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Mooncup – Sanitary Product

  • Ceaseless.

The one word to describe student season as a volunteer coordinator.

Overwhelming is perhaps another. New face after new face, name after name, a barrage of allergy and medical records to remember, months spent wading through risk assessments.

Day after day, month after month, on the road living out of a backpack many miles from civilisation.

Amazing

Exciting

Unforgettable

 

So many exciting memories and yet the main thing people ask me about…

…(apologies to the squeamish among you reading this)…

…my period.

“How did you last 5/6 months without shopping?! Half of your backpack must have been sanitary towels / tampons?”

“How did you dispose of your *things*?”

“Wasn’t it embarassing sharing accommodation with guys during your period?”

“How did you hide your used *things*? Were there proper bins?”

To sum up, I packed maybe one pack of tampons and pads and gave them all to various volunteers. I always carry tampons in my first aid kit anyway but not for monthly use. I never had anything solid to dispose of and half of the guys I travelled with didn’t know, and the others couldn’t care either way as long as I had access to sugar and thus didn’t attack them…

How was it so easy?

The Mooncup

My most important travel companion. Essentially the mooncup is a medical grade flexible silicone “cup” that you wear internally instead of a tampon.

100% reusable, easy to clean, easy to change, easy to use.

Discreet (takes a bit of thoughtful planning the first time for finger cleaning… undo the water bottle lid first!)

Bizarrely I found I had less cramps as well – it truly is the gift that keeps on giving! Psychosomatic? I did wonder but others I have spoken to found the same to be true for them.

I love the convenience – Have an inkling that your period is going to start – because lets face it who really knows what day!? – Just pop in the cup. If it does start, great you are prepared, if it doesn’t no harm done.
“Why not just use pads for those uncertainty days?” I HATE pads, I find they crinkle up and chafe. Especially in 40+C humid temps, pads and hiking are certainly not friends!

Reusable means you don’t have to keep buying either, so it saves you money in a much shorter time than you would think.

But most importantly.

No landfill. 

I know reusable pads are now increasing in popularity, but for me the moon cup is still top of my list.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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That time of year again

So here we are, 6 days until I once more fly to South Africa and 54 days till I fly back. If I come back. It would appear that popular consensus involves me not returning, the reasons why are quite widespread and range from being kidnapped, to marrying a millionaire and even faking my own death so that I can stay in the bush and live with the Gorillas or a pygmy king – the creator of that story has yet to decide on an ending.

I am essentially ready to leave, although I am yet to pack. It is truly bizarre, I excitedly wanted to pack months and months ago and now the time is looming I can’t be bothered to do it. This will end in the inevitable last minute packing that I do so well… resulting in me having to buy an exceptionally expensive toothbrush at the airport.

I think this reluctance to pack is based upon the fact that I still have planning left to do. I have my anti-malarials, I have had my Hep A booster (meaning I don’t have to worry about it for 20 years) I am in the process of completing my cholera vaccination (don’t let the intially sweet taste lull you into a false sense of security – this makes the polio one taste nice!) and so have another nice cholera bascilli drink to look forward to the day before I leave – nummy num num!

I do not however at current have a transfer flight to the airport for my return flight, I do not have my flight in the middle of my journey planned and I have not yet sorted out my Rand. But I am sure it will all be alright on the night, after all it does not matter how carefully you plan things in Africa – plans change.

Africa always wins.

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Awakening

All my life I have wanted to travel, my home has always been whereever I lay my head. It is no secret to those who know me that I sleep more soundly in places that are strange to me than in places I know so well.

I have always been a drifter, I just never had the means to drift very far. Rather than being that gust of wind that plays among the trees, I am instead that slight breeze that may or may not have been imagined.

Travelling around was always just a dream, a musing, a mere whim that I never really considered to be possible, it always seemed so far out of reach. It was a desire I could push to one side, distracting myself with books, and sketching and music.

But now, I have the travelling bug.

No longer do I push the dreams away, nor do I think I could – should I even wish to try. The desire that for so many years has been contained is now loosening the bolts on its cage.

So I hear you ask, what has brought about this change, well, I was recently fortunate enough to become involved with a youth group for which I am an instructor. Every year the group leader organises a trip to South Africa for a few weeks and now it is my job to accompany them every year, I become mentor, mother and friend to those in my care. This is a responsibility which I relish for it gives me an excuse to leave my mundane existence behind and taste life – if just for a few weeks a year.

Having spent 19 days driving, hiking, wandering and sleeping under the stars in South Africa and Mozambique I am awake. For the first time, I have opened my eyes to the possibilities that lay out in the world, beckoning me.

All that is keeping me from reaching out and grabbing them is the deficit lingering on my credit card.

However I cannot wait until the next time I fly out. Rather than it being a hindrance I am even relishing the thought of the eleven hour flight during which I can cast off my normal self and become instead who I really am, who I only seem to be in Africa, my newest home.

So here’s to this new blog, may it encourage me to have many new adventures.