill-bryson-340_comfort_i-sat-on-a-toilet-watching-the-water-run_950119.jpg" --- # I sat on a toilet watching the water run thinking what an… ![“I sat on a toilet watching the water run thinking what an odd thing tourism is. You fly off to a strange land, eagerly abandoning all the comforts of home and then expend vast quantities of time and money in a largely futile effort to recapture the comforts you wouldn’t have lost if you hadn’t…” quote by Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/726/bill-bryson-340_comfort_i-sat-on-a-toilet-watching-the-water-run_950119.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/726/bill-bryson-340_comfort_i-sat-on-a-toilet-watching-the-water-run_950119.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/726/bill-bryson-340_comfort_i-sat-on-a-toilet-watching-the-water-run_950119.jpg) > “I sat on a toilet watching the water run thinking what an odd thing tourism is. You fly off to a strange land, eagerly abandoning all the comforts of home and then expend vast quantities of time and money in a largely futile effort to recapture the comforts you wouldn’t have lost if you hadn’t left home in the first place.” [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Tourism paradoxically seeks comfort while abandoning it, leading to wasted effort to regain what was never truly lost. **In simple terms:** Travel seeks comfort but often creates unnecessary effort to Key Takeaway Recognize and appreciate home comforts before traveling. Themes travel comfort paradox consumerism Mood reflective ironic Type observational critical When to use this quote - vacation planning - budget travel - homecoming - cultural immersion Key Concepts cultural critique psychology of tourism Questions to Reflect On - What comforts do you truly miss when traveling? - How can travel be more about discovery than recapturing home? A Different Perspective Tourism can also foster genuine growth and new perspectives, not just futile comfort chasing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abandoning Comforts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abandoning-comforts-1687984/) [Comfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comfort/) [Effort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effort/) [First place](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-place/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Futile efforts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/futile-efforts-69607/) [Home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home/) [Land](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/land/) [Lost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lost/) [Odd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/odd/) [Odd things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/odd-things/) [Quantity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quantity/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Sat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sat/) [Sat Toilet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sat-toilet-1687986/) [Strange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strange/) [Thing Tourism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thing-tourism-710523/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Time and money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time-and-money/) [Toilets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/toilets/) [Tourism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tourism/) [Tourism Fly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tourism-fly-1687985/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) ## Related quotes > [What an odd thing tourism is. 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And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-garland/the-thing-about-tourism-is-just-that-it-s-incredibly-powerful-it-s/) [Alex Garland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-garland/) > [The thing about tourism is that the reality of a place is quite different from the mythology of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-parr/the-thing-about-tourism-is-that-the-reality-of-a-place-is-quite/) [Martin Parr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-parr/) > [As people spin faster and faster in the pursuit of merely personal happiness, they become exhausted in the futile effort of chasing themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-delbanco/as-people-spin-faster-and-faster-in-the-pursuit-of-merely-personal/) [Andrew Delbanco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-delbanco/) > [To relinquish the futile effort to control change is one of the strengthening forces of true detachment & thus true love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-salzberg/to-relinquish-the-futile-effort-to-control-change-is-one-of-the/) [Sharon Salzberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-salzberg/) > [As a matter of selective necessity, man is an agent. He is, in his own apprehension, a centre of unfolding impulsive activity-'teleological activity.' He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thorstein-veblen/as-a-matter-of-selective-necessity-man-is-an-agent-he-is-in-his-own/) [Thorstein Veblen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thorstein-veblen/) > [I’ve seen all I need to. I’m going to go drink now in a futile effort to wipe away the memory of this debacle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/i-ve-seen-all-i-need-to-i-m-going-to-go-drink-now-in-a-futile-effort/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [No thinking being lives who, at some luminous point of his life of thought, has not felt himself lost amid the surges of futile…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/no-thinking-being-lives-who-at-some-luminous-point-of-his-life-of/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [When you consider it from a human perspective, and clearly it would be difficult for us to do otherwise, life is an odd thing.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/when-you-consider-it-from-a-human-perspective-and-clearly-it-would-be/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [Every time I finish a record, it's sort of feels like, "I can't believe that I'm hanging out and having a conversation, and people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hardwick/every-time-i-finish-a-record-it-s-sort-of-feels-like-i-can-t-believe/) [Chris Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hardwick/) > [It was difficult, and yet I was very eager to do it. It was a really odd thing. I really wanted to do that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-d-moore/it-was-difficult-and-yet-i-was-very-eager-to-do-it-it-was-a-really/) [Ronald D. Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-d-moore/) > [It's an odd thing when there is a fan page for my daughter who is not yet 13.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-depp/it-s-an-odd-thing-when-there-is-a-fan-page-for-my-daughter-who-is-not/) [Johnny Depp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-depp/) > [Fame is an odd thing. It bugs you a little bit, but it's really not bad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-corbett/fame-is-an-odd-thing-it-bugs-you-a-little-bit-but-it-s-really-not-bad/) [John Corbett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-corbett/) > [Don't give up on me now. I'm sorry. I guess that's an odd thing to say. Because isn't that what I'm doing? Giving up?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-asher/don-t-give-up-on-me-now-i-m-sorry-i-guess-that-s-an-odd-thing-to-say/) [Jay Asher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-asher/) ## More by Bill Bryson > [Most big companies don't like you very much, except hotels, airlines and Microsoft, which don't like you at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/most-big-companies-don-t-like-you-very-much-except-hotels-airlines/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“But Welsh spellings are as nothing compared with Irish Gaelic, a language in which spelling and pronunciation give the impression of having been devised…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/but-welsh-spellings-are-as-nothing-compared-with-irish-gaelic-a/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“Pantaloons were often worn tight as paint and were not a great deal less revealing, particularly as they were worn without underwear. . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/pantaloons-were-often-worn-tight-as-paint-and-were-not-a-great-deal/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [If you go out on the Appalachian Trail, you have to bring so much more equipment - a tent, sleeping bag - but if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/if-you-go-out-on-the-appalachian-trail-you-have-to-bring-so-much-more/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“The dining table was a plain board called by that name. It was hung on the wall when not in use, and was perched…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/the-dining-table-was-a-plain-board-called-by-that-name-it-was-hung-on/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“From almost nothing, France in four years built up an aircraft industry that employed nearly 200,000 people and produced some 70,000 planes. Britain built…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/from-almost-nothing-france-in-four-years-built-up-an-aircraft/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“Every twenty minutes on the Appalachian Trail, Katz and I walked farther than the average American walks in a week. For 93 percent of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/every-twenty-minutes-on-the-appalachian-trail-katz-and-i-walked/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“A diarist named George Templeton Strong recorded in the winter of 1866 that even with two furnaces alight and all the fireplaces blazing, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/a-diarist-named-george-templeton-strong-recorded-in-the-winter-of/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [Tune your television to any channel it doesn't receive and about 1 percent of the dancing static you see is accounted for by this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/tune-your-television-to-any-channel-it-doesn-t-receive-and-about-1/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [As a rule of thumb, I would submit that if you need to call your floss provider, for any reason, you are probably not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/as-a-rule-of-thumb-i-would-submit-that-if-you-need-to-call-your-floss/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [Nobody gets excited about the future at all, ever. 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To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/if-this-book-has-a-lesson-it-is-that-we-are-awfully-lucky-to-be-here/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) [Explore all 656 Bill Bryson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) ## More Comfort quotes > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [Don't take too much comfort in the fact that you're successful today because tomorrow could bring failure. There's no surety in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-savage/don-t-take-too-much-comfort-in-the-fact-that-you-re-successful-today/) [Michael Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-savage/) > [For many, the call to be a Christian can seem demanding, even overwhelming. 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