A trip to Australia was the trigger for the founder of Cyclo to decide to reconcile with her body.
“Whenever I have been able, I have traveled and I have signed up for all the adventures that have been proposed to me”, affirms Paloma Alma emphatically. “It is true that in the last couple of years I have settled down a bit but, Until the month before confinement, I have traveled (with baby included). I have traveled many European countries, also Mexico, Costa Rica, Thailand and my dear Australia”, she tells us.
It was precisely on a trip when she had the 'problem' of the rule – who has not happened to it – and she decided to switch to the menstrual cup. “After almost ten years menstruating and with problems associated with this that I considered 'normal' I had the opportunity to go on vacation to Australia. The plan was to camp for fifteen days in some of its national parks and The only thing I thought was: what do I do with the tampons that I am going to use? Where do I throw them? How many do I have? If I have an infection, how do I request the ovules? With so much beach, how am I going to do?..." she recalls.
"So I started to investigate what other adventurers were doing and I came across a blog of a girl who traveled the world by bicycle. She was talking about the menstrual cup and I freaked out at that moment. Cup... what? never heard of her But something told me I had to try it. Thus began my idyll with the cup. It was a discovery that completely changed my health and travel concerns. And that freed up a lot of space in my backpack!”
Paloma is an activist and taboo-breaker on the issue of menstruation.
Since then, Paloma has become what she herself calls a taboo breaker, that is, a taboo-breaker that already has a community of more than 97,000 followers on Instagram. She also considers herself an activist and educator. She decided to found the Cyclo Menstruation Sustainable platform and she has published the book Cyclo (Montena), both projects related and focused on how to live the period in a positive way.
Thanks to her disclosure, many people are encouraged to use more ecological and healthy hygiene products, that also greatly simplify your day to day, and have other advantages. “We really have a lot to gain. We have not been taught to observe ourselves or take advantage of our cycle, we have only learned to focus on the negative aspects, when the cycle can be enjoyed in all its phases and menstruating can be a source of learning incredible".
Perhaps the panorama is different for the new generations, perhaps more open and aware of the ecological? “The new generations are more open, yes, but they still need references and women who open the way for them. I feel that, compared to when I started with Cyclo, now we have many more girls who dare to try the cup or cloth compresses because their mothers, older sisters, aunts or teachers are already familiar with its use and they talk openly about them, seek information together and learn about the cycle at once".
The 'GREAT TRIP', WITHOUT WORRIES
But make no mistake, much remains to be done. “There is still a taboo because menstruation is much more than bleeding. It is part of society, politics, in the way we have to work and relate to our environment”, says Paloma. “Menstruation accompanies us throughout about 40 years of our lives, almost every month. I think it's time to get along with her and give her the importance and the place it deserves.
The founder of Cyclo, on one of her trips to Gredos.
Beyond the comfort and hygiene (not to mention savings and less environmental impact) provided by tools such as the cup, knowledge of our cycles has much to gain from a traveling perspective. Paloma explains this psychological approach to us: “It helps us in all aspects of our lives! For example, if you are going to take a trip, try to plan it over at least one cycle. The excitement of your ovulatory week will take you to want to visit absolutely all the towns in the area, the premenstrual week will help you really calculate your budget and the menstrual week to establish priorities and reasons why you really want to visit each of those places.
And she continues: "You will start the cycle again and in the preovulatory week you will make a list with all your luggage, you will prepare the most practical route and you will read all the guides within your reach. If you are going to take a bus in Thailand to save costs, do not take it during your menstrual week. If you are going to take a route through the Blue Mountains, the ovulatory will be perfect and, if you are going to enjoy warm food in Poland, the premenstrual will help you enjoy it to the fullest”.
The menstrual cup, a respectful ally with the environment.
Paloma learned a lot about this topic in Australia, where everything organic and alternative is much more present in everyday life. "Y in England, Germany and even large cities in the United States there are very mature projects and period museums, period mark pop ups, and even exhibits of artists working with their menstrual blood,” she adds. And she adds: “We are extremely lucky to have options. there are many alternatives and each of us works something different. The interesting thing is being able to inform ourselves and decide what we want and what suits us use at all times.
Traveling photo from the personal album of Paloma Alma, founder of Cyclo.
What is clear is that 2020 changed everything and, perhaps, it is also time to change this aspect. For her, the past was a year “of stopping cold, rethink where I want to go and why. I have taken advantage of rediscover the town, taking unknown routes in the surroundings of the Sierra de Gredos, Where are my grandparents from? We have amazing landscapes and wonderful hidden waterfalls”.
She has so many destinations left to visit, she confesses to us, that she could not choose a favorite. “Mexico made me fall in love with its culture and its cuisine and Costa Rica left me breathless with its landscapes and the care they put into being an ecotourism country”. That ecotourism also begins in us, why not.
Paloma Alma is a traveler and founder of Cyclo.