You’re adventurous, you’re courageous, you can go anywhere and do anything, and also you undergo a major physical event every month where for several days you experience pain, mood changes, and a body with critical need of a restroom on a regular basis.

You are a traveler who has a period.

If this describes you, read on for tips on this little-discussed travel feature.

If this doesn’t describe you, I encourage you to read anyway. You’ll gain insight into the experience of fellow travelers and tips on how to support them. You may even gain a little admiration.

Before starting, if you don’t know much about periods or how they work, here’s a guide to menstruation from Scarleteen.

Know your flow

If you have a regular cycle, it may be helpful to use an app or calendar to track when each cycle stage is likely to come. This helps with planning (though not as much as you may think — read further to know why irregularity is the norm while traveling). There are several free options. Just enter your data each day and let the app calculate when different parts of the cycle are likely to come.

For people who already track the cycle of their body: you likely know the flipside of periods. It’s that fantastic energy you get at other times of the month! There is a beauty in every season of a menstrual cycle. You can learn to understand and plan for each one.

Birth control users will have a different set of options for tracking and planning timing. Look ahead and be sure you have what you need to get through the days of your trip.

Learn what’s local

This speaks both to the environment you’ll be traveling in and the resources you’ll find there.

Environment

Your situation will vary by destination and also within countries. Just some things to consider:

• What is the weather like?
• Will I have access to a washer, dryer, or ventilated space to dry clothes?
• Is the climate arid enough to dry cloth quickly?
• Do I have access to bathrooms? How often?
• Are bathrooms private? Do they bathrooms have little trash cans?
• Do I have the right coins to pay to use a public bathroom?
• Does my lodging include the things I will want for comfort  (hot tub, shower, heat, electricity, ability to order food for delivery, etc.)?

By asking these questions and considering the timing of your period, you can organize a more optimal trip. For example, plan the 4-day hike and the 3-day spa experience for times you’ll feel more or less active.

Supplies

People have periods in the places you travel. I can almost guarantee it. Therefore, they have ways to handle their periods. Some basic internet research can give you information for most destinations, including whether people are likely to use tampons or whether you will mainly find pads. There are many period-having travelers blazing the trail ahead of us. Just search “period supplies [country name]” or “can i buy [product] in [country].”

I have found the following things very helpful to have or buy. The ones I need depend on the approach I’m taking, e.g., tampons, pads or cup. I try to carry just what I need:

• Period products
• Wet wipes
• Toilet paper
• Plastic bags that seal
• Aspirin

Where period products are concerned, in my experience, few options surpass the humble menstrual cup. Combine that with period underwear and you’ll find many stressors removed from your life.

Access varies. In one country, I found a wide array of products at pharmacies — very easy to access. In another, pads were the norm, and they did not have the style I prefer. In a third, I had to point up to a shelf by the ceiling, saying “Up there” haltingly in the local language. The clerk chose for me and handed me the products wrapped up discretely in brown paper. I usually stock up in cities, especially if I’m not sure of product availability in the place I’m traveling next.

Irregularity is regular

Sitting in an exam room on the fourth floor of a hospital in Saint Paul, Minnesota, she leaned in and said:

You know, I’ve  been doing this a long time. Science doesn’t really back this up, but I can tell you that irregularity with periods while traveling is very common. Especially for people traveling to the equator.

So sayeth my travel nurse, and so I passeth on to you. Consistency, timing, and just about every other part of the cycle can be affected by travel. For people attempting or avoiding pregnancy, this might include ovulation, too. Whether it’s the stress or some cosmic pull of the tides or earthly magnets or altitude, many of us experience a shift while traveling.

Our ability to understand our body’s signals can be affected, too, since our mood and physical status are likely different from our norm. (If your mood is already going up and down with travel anxiety, will PMS even register?)

Back in 2008, on my first international trip, I remember sitting in the bathroom wondering if I were dying. Now I just expect things to get wonky. It would be weirder if everything went as usual. Period irregularity is just your body’s way of saying, “Hey, you’re doing a very different thing right now, so I’m going to do different things too.”

Plan for a different pace

Once it starts, and however it goes, the period calls for our attention.

I have started to just take the period as a cue that things are changing for a few days. No struggling, just listening to what the body wants. I almost hear my body say, “Time to rest, relax, and find peace in the ways you can.” Sometimes that means I continue to be quite active, and sometimes it means I switch out the hike for napping on a patio. I center the needs of my body and honor the effort it’s making.

It’s a good thing to take a rest once in a while.

Forgive yourself

Critical to this ability to change pace is a constant readiness to forgive myself. Not that I’ve done anything wrong. But there is a voice of self-criticism that loves to speak up at times like these. I believe it’s a very American, capitalistic voice. “You aren’t doing enough. You are lazy. You aren’t taking full advantage of your opportunities here. You are a bad traveler.”

First — what even is a “bad traveler?” Who says there’s any right or wrong way to travel? I am equipped with the power to change the gauge on what a “good traveler” looks like. And taking care of my needs, even if I didn’t ask for those needs, is high on my list.

Second — This body absolutely deserves to be treated well and with compassion. This body that brings me to beautiful places must be served, held and honored. This is a high calling and each of us has the capacity to lean into it.

Be gentle

… with yourself

Be gentle and kind to yourself and others. Bring your quietest spirit and allow your journey to be focused internally for a time. Your energy has centered inward and it is not wrong, not a problem, not a deficiency. Accept this part of your travel experience and what it can teach you. Stare at a ceiling, wander the street, buy local chocolate, buy some more local chocolate, indulge, don’t push. For a moment–I think this needs to be said especially to solo travelers–don’t push. Accept the gift of a pause.

… in the world

Consider whether this awakens an empathy in you for people who do not have each and every thing they’d like while menstruating. There are many people who do not have access to supplies or who deal with stigma that limits their opportunities. In the U.S., find ways to donate supplies to domestic violence shelters and places serving people who experience homelessness. Access to supplies can be tough for housing-insecure people. Research programs that help young people create or buy supplies that allow them to go to school and follow a career.

While you go inward, allow your heart to go outward.

Real-life scenario

So, bringing it all together, here’s how I managed this on a recent trip to walk on the Camino pilgrimage trail in Spain. Skip if you do not want to know these details.

The Camino is a series of daily hikes with small towns and inns throughout. There are few bathrooms between inns, and you sometimes find yourself walking long stretches over mountains and through forests.

I knew I would have the period sometime during the month-long trip, so I packed aspirin and the menstrual cup and a few liners.

The cup worked as well as I had hoped.

The days of the period I experienced some extreme lows. Waking up with cramps, knowing I had to climb down from a bunk and use a bathroom whose walls only went part of the way up to the ceiling and then put on a heavy pack walk for hours… it was horrible.

However, walking actually helps cramps and I ultimately appreciated the distraction of the hike. The belt of the backpack had a good effect on the pain, since it buckles right where the cramps hit. It was one of the more pain-free periods I had. The chocolate in Northern Spain was also delicioso and I took full advantage of that fact.

Later, I arrived in a city, where I took a rest day (recommended on a regular basis for Camino walkers). Then I took another day 😉 and indulged in all manner of comforting activities, including the gift of presence from some people I met along the road. The timing of the city was perfect for what my body was experiencing, and it became an other opportunity to practice the release of “should” that Camino travelers can sometimes feel.

There is no one right journey, just my journey.

After the period stopped, I stored the cup in the bottom of my bag, left the extra liners in an inn, and continued along the way.

It would also have been possible to purchase supplies from small stores along the way. I just wouldn’t want to get stuck between towns with nothing in my bag.

As in my post about traveling on a budget, I gained insight on this topic from travel forums.  Here’s a thread about how women manage their periods on the Camino. Note that a few people used birth control pills to manage the timing — also an option.

A word for the supporters

If you do not have a period and are unused to them, here are some ways you can support people who have periods:

• Take pain seriously
• Take bathroom needs seriously  — become a bathroom scout and help your friend get where they need to go
• Don’t gripe about how long people spend in a bathroom
• Do not shame people for how they participate in activities (or not)
• No “Toughen up!” talk or questioning of why someone might stay “home” for a day
• If your friend appears to feel ill, check whether you can do anything for them;  offer tea, massages or a grocery run
• If they talk about their period, listen well and avoid telling them what they should do about it
• Do not assume someone has or doesn’t have a period; some women don’t have them, some men do have them

You do not have to confirm someone’s period status to do these things. Just do them. Coincidentally, you’ll become a nicer travel buddy overall.

The road is calling

Let me close with one more anecdote. This is a time I did push forward through a period. We had a 10k hike ahead of us. I wanted very much to do it, so I did it. And it was one of the best experiences of my life. While the people sharing the path with us shared in the accomplishment of completing a tough hike, I knew my accomplishment was even greater. The feeling of achievement was powerful and unforgettable.

People who have periods while doing awesome things deserve the highest of high fives.

When the road calls, respond to that call, and bring your body with you. Honor it, love it, and allow it to be a part of the journey.

I would love to hear how you experience menstruation while traveling. Did you find this post useful? Do you relate or is your experience different? Drop a note in the comments or send me your story through the contact form!