Young Brunette Girl Sunbathing With Sunglasses On The Beach With A Towel In The Sand

• A towel may also be used during a massage. Usually to cover up the buttocks (for a back massage) or any other private part, on the human body.
Appearances in popular culture
• Towels played an iconic role in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. They are described as the most "massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have," an example usage being to ward off the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal. The fictitious time/space traveller and Guide Researcher Ford Prefect uses the idiom "a hoopy frood who really knows where his towel is" to mean someone generally alert and aware. Some fans of Douglas Adams have seized on this idea, and towels are now considered a symbol of devotion to the Hitchhiker books, radio series, TV series, website, etc. Towel Day is held each year in memory of Adams.