I feel like I’m constantly on the move, especially in the summer, but it never fails that I seem to be traveling when I’m on my period like 60% of the time.

A few years ago I would have looked at this as a real pain in the you-know-what, but since my accidental journey into period positivity and self love I’ve had a real change of attitude about traveling on my period.

And besides a few extra items that tag along, I would hardly be able to tell the difference.

My two period essentials?

+ period underwear — my favorite are my Thinx

+ my current menstrual cup of choice — the RubyCup

And that’s all I need. No bulky box of pads and tampons laced with the fear of running out. I simply just have my cup (which spends most of it’s time inside of me doing it’s job anyways) and I replace my regular underwear I would have packed with my Thinx.

Bada-bing bada-boo! I’m set to go.

Now, you may be thinking, oh well that’s nice for you, but I could never just forget about my period. It’s such a terror.

You may have cramps so bad you can’t imagine letting up on the tight grip of your heating pad, or a flow so heavy you can’t leave the safe proximity of your restroom.

But guess what? That used to be me.

I used to blow through super plus tampons like they were going out of style. And if I ever did a what’s in my bag video I would have had to turn my bag upside down to dump out the never ending supply of Midol I used to carry around.

But through the magic of body literacy and self love my periods became something I could — dare I say — live with. I taught myself about nutrition and found what foods my body agreed with. I learned that I could heal my body from the inside out. I discovered menstrual cups and ditched tampons for good. Medical grade silicone agreed much better with my insides than bleached, chemical laden wads of cotton.

It didn’t happen over night, but bit by bit, my cramps eased and my flow lightened. And I give full credit to education, nutrition, and switching to menstrual cups.

I never expected this to be an outcome of getting off the pill and learning about my body. It was an added bonus. But now that I know what I know, I’m compelled to share this with you.

If you still “suffer” from your periods, you don’t have to. Join me, and let’s make over your period into someone you want to travel with. It's time to stop planning around your monthly cycle and start planning with it.