studentsineurope

Ladies, Here’s Some Travel Equipment You Definitely Want to Get

I admit, the conversation we’re about to have is a little awkward. Pretend I’m your best friend, we’re sitting in a secluded corner of your favorite coffee shop, and I just bought you a latte.

Now, we both know “that time of the month” is a pain in the neck for a woman on the go. Even back home in the States, remembering to carry enough feminine products with you for five days each month is annoying, and it’s easy to forget. Now, imagine carrying all those products in your backpack for three weeks as you navigate Europe. Think about how much space they’re going to take up. Think about running out of tampons on the eight-hour train to Berlin. You get the idea.

I used to have these kinds of problems all the time. I was hiking through the Troodos mountains in Cyprus one summer and I had to squat behind a rock to change a tampon. Fortunately I remembered to bring one, but even so, the process wasn’t exactly graceful and I felt bad about leaving all the wrappers and stuff under a rock in the middle of an untouched wilderness. The problem was solved, however, when my roommate introduced me to the best feminine product ever created – the Keeper.

The Keeper is a small, flexible cup that is inserted like a tampon but catches fluid rather than absorbs it. It’s completely reusable – it lasts for years – and all you have to do to change it is empty it out and reinsert it. This may sound like a bit of a hassle, but believe me, you’ll figure it out fast and once you do, you’ll never go back.

For one thing, imagine having all the feminine product you need, always. Imagine never having to go on an emergency run to the grocery store. Imagine never worrying about whether you’ll run out of tampons on the overnight train. Imagine all the space in your rucksack that won’t be taken up by two packs of maxis with wings. Now that I use the Keeper, I’m not sure how I ever went backpacking without it. The Keeper is definitely the ideal feminine product for the woman who travels.

The Keeper has other benefits as well. If you insert it correctly, you can’t feel it at all. Unlike tampons, it does not put you at risk for toxic shock syndrome so you don’t have to empty it very often. For me, once a day in the shower is all that’s necessary. The Keeper is also perfectly safe to wear swimming. It costs about as much as three months’ worth of products and lasts for years, saving you huge amounts of money. Finally, it’s extremely environmentally friendly. Just think of how many natural resources and how much landfill space you will save over the course of your life by using the Keeper rather than disposable products.

Okay, I hope you stuck with me for all of that. The whole idea may sound strange, but trust me, student travel is full of enough worries without trying to buy pads in a foreign language. if you want to spend your trip to Europe thinking about scenery instead of biology, you need to give the Keeper a try.