🔥 Menopause in the Philippines: When My Internal Volcano Met Tropical Heat 😂🇵🇭

This year’s adventure in the Philippines during menopause was completely spontaneous.

And when I say spontaneous, I mean I had barely finished unpacking from the last trip.

Ted and I had just returned from Japan in July. A couple of days after getting home, we were off again to Cape Cod. Traveling is one of the things I love most, and normally I’m pretty good at it. I travel light. I know what I need. I know what I don’t need.

At least, I thought I did. 😂

By the time the Philippines idea came up, some of my clothes from the previous trips had been washed but had never actually completed the final stage of laundry:

getting put away.

So instead of carefully planning outfits like the seasoned world traveler I claim to be, I bought a large suitcase and basically started throwing things into it.

Clean clothes from Japan? In the suitcase.

Cute thing I found while shopping? In the suitcase.

Something that might make me look fabulous in the Philippines instead of like a woman who had been living out of luggage for two months?

Definitely in the suitcase. 😂

I had one goal this time: I was going back to the Philippines looking cute.

I even packed five pairs of cute summer shoes.

Five.

Apparently, footwear was a major priority.

Underwear?

Not so much.

Thank goodness I double-checked my suitcase before leaving, because your girl was about to fly across the world with five pairs of adorable shoes and zero underwear. 😂✈️

Priorities. 😂

🌡️ Menopause in the Philippines: I Thought I Was Heat Resistant

I have always taken a certain amount of pride in being able to handle heat.

Hot outside? Fine.

Humidity? I can deal with it.

Tropical weather? Please. I grew up in the Philippines.

And menopause sisters, you know exactly where this confidence is heading. 😂

Because menopause apparently heard me bragging and said:

“Oh really?”

One thing travel reminds you very quickly is that the comforts we consider normal in the United States aren’t necessarily normal everywhere else.

Air conditioning is a perfect example.

On previous visits to the Philippines, there were open lots beside and behind the house where I stayed. At night, we opened the windows, turned on the electric fans and let the air move through the house.

And it worked.

Or at least I remembered it working.

This time, I bunked with my niece. I slept on her bed while she slept on a thick cushion on the floor.

My first night, I was perfectly comfortable.

I thought, This is fine.

If I got a little warm, I would just throw off the covers.

Simple.

Except my menopausal body had other plans.

💦 Wait…Did I Just Pee the Bed?!

Maybe three or four hours later, I suddenly woke up.

I was soaking wet.

Not a little sweaty.

Not, “Oh, it’s warm in here.”

I mean SOAKED.

My clothes were wet.

The sheets were wet.

And because I was half asleep in an unfamiliar bed, my first thought was:

OH. MY. GOD. DID I PEE IN MY NIECE’S BED?! 😳😂

Instant panic.

Suddenly I remembered the adult diapers I had seen at Costco before the trip.

You know your life has entered an interesting chapter when you’re standing in the Philippines in the middle of the night thinking:

Maybe I should have bought the Costco diapers.

Forget the five pairs of cute shoes. Apparently, I had packed for the wrong emergency. 😂

I got out of bed as quietly as I could and headed for the shower, completely embarrassed.

Then detective Aidalyn took over.

I smelled my clothes.

I smelled the sheet.

And before you judge me, you would have done exactly the same thing. 😂

Nothing smelled like urine.

It smelled like sweat.

Because that’s what it was.

I had not peed the bed.

I had basically become my own tropical rainstorm.

And suddenly, menopause in the Philippines became very real. I thought I could handle had teamed up with Philippine humidity and created a weather system.

🚿 And Then I Turned on the Shower…

Relieved that I hadn’t had an overnight bladder incident, I decided I desperately needed a shower.

I turned on the water and waited for it to get a little warmer.

And waited.

And waited.

Then it hit me.

The water wasn’t getting warmer. 😂

There I was, sweaty, sleepy and menopausal, waiting for a luxury my body had apparently decided was absolutely necessary.

That moment made me think.

💕 The Part That Wasn’t So Funny

Living in the United States, I’ve gotten used to comfort.

Air conditioning.

Hot water.

A thermostat I can walk over to and adjust when my internal volcano suddenly decides it’s eruption time.

I don’t think much about those things because they’re simply part of everyday life.

Until they’re not.

And I hate admitting how quickly I’ve become accustomed to them.

Because while I was lying there sweating through the sheets, I started wondering about women experiencing menopause in places where air conditioning isn’t something you automatically expect.

How do they cope?

What happens when a hot flash hits and there isn’t a thermostat to turn down?

What about the sleepless nights?

The mood swings?

The sweating?

The feeling that your body has suddenly developed its own climate system and forgot to consult you first?

I had access to a fan, a shower, clean clothes and family around me. I was uncomfortable, but I was okay.

For many women around the world, those little comforts really are luxuries.

That night reminded me of something I sometimes forget:

Menopause may be universal. The way women experience it isn’t.

👠 But About Those Five Pairs of Shoes…

And because this is still me we’re talking about, I did eventually recover from my midnight menopause monsoon.

I showered.

I changed.

I survived.

And the next day?

I still had five pairs of cute summer shoes to choose from. 😂👡

Because apparently menopause can take my sleep, mess with my internal thermostat and make me question whether I peed the bed…

but it is NOT taking my shoes.

And next time I pack for the Philippines?

Underwear first.

Cooling fan second.

Cute shoes, third.

Okay.

Maybe cute shoes second. 😂💕