How to have a hassle-free, low-waste period wherever your travels take you.
As it becomes easier for people to work remotely, countless nomads are hitting the road and traveling for longer chunks of time.
If you’re beginning van life or planning an epic adventure of your own, here are some tips that will make your period much easier to manage along your journey!
Options for Managing Your Period While Traveling:
- Menstrual Disc
- Menstrual Cup
- Period Underwear
- Reusable Pads
- Disposable Pads or Tampons
Our Best Tips for How to Handle Your Period While Traveling
Keep Backup Wipes or Washcloths
Showers can be scarce in nomad van life, so to help you feel fresh when you’ve got your period, things like washable wipes can be a lifesaver. Heat up some water on the stove to get clean with a warm washcloth, then just wash it when laundry day comes.
Pro tip: Gym memberships are one-way van dwellers get affordable access to more frequent showers. They’re worth looking into if you’re visiting populated areas often enough!
Emptying your Cup or Disc During Your Period
If there’s no tap nearby - it’s fine to empty your period cup or menstrual disc and then wipe it out with toilet paper or rinse it with bottled water. If you need to empty your cup or disc in nature, just dig a small hole, tip the contents in and cover. Menstrual blood makes great fertilizer.
Sanitize Your Cup Between Periods
Properly sanitizing reusable period products is important but can be more challenging when you’re on the road.
To sterilize your menstrual cup between periods, submerge it in rapidly boiling water for three minutes. Check out our whisk hack here! If you don’t have a way to boil water you, can use a shaker cup with a specialized sterilization tablet.
Allow Yourself to Take it Easy
Dealing with things like period cramps and being cranky are hard on a whole other level when you’re living in a van. You won’t have all the comforts of home or even being inside, hell you might not even have access to Netflix. Bee gentle with yourself and don’t sweat the small stuff. beat yourself up if you’re not feeling top-notch.
Keeping a few comfort items like a hot water bottle or a heating pad can help you feel a lot better when you experience period discomfort as a nomad. Extra chocolate never hurts either.
Why Menstrual Cups and Menstrual Discs Are the Best Option for Nomads and Van Life Travel
Budget-Friendly
The cost of menstrual products really adds up when you’re using disposables and road trip travellers know how fast the cost of van life adds up on its own. Menstrual cups are major money savers! Your one-time investment when you purchase will last you for up to 5 years of periods.
Switching to a menstrual disc or a menstrual cup for all your travels is super budget-friendly. They are reusable for years, saving you heaps of money but also doing better things for the planet than disposal, turtle-chocking tampons and sanitary pads.
Storage Savers
Menstrual cups and discs take up a fraction of the space of even a single box of tampons or pads. Plus a single period cup or disc will last for years - not just a single menstrual cycle. When you’re living or traveling in a small area like a Sprinter van, saving space is a top priority. One box of disposable products may not be enough to get you through your period anyway, especially if you have a varied or heavy flow.
Eco-Friendly and No Smelly Trash
Choosing a reusable period cup or menstrual disc is the best way to have a low-waste, eco-friendly period. Each Hello Cup™ or Hello Disc™ saves the equivalent of over 2,000 tampons or pads, and creates zero waste from packaging like applicators and wrappers used for disposables.
Using a menstrual cup or disc also keeps trash out of your van or camper, saving you space and avoiding unpleasant smells that disposable products can hold onto. No trash produced means no trash to the landfill, doing your part to save the planet too!
Long Term Protection and Less Leakage
Menstrual cups and discs are safe to wear for 8 -12 hours of leakproof protection before having to empty it. Since Hello Cup™ are the makers of the world’s most comfortable menstrual cup, you can go all day or sleep through the night without noticing it’s even there.
You can also keep your period cup in while you pee, making it easy to squat and go in different outdoor locations when public bathrooms may be scarce. A bonus of menstrual discs is that many people find they ‘self-empty’ when you pee. Crazy, but true.
Perfect for Every Flow
Instead of keeping super products and light products for irregular periods, switch to a menstrual cup or disc and have one product that meets all your period needs! Menstrual cups and discs are perfect for every flow, from heavy periods to light days and spotting. They collect your period blood rather than absorb it so they don’t dry you out on light days.
On vacation or on the road long-term, menstrual cups and menstrual discs are the number one choice for saving money and reducing plastic waste if you plan to travel on your period.
Whether you’re taking a short trip or ready to dive into full-time solo van life, your period will be joining you on the journey. There’s no perfect solution since camper van living doesn’t include all the comforts of home, but traveling with a menstrual cup or menstrual disc is one small way to make a BIG difference in your adventure. Period.
