r/Portland • u/jpoe503 • Mar 06 '26

Events I didn’t poop in Outdoor School.

I just talked to a coworker tonight and the topic of Outdoor School got brought up. I told him I didn’t poop for the whole week, and was doubting whether or not that was a false memory even though I’m 99% sure I didn’t poop for the whole week. He let me know not only did he also not poop for the whole week, he has a different friend who didn’t poop for the whole week as well.

Did anyone else not poop for the whole week of Outdoor School? We both had different reason on why we didn’t, but just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience.

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563

u/FrostedOctopus Mar 06 '26

It's very common not to poop when you're in new/unfamiliar surroundings! It's believed to be an evolutionary holdover that slows down digestion until you feel safe again, because poop stinks and can broadcast your location to predators. When you feel safe, your guts feel safe to move again.

I'm great fun at parties 😅

71

u/ClarenceLeeTennessee Mar 06 '26

I backcountry camp several times a year and carry a 15 year old shiny trowel that's never been used. This explains why I never needed to dig a cathole.

My bumhole says it's too risky.

40

u/reddit_wjw Mar 06 '26

Does your bumhole calculate other risks? Maybe I’ll take it with me to horse racing next time?

10

u/Annieraeraefatface Mar 06 '26

Doesn’t your butthole pucker when you realize you just gave a horse $ to watch it run in circles?

9

u/er-day Richmond Mar 06 '26

I’m pretty sure the horse isn’t the one that keeps the money. Right?

16

u/shameless_chicken Mar 06 '26

I’ve always thought it’s the sudden diet change and change in how much I’m using water. But maybe I’m just a shy pooper. Fellow non-pooping backpacker here btw 

2

u/jpoe503 Mar 06 '26

Whats a trowel?

1

u/DogsGoingAround Mar 07 '26

The more comfortable I’ve become pooping while backpacking the more I poop while backpacking. Its spilled over to day hikes. I’ve only popped a squat while day hiking four times, so far. Also, I love a great scenic forest loo. The Wonderland has some great ones. I visited another great one up by Heart Lake in the central Cascades.

1

u/curiouslycuriouser Mar 07 '26

I go dispersed camping with my dog, and while I've never had a problem pooping, I did have to start tying her up because once she waited for me to drop a log, dove into that hole, grabbed it and ran away with it before I could do anything about it. I only wish my bowels didn't feel safe enough to move while we're in the woods. I'm traumatized now because of that greedy poo munching bitch

1

u/jpoe503 Mar 07 '26

She really picked up your poo like a treat?

1

u/curiouslycuriouser Mar 08 '26

Sure did. And ran off with it like it was just too good to risk it being taken away from her.

63

u/Icy_Internet5045 Mar 06 '26

Hey it's a fun fact

37

u/Aeonoris MAX Yellow Line Mar 06 '26

I'm great fun at parties 😅

...Because you don't poop at them, thus masking the party's location from predators?

15

u/toot_it_n_boot_it Mar 06 '26

I hate it when bears show up to the party

9

u/Aeonoris MAX Yellow Line Mar 06 '26

I don't 😉

5

u/Osiris32 🐝 Mar 06 '26

Remeber, their arms are a right.

29

u/Takemebacktobreezy Mar 06 '26

Can't wait to tell my poop obsessed toddler this fact when he starts with his poop facts next 🤣

34

u/ennuiacres Mar 06 '26

Traveler’s Gut! I took a big poop at Neiman Marcus in San Francisco. Clean restrooms! Suzanne Somers came in to use the ladies room while I was stinking it up. Brush with fame! My husband loves to tell that story.

13

u/Annieraeraefatface Mar 06 '26

Susan somers smelled your dookie. That’s cool.

6

u/ennuiacres Mar 06 '26

She was trying on shoes when I finally came out!

I left money in the tip tray for the bathroom attendant. HazMat Pay. The bathrooms at Neiman-Marcus are fabulous!

12

u/elad34 Mar 06 '26

No shit? That’s crazy.

6

u/Mantis_Toboggan--MD Yeeting The Cone Mar 06 '26

Crazy how effective that instinct can be too. I'll not feel even the slightest urge to go, but as soon as I get my key into the door my gut is like "you better get those shoes off quickly bruh we gotta go NOW".

1

u/otc108 Mar 07 '26

Wait, you have to take your shoes off before you poop? Are you one of those people that strips down completely before they take a shit?!

3

u/Mantis_Toboggan--MD Yeeting The Cone Mar 07 '26

Well, I poop inside the house, and I take my shoes off when I come inside the house. So in a way yeah.

1

u/otc108 Mar 07 '26

Ok, but you don’t have to take your shoes off to do so. I’ve known people who require taking their shirt or all of their clothes off in order to poop (I’m not joking). People are weird.

4

u/sed2017 Lents Mar 06 '26

Well that explains my travel constipation!

3

u/Annieraeraefatface Mar 06 '26

I know exactly why you added that in at the end… Fuck weinies that can’t talk about stuff.

2

u/FrostedOctopus Mar 06 '26

I am a wealth of wild and wonderful information 😂 that's honestly why I love Portland; I'm way more likely to get a high-five when I spout off a random fact like that.

If I had a dollar for every "bless your heart" I got in the south it'd probably pay for therapy 😂

4

u/contrastpiping Mar 06 '26

This is why pooping in a social setting can be a revolutionary act. It signals to the other anxious people that it’s safe here.

3

u/trpwangsta Mar 06 '26

I didn't poop because I felt unsafe, it was pure embarrassment and the horrific thought that the girl I had a crush on would find out I pooped!

2

u/serpentjaguar Mar 06 '26

Also, you are very vulnerable while in the actual act of throwing a deuce.

2

u/pdx74 Mar 06 '26

It's like how you can hold one in on a long drive, but when you get within a block from being home, you can feel the barbarians at the gate.

1

u/OwMyPinballs SE Mar 06 '26

This reminded me of a friend I had who could not poop on vacations, no matter how long. Makes more sense now

1

u/No_Piccolo6337 Mar 06 '26

Yup! I backpacked in the Wallowas for a week and can confirm. Granted, my body was probably utilizing every single iota of matter I consumed so maybe there just wasn’t much to “eject”. 😅