Last year, I went backpacking for eight months and I only packed one box of tampons.  When I got home, eight menstrual cycles later, I still had a handful left.  How is that possible?

I packed a menstrual cup.

Menstrual cups had been on my radar for years, but it was only my fast-approaching around-the-world trip that made me seriously consider adding one to my period arsenal. I had friends who’d used them for years and friends who recoiled in horror at the very thought, but it wasn’t anyone else’s opinions that finally inspired me to add a Diva Cup to my Amazon shopping cart.  No, it was the simple mathematical problem I was facing. I wouldn’t have space for anything else in my backpack if I packed eight months’ worth of tampons.