I’m from the US. While I have travelled to locales where they are commonplace, I never actually tried one. When lockdown and the tp crisis started, however, I purchased one online. I now hate having to use any lavatory that doesn’t have a bidet.

Q - Doesn’t it feel weird? A - No. Some people are worried that it may feel sexual. It doesn’t. It’s just a localized shower on your ass, which is something you hopefully do regularly.

Q - Won’t it just push detritus away from the epicenter and make a mess? A - It can, if the bidet has narrow spray. Mine does this. Just do a quick shimmy that makes the jet draw a decreasing radius spiral.

Q - Doesn’t everything get wet? A - Some bidets have air dryers, but in the absence of, yes. Keep tp in the lav to address this. The quick wipe to address this still saves a ton of tp.

I did some travels in places where bidets are common, here’s my take:

• Egypt - basically a brass pipe targeted at your hole, everyone shitting oh it - no for me
• Italy - standalone, you have to jump over - impractical, takes too much space
• Japan/Korea - toilets from space, heated seat warm, water and dryer - comfy, but you need electricity, and if it fails, expensive
• Finland - a shower attached to the toilet’s water intake - just cold water, but it’s fine, that’s the easiest to install and use

Imagine you get your hands covered in sticky filth. Do you wash them at a sink or just wipe them off with some paper and call it good?

Why do any different for your ass?

You should also know that if you do this, when you go on vacation you are going to have one seriously sore butthole until you get home again.

I’ll never understand how people live without a bidet.