Enjoying Camping and Hiking While on Your Period

There’s nothing quite like the great outdoors – breathing in fresh air, walking in nature, and camping under the stars at night, nothing beats it! However, during your period, you need to take certain factors into account while camping and hiking that accommodate your period as much as possible. The following looks into these certain factors and finds the best solutions, so that you end up having the most “period-stress-free” adventure as possible.

Creating as Little Waste as Possible During Your Period While Camping

When on your period you will often turn to tampons and sanitary pads as solutions for absorbing your blood. However, these need to be disposed of every few hours, creating a lot of trash that’s actually bad for the environment.

When camping and hiking, it’s irresponsible to change pads and tampons and leave them out in the natural environment. That’s why the best solution is to use something reusable that collects blood for at least 12 hours, and that’s where a menstrual cup steps in.

The Benefits of a Menstrual Cup While Camping and Hiking

Menstrual cups need to be inserted, and once full, emptied, rewashed, and inserted again – simple as that. You can go camping and hiking without the worry of leakage, or having to stop in the middle of your hike to change anything – menstrual cups can be left alone for up to 12 hours.

Menstrual cups also don’t take up a lot of space. So, when you pack your bags and you know your period is on its way, or you already are experiencing your period, you don’t need to take a bulky pack of pads and tampons, or many pairs of period underwear that need to be washed. A menstrual cup is really the best solution!

The Best Menstrual Cups to Use While Camping and Hiking

Well, you will need to use a cup that collects a lot of blood and has a high capacity. The Venus Cup is an excellent solution. Not only does it come in two sizes, making sure that it fits everybody, but the largest size has one of the highest capacities of all menstrual cups on the market – 47 ml (the smallest Venus Cup has a capacity of 29 ml).

To understand how large a capacity that is, you just have to take a look at other cups, such as the Lunette Cup, which has a 25 ml and 30 ml capacity, the LaliCup which offers capacities of 27 ml, 36 ml and 40 ml, and the Yuuki Cup which offers capacities of 24 ml and 38 ml.

Here’s a handy menstrual cup quiz to take if you’re unsure which cup is best for you!

Washing Your Menstrual Cup During Camping

The great thing about your menstrual cup, is it doesn’t require heavy duty washing. You only need to boil and sanitize it between cycles. While camping, you can just take it out, empty it and wash it using a bottle of clean water.

If you happen to be in a camping park that has clean toilets and offers basins with fresh water, you just need to rinse it under those taps and insert again. There are also special wipes you can purchase especially for cups.

If you absolutely feel the need to sterilize your cup, you can place it in a collapsible silicone cup for sterilizing menstrual cups and storing your cup.

If you still have questions, such as “what is the main difference between sterilizing and sanitizing my cup?”, or even “how do I store my menstrual cup between uses?” you can take a look at these 12 Frequently Asked Questions regarding the sanitization and care of your cup.

Best Solutions for Period Pain While Camping & Hiking

If you’re afraid of period cramps and pain while camping and hiking, here are a few solutions to help with that:

• Avoid coffee and rather drink herbal teas like mint or chamomile
• Take pain killers that specially target the womb area
• Keep hiking to a minimum
• Stay hydrated by drinking a lot of water
• Apply a heating pad or hot water bottle to your womb area

Conclusion

There’s no need to cancel your camping and hiking trip if your period starts, or you know its on its way. Just have your menstrual cup ready to be used when needed, and your trip should carry on as normal, be hassle-free and as fun as possible!