The outdoors isn’t always period-friendly…

..and here’s why. At the start of my year of training to kayak across Bass Strait, I was told that the easiest way to manage my period while training would be to go on “the pill”. Sure, it would mean I was stopping my body from ovulating and disrupting normal hormone cycles, would cost money, have negative side effects on my body and mental health, and require me to remember to take it at the same time each day, but at least it was a way to avoid dealing with bleeding when you’re 30kms from land. At the time, I didn’t question it. I was 19, I was inexperienced when it came to expeditions of any kind, and I took the advice of my wise, older mentors. It’s only now, just over 10 years on, that I’m wondering if there’s a better solution. While I’m no longer doing intense expeditions like back then (and I’m no longer on the pill), having a period can still be an inconvenience at best, and a pain in the ass at worst, when you live an outdoor life.

I was recently working on a school camp and the teacher remarked that a few of the girls were going to be away. I had heard it was due to their periods, so I asked “I wonder why that is?”. The male teacher scoffed and said “well apparently it’s because they have their period, but I think that’s just their excuse”. Not willing to go along with his basic rhetoric, I said “well yeah I heard, but what I mean is, I wonder what is the deeper reason as to why they aren’t here?”. Maybe it was unrelated to periods and they just felt uncomfortable about the camp in general (another conversation for another day) but maybe it WAS period-related? Maybe they genuinely did have their period and were anxious about how to manage it when there were only long-drop toilets at the camp site each night? Maybe they didn’t want to have to carry-out all of their own used period product waste? Maybe they were worried they would bleed through their clothing during the long hours of paddling? Maybe they were nervous that they boys might make comments if they saw them taking pads or tampons to the long-drop? Maybe they were unsure about hygiene? Maybe they were concerned about having low-energy or cramps in the middle of a big paddling day? Maybe they DIDN’T have their period yet and they were dreading that they might get it for the first time while away from home? MY GOSH the list of VERY LEGITIMATE concerns goes on and on and on. I think that most outdoor education students who bleed would have had at least half of those concerns go through their mind at some point (if not, all! Am I right?) and I’m concerned that the teacher wasn’t empathetic to the fact that these can be legitimate concerns and barriers that stop students from having outdoor experiences (not just in school, but also in real life!). So here’s my take on how culture, products, and lifestyle can help lower the barriers when it comes to managing periods outdoors

CULTURE

The best period-management culture I’ve seen on a school camp was a few years ago, where all students knew there was a period kit that the teacher looked after. It had pads, tampons, hand sanitiser, toilet paper, and brown paper bags for disposal, as well as a separate, lined dry bag to dispose of waste. So that the students weren’t burdened with carrying out their own waste, the period kit and disposal bag were carried by a guide, and any student could discretely ask to use it at any time. The contents of the kit and how it could be accessed was clearly communicated to all students and parents before the camp, and it was made a non-issue. The students weren’t embarrassed to ask for the period kit, because the teachers and guides weren’t embarrassed to talk about it. It was a great culture! Much better than sticking heads in the sand and not communicating how to deal with periods in the outdoors (especially considering this isn’t something that can be left to parents, as the parents also might not know how to deal with periods in a minimal-impact-leave-no-trace-way). I’m all for open communication when it comes to fostering a good culture around how to deal with periods outdoors, so hopefully even writing this can help shape that!

PRODUCTS

There are a lot more products on the market now to help make periods more manageable with an outdoor life. While the only readily-available options were pads and tampons when I was a teen (that require frequent changing and create a lot of waste) bleeders can now easily access menstrual cups and period underwear. Menstrual cups are a great alternative to pads and tampons during outdoor adventures thanks to their capacity! While it’s recommended that tampons are changed every few hours, the Therapeutic Goods Administration of Australia recommends that menstrual cups are used for “up to 8 hours”, which means you can get a whole lot more hiking/ biking/ paddling/ sleeping done in between emptying the cup! Period underwear is another GENIUS recent invention, because not only can they be used on their own like a more sustainable and re-useable version of pads, but they can ALSO be worn as a handy back-up layer, which is great to give that peace-of-mind that you won’t bleed through your clothes on the early, heavier days of your cycle. The easy availability of handsanitiser is also a big bonus, as it means you can have hygienically-clean hands before and after changing period products when you’re outdoors and away from running hot water and soap.

LIFESTYLE
Ok, this is a very broad term to try to describe that we need to change our lifestyle in order to accommodate menstrual cycles! Not only do menstruaters bleed for a week each month (generalisation, I know), but they will also generally feel low in energy for the week before too! Now this could be opened up into a whole can-of-worms conversation about capitalism forcing our constant productivity, or patriarchy only valuing masculine ways of being, but even at the very surface level, most people will agree that they can’t expect their body to perform the same throughout their menstrual cycle. So, why isn’t our lifestyle more accommodating of this? Not many workplaces, training programmes, gyms, project management plans etc take into account the waxing and waning energy of those who bleed. While it’s going to take a long time for society to shift into a place that’s more menstrual-cycle-friendly, for now it’s up to US as bleeders to start the change on an individual level. How can you rest more in the week before your bleed? How can you honour your body with nourishing food to replenish it during your period? How can you plan your outdoor adventures around your ovulation where you’ll have the most energy and not need to manage fatigue/ cramps/ extra nutrition/ bleeding while you’re away? Yes - this is putting the onus back onto ourselves, but if WE don’t listen to our own bodies, who else will?

I hope this helps you along your journey of getting closer to your cycle and managing periods outdoors. Hopefully through some shifts in culture, some new products, and some little changes to working WITH our cycle rather than against it, there will be more room for outdoor adventures to happily co-exist with periods!