Go-Girl! Women Pee Standing Up!

So here's something you just don't see everyday -- a silicone device that allows women to pee standing up.

It's called GoGirl and it happens to be produced, marketed and sold right here in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

I just can't help but blog about the GoGirl. That's because I already blogged about the subject over a year ago. Back then my post was about a device called P-Mate. It also was a "female urinary device" that would allow women to pee standing up. It, too, was from right here in the Twin Cities.

This new device, the GoGirl, differs from the P-Mate in that it is made of silicone instead of cardboard. The GoGirl is reusable whereas the P-Mate was more of a one-time-use sort of thing.

Apparently the GoGirl is going great guns, selling all sorts of inventory. Well, good for them.

I, however, have a different question: What is it about the Twin Cities that has produced two companies selling basically the same product -- and a strange one at that?

Kiva Feels Good

I can't believe people are already gearing up for the holidays.

It really does seem like Christmas just happened not so long ago. And now it's about to happen all over again? Yikes!

It occurred to me that I had an unused gift certificate lingering still from Christmas '07. One of my girlfriends gave me a credit through Kiva, a nonprofit organization that sponsors micro-finance projects all over the world.

People from developing countries apply for loans to help them start up their business projects. Through the Kiva web site you can contribute part of the requested money (or all of the requested money) to help get these people started.

After spending half an hour online reading through several loan requests in various countries, I decided to use my Kiva gift certificate to help fund a small group of women in Vietnam looking to start a livestock business.

The process was easy, paperless and feel-good.

If you're already starting to think about holiday gifts, consider Kiva, especially if you're shopping for a hard-to-please traveler.

As I sorted through the all the loan requests on the Kiva site, I found myself narrowing the list by searching for countries where I have personally seen the need.

Hey Girls! Pee Standing Up!

Ladies, you know how it is. You have to go really, really bad and there's not a toilet in sight. Or there is, but it's nasty, raunchy and downright gross. What's girl to do?

Squat, right? But what if you haven't been keeping up with those visits to the gym?

You've never really wished you were a guy, but dang! Sometimes, don't you wish you could pee standing up?

Now you can!

Yesterday I had coffee with Jamie Holland, the spokeswoman for P-Mate, a little cardboard device that lets women pee standing up.

If you're a traveler willing to seek off-the-grid spots, chances are you've run across some pretty unusual bathroom situations, like this photo -- a Japanese bathroom submitted by a P-Mate user to the Pee Standing Up Blog.

Taking my own travel experiences into account, I can remember several times when a P-Mate would have made it easier to maneuver a hole-in-the-ground toilet.

But really, how easy is it to use?

Well, after my 16-ounce latte, I had enough liquid in me to find out. I arrived home from our interview bursting at the seams. "Wanna watch me pee standing up?" I called out to Quang as I sprinted past him to the bathroom with a P-Mate in hand.

"What?" he yelled. "No way!"

He didn't make it off the couch to come and watch, which was probably a good thing. As I'd never used a pee-standing-up device before, I was nervous about my aim. His watchful eyes might have caused me problems.

But I did it! I peed standing up! With the P-Mate, it was easy. And clean! Turns out, there is nothing wrong with my aim!

Too bad the snow in these parts is almost gone. With a P-Mate in hand, I'd be able to write my name in the snow. Oh well. I guess I'll just settle for the pack of P-Mates Jamie gave me and the knowledge that I can bring them with me the next time I venture off the grid.

Check out this P-Mate promotional video. It's sure to bring a smile!

Sweet Sleeps Sky High

If you think you love someone, if you think you've found that special person you're supposed to spend out the rest of your life with, travel together.

You'll find out real quick whether or not you can stand to be around each another for the long haul.

If you're far from home, if you're out of your element, and the only other person around for miles and miles that speaks your language is the exact same person that you've been staring at for the past 72 straight hours (or the past week/month/whatever), sooner or later, no matter how in love you think you are, that person is going to become the most annoying person on the face of the planet.

Through travel, I have learned that my husband can fall asleep and stay asleep in seriously any location.

To me, this is most annoying. Especially on a plane. No matter how tired I am, no matter how much I just want to close my eyes and fall asleep, I can not. Not on an airplane.

Perhaps even more annoying than his ability to sleep anywhere, is his obsession with his travel pillow. Where's my pillow? Where's my pillow? he frets aloud while packing for any trip. He's more worried about that dang pillow than he is about his toothbrush or underwear count.

And as soon as we take off - heck, sometimes even before we take off - he's propping up his neck, covering his eyes, pulling a blanket or jacket around his face and suddenly, so suddenly, snoring away.

I used to sit awake and stare daggers into his sweetly slumbering body but I've learned that doesn't do any good. He sleeps right through my evil glares, and anyway, what sort of karma am I bringing upon myself by staring down my husband as he sleeps?

Instead, on this most recent trip, I actually supplied him with this cool contraption called Plane Comfort.

It's an uber soft, fleecy blanket, a blow up pillow and a pillow case all packaged into one tight little bundle. He loved it!

Since it was ours and not the airline's, I was able to throw it in the washer and know that it wasn't carrying any cooties.

And beyond that, I thought that perhaps, by letting go of my sleep-deprived airplane aggression and letting my hubby snooze, that perhaps I would recover some cosmic, karmic points.

This Year's Favorite Gift to Give

This holiday season, my favorite gift to give was something I found online: BaZura luggage tags.

The luggage tags are made in the Philippines from recycled juice boxes.

School children collect the empty juice boxes and sell them to a woman-owned cooperative that reuses them to produce handbags, tote bags, luggage tags and a bunch of other nifty stuff. The finished products are fairly traded.

What a cool way to keep bulky stuff out of landfills, teach the concept of recycling and help women in a developing country avoid sweat shops in favor of entrepreneurship.

Not to mention the fact that in a world flooded with black suitcases, everyone needs a quick and easy way to spot the exact one that is theirs.

Need Magazine: Ideas for Giving

It's snowing here in the Twin Cities and this morning I wrapped myself up in a thick blanket with a pot of coffee and the newest issue of Need Magazine, which is published right here in Minneapolis.

If you've never heard of Need Magazine, that's because it's quite new. It's only been around for a year. Its tagline sums up its mission quite well: "We're not out to save the world, but to tell the stories of those who are."

As a traveler, I'm drawn to the magazine because many of its articles are about far away places.

As a reader, I've found I appreciate the layout -- lots of white space, nice color photographs and good writing.

In this issue there is an article about several nonprofit organizations that do good in various parts of the world. I learned about Nothing but Nets, a group that buys and distributes mosquito nets in Africa to help prevent the spread of malaria. Just $10 buys and ships one net.

There is also a nice profile about a man named Jorge Chojolan, an indigenous Mayan man who overcame poverty and started The Miguel Angel Asturias Academy, a school for 200 children in Xela, Guatemala's second largest city.

And if you're still on the hunt for a unique holiday gift for a traveler you know, I think a subscription to Need would be a great idea.

For the Traveler Who Has Everything

Struggling to find the perfect holiday gift for that traveler on your list?

Here's an idea: The new world traveler ring.

A Hawaii couple came up with the plan and there are a couple different versions to the ring. You can buy it to feature a map of the world and then you can choose to have that map ringed in diamonds. Seven diamonds of course, one for each continent.

The rings are made by Jostens (a Minnesota-based company no less). If you ever had a high school class ring, chances are Jostens produced it.

* Photo © Patrick L. Roherty Photography, LLC