Why You Should Use the Diva Cup for Travel

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Ever since I started using the Diva Cup seven years ago, it’s all I can ever talk about. Ok, I guess I talk a lot about food and travel too…

Believe it or not, I don’t talk about it to just women. I tell any open-minded man about this product so they can share the news to their loved ones– it’s that good and should be shouted to the world!

Today, I’m here to talk about:

• why you should use the Diva Cup for travel (+ life),
• why the Diva Cup is so much healthier for your body than any conventional tampon or pad out there, and
• how to clean it while traveling especially at music festivals and camping.

Why You Should Use the Diva Cup for Travel (+ Life)

Never Worry About Leaks for 12 Hours

With this menstrual cup, you’ll have no leaks for 12 hours. This is because the cup seals and conforms to your vagina making it impossible for leaks to get out (unless the cup is full but of course, you’ll empty it out before then).

You can even wear the whitest of your white clothes and feel comfortably be ok with this.

Here’s the proof!

I used my Diva Cup on my wedding day and totally forgot I had my period all day long. After all the walking around, dancing, and taking photos in this sparkling white dress, I had no leaks and didn’t think about my period once until the after party was over!

I’ve used this at music festivals, long plane rides, and other situations where changing my pads and tampons would be annoying and unwanted, and felt like I didn’t have my period.

Pack Less

The Diva Cup fits into this nifty little pouch that’s smaller than your palm so you can easily throw it anywhere in your suitcase or even your jacket pocket.

It eliminates the space you need for tampons and pads, which means you can pack more shoes, snacks for the plane, or a thick stack of dollar bills to make it rain when you reach your destination.

Be Green

Did you know that one pad is equivalent to four plastic bags? By switching over to the Diva Cup, which is reusable up to 18 years, you’ll be eliminating a ton of waste.

To be exact, you could reduce about 16,000 pads or tampons that end up in the landfill or even your local water filtration facility (yumz to tap water).

For camping or hiking, this will definitely make the ‘leave no trace’ principle easier to follow.

Save Money

Since the Diva Cup is made of silicone and is a medical device, the lifespan of the Diva Cup varies depending on the user, but can ideally be used for a whole entire year without replacing it!

Think about how much money you can save each month on pads and tampons, and how many adventures you can have with that money.

Stay Healthy

Because pads and tampons are made of plastic, they stop the free flow of air to and around our vaginas making us more susceptible to bacteria growth and yeast infections– yuck!

Aside from the plastic used, pads and tampons are manually bleached, which creates by-products like dioxin. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, no level of dioxin is safe because it can cause abnormal tissue growth, hormone disruption, and other things we’d all like nothing to do with PLEASE.

Of course, this wouldn’t be an issue if pads and tampons stayed far, far away from us, but they sit right next to one of the most sensitive parts of our skin. When chemicals touch the skin, they don’t filter them out like your stomach can. They absorb it all in and send it right to the bloodstream!

Want proof of all the toxic chemicals in conventional pads and tampons? Skip to 1:50 of this video, and see them burn.

Why You Shouldn’t Use the Diva Cup

It’s Gross

For the seven years I’ve been nagging others to use the Diva Cup, the main (foolish) response I’ve gotten about this is that it’s gross.

Yes, the concept of dumping an ounce of your own blood into the toilet could be a bit squeamish for people, but is it even more gross than sitting on a bloody pad for hours or having chemicals leach into your vaginal area for days?

I could list a handle of puke-worthy situations we’ve had to face that don’t come close to how “gross” the Diva Cup is. Every benefit you gain with the Diva Cup will completely outweigh the one negative factor about it, which really isn’t bad at all.

If anything, being able to measure my period with the cup has connected me to my body more than ever. Now I know exactly when and how much my period will flow– major win!

It’s Scary

It can be scary knowing that once the cup is inside your vagina, you can’t see it at all unlike the pad, which is within plain sight, or the tampon that has a string for you to peek at.

Believe me. I went through this “scary” adjustment time.

To make sure I knew how to use Diva Cup properly before my monthly flow came, I tried it on a non-period day, which is totally ok to do!

When I first tried it, I didn’t know anyone who used it, and there weren’t over 3,000 Amazon reviews to help me out, so I didn’t know the proper way to take it out. I thought the Diva Cup was stuck!

While sitting on the toilet, I screamed out to my now husband that it was stuck and panicked. He just laughed at me from the other room, and eventually I figured it out– whew.

If you’re like me, that’s probably the worst experience you’ll ever have with the Diva Cup so definitely try it out before you get your period.

How to Use the Diva Cup for Travel

To Use the Diva Cup

Fold the Diva Cup in half, insert it into your vagina, and as soon as it’s in your vagina, give it a little twist. It’ll pop open into a full circle, and seal against your vaginal wall making it leak-proof for 12 hours.

After 12 hours or whenever you need to empty your cup, you reach inside to break the seal, and empty the cup into the toilet.

If you want a better idea, watch this video!

To Clean the Diva Cup

At Home

After each use, rinse the cup out with a mild soap such as this one from Diva Cup. The mild soap should be alcohol, oil, and fragrance free.

After your cycle, clean it fully with a mild soap, or boil it. I have a separate pot specifically used for boiling the Diva Cup.

On the Plane or a Public Bathroom

Wash your hands before heading into the bathroom. Have a wad of toilet paper ready to wipe the outside of the cup, or clean water to rinse it off.

Remove the cup, and empty it into the toilet. Wipe the outside of the cup with the clean wad of toilet paper you had ready or use clean water to rinse it off, and then reinsert it. You technically don’t need to clean the entire thing if you can manage it to keep it free from touching the outside environment including your own dirty hands.

When you get home or a place where you can actually clean the cup, do so then with a mild soap.

At Music Festivals or Camping

Clean your hands before heading into a port-a-potty or wherever you will be doing your deed with hand sanitizer or compostable hand wipes. Using alcohol, fragrance, and oil free products on your hand is preferred.

Remove your Diva Cup and empty it into the port-a-potty or into your cathole if you are leaving no trace behind in the wilderness.

Wipe the outside with tissues, or rinse off with clean bottled water if you have on hand. DO NOT use any type of wipes to clean the Diva Cup because a handful of cleaning agents can affect the silicone. Plus, you don’t want those chemicals in your body too.

Reinsert the cup, and when you get home or a place you can properly clean the cup, do so then with a mild soap.

Do you have any questions about using the Diva Cup? PLEASE, please, please, ask me everything and anything, or head to the Diva Cup’s FAQ page!

Thanks for stopping by! xo.