How a Train Ride Transformed My View on Body, Future, and My Freedom

I was somewhere between London Paddington and Exeter St Davids, sipping lukewarm coffee and watching the countryside flicker past the window, when I stumbled on something that would quietly shift how I think about my body and my life.

It had started as one of those last-minute, escape-the-city kind of weekends. My boyfriend and I had been cooped up in our small flat in East London for weeks. We both work remotely now, and while we love our little corner of the city, the walls can feel pretty tight when you’re inside them all the time. So i booked two train tickets for us.

We packed light, caught the early train out of Paddington, and found seats by the window.

Quiet Thoughts at 80 MPH

My boyfriend dozed off as soon as we left Reading (classic), and I found myself doing the usual scrolling through Instagram, hopping over to Reddit, and eventually landing on a blog thread about women ditching hormonal birth control.

One post stood out. A woman was talking about using something called Natural Cycles, an app that helps track fertility without hormones. I’d heard of it before (maybe in a podcast ad or an influencer story), but I never paid much attention. This time, I was curious. Could birth control really work without hormones?

So, right there on the train, I opened a new tab and signed up on the Natural Cycles website. I chose the annual plan since it came with a basal thermometer, which I’d need anyway. Then I downloaded the app from the App Store and started setting things up.

The app walked me through the process super straightforward. I paired my thermometer, answered a few questions about my cycle, and got everything ready to start tracking. From the next morning, I’d take my temperature before even getting out of bed and log it into the app. It would tell me whether it was a red (fertile) or green (not fertile) day.

It felt like a small but powerful step. For once, I wasn’t reacting out of convenience or routine I was choosing something that actually made sense for me and my body.

Living with Someone You Love… and Still Wanting Space

Here’s the thing: I love living with my boyfriend. He’s kind, funny, and makes a killer risotto. But when it came to contraception, it always felt like I was carrying the mental load. I was the one who had to remember the pill. I was the one managing the side effects. And honestly, I didn’t even know how my body really worked anymore it had been years since I’d had a natural cycle.

That train ride became a mini-deep dive session. I read how Natural Cycles works by tracking your basal body temperature and cycle data to tell you when you’re fertile. The idea is to either avoid unprotected sex on those days or use protection or, if you’re trying for a baby, it can help with that too. It’s even registered as a medical device in Europe and the US.

It sounded and I know this sounds dramatic empowering.

For the first time in a while, I felt like I could make a decision about my body that wasn’t reactive. Not “what’s the easiest,” or “what’s everyone else doing,” but what actually felt right for me.

A New Season

By the time we pulled into Exeter, the sun was glowing gold over the rooftops and my mind was buzzing.

That weekend was simple and quiet sea air, fish and chips, a long walk down a windy coast path but it marked a shift. I downloaded the Natural Cycles app that night in our Airbnb. It asked me a few setup questions, and I ordered a thermometer the next day.

And just like that, I began something new.

Travel and Trust

Since that trip, train journeys have become something of a ritual for us. There’s something calming about the rhythm of the tracks, the changing scenery, the permission to just be for a few hours. We’ve now done weekend escapes to Bath, York, and even a snowy Edinburgh all booked on CheapTrainTickets.co.uk. It’s become our little hack for getting away without blowing our budget.

And somewhere along the way, I’ve learned to trust myself more my instincts, my body, my decisions.

Using Natural Cycles has made me feel more connected to my body than I ever did on the pill. It’s not for everyone, and it does take commitment but for me, it’s been worth it.

Final Thoughts from Seat 22A

Sometimes the biggest changes come during the quiet moments a scroll through your phone on a train, a conversation over breakfast in a sleepy seaside town, a decision that starts with curiosity and ends in clarity.

If you had told me that a weekend train ride would lead to me changing the way I think about birth control, I’d have laughed. But here we are.

I’m still figuring things out in life, love, and health but I feel more informed, and more involved in the choices I make every day. And to be honest, that feels pretty amazing.