Can you imagine changing a tampon up a snowy mountain and then having to take it with you back down in your pack? Or needing the toilet and changing a pad / keeping the same one because you can’t be bothered to get a new one out because you’re freezing? Because you cannot leave any trace up there; no toilet roll, no nothing…

This was my second time out hiking with a mooncup, however I do already use one on every period. You can read all about the first experiment in a previous blog post and I should note that although that was in winter, importantly it was not multi-day; I had access to a fully functioning toilet and bathroom every day and was able to get into a hot bath in the evenings.

Every time I finish my period (especially when it finishes on time and doesn’t dawdle) I feel like spring is arriving. There’s this slow burn of energy building in the background which is really satisfying, as I move from a period (ha!) of training de-load and rest, into an energised and ‘ready to hit it’ zone.

Success is a weird concept nowadays. Mainly because we (or I do at least) seem to have quite fixed ideas of what success is, without really understanding where it comes from…

Ok firstly let’s get something very clear: I am not big advocate of intense exercise or huge mountain days on your period, because that’s time well spent in recovery…

When it comes to hiking, this is the first time I’ve been out on the mountain with a bleed (used to have the coil) and I was genuinely amazed at how well the mooncup performed on such active days…

I am not trying to get pregnant. Let’s just get that straight. 

But when I was a teenager with super heavy periods that I didn’t understand, the pill seemed like a smart solution. Now I’m 29 and fed up with this blinkered narrative…

When I ask people how they track their menstrual cycle, I am often met with the response of '“oh I just track my periods…”

…well, what if you don’t have a period?