I don’t want to make excuses but it is interesting how major life events or, equally likely, drastic changes in one’s routine can throw a “proverbial” monkey wrench into the works. With all the recent tragedies that have befell us lately, I have noticed that I’ve let my guard down quite a bit.
As you well know, the entire point to being prepared is so that we’re ready for when times are not normal. Typically, I’ve always equated this to situations like if the power goes out, the grocery stores are out of food, or maybe there’s a boil water order… and, of course, the biggies like natural disasters.
What I haven’t bothered to prepare much for are those times where society is still functioning but MY LIFE is turned upside down. Much of what I noticed wasn’t anything big at all but it’s not how I like to position myself and my family most of the time. Following are a few examples of my survival “switch” being off…
- When I found out that my grandmother had passed we went to see my parents the next day. One of my rules is to attempt to fill up the gas tank whenever it dips below the half way mark (my wife doesn’t always agree) and I found myself letting the car get close to empty on our roadtrip and not really caring about it. There were certainly plenty of gasoline stations on the way but it’s still not good prepper practice.
- Before our trip to California I decided to hit the local library for some quiet time so that I could do a few things without having to spend much time on the computer while there. Normally, I’m cognizant of my surroundings but I found, instead, that I happily plopped down at the nearest desk with my back to the front door and earplugs blaring music… both of which are highly abnormal behaviors for me and not the best of plans in public places.
- With all the guests in town and kids all over the place–which isn’t really abnormal–I felt like we let a few things slip, such as being very diligent about keeping the exterior doors locked and I noticed a few house guests choose to unplug the emergency night light that I keep in the bedrooms… I’m not sure which irked me more.
- While I don’t EDC a lot of stuff I’m hardly ever without my pocket knife, kubotan, and a few other things (I don’t carry a firearm). Rather, I choose to leave these items in KC because I neither wanted the hassle with transporting them to California (I know they could have easily been checked) nor did I want to fuss with whatever dumb laws I figured California had about pocket knives and other self-defense items. I really should have looked it up and done what I could to be at least minimally prepared to defend myself as we weren’t in the best of neighborhoods but failed to do so.
- I didn’t bother to bring any survival gear (I know I could have checked a bag but they want an arm-and-a-leg for checked bags these days) so I left my stuff at home. I really felt a bit naked the entire time I was away since I’m very accustomed to always having something with me either at home, in the car, or on my person. Ultimately I was busy enough that I didn’t think much about it but, still, it wasn’t a great plan.
I can say that I’m glad I live where I do. While I do miss California’s weather and certainly my family (it was nice seeing a bunch of people I didn’t expect to see anytime soon) I really wouldn’t want to live there anymore. There’s entirely too many people, too much, traffic, and I’m pretty sure I saw my fair share of graffiti and barbed wire too. Heck, our hotel even had an armed security guard 24-7.
I shouldn’t say that I was COMPLETELY asleep. We did bring what we needed to navigate the urban jungle, if-you-will, including an assortment of cash, credit cards, phone chargers, iPods/iPads (to keep the kids quiet and us sane), and things like that. Additionally, necessary people knew where we would be, when we would be there, and so on. We had printed directions, various iPhone map apps, and even local street maps. We also packed a few medical items in case we needed them, especially stuff for ear aches, and pink eye (my kid recently had that), allergy meds, etc.
In the future I can see that a list of “must grabs” is in order; not for a bug out (we have those lists) but more for situations like this where I/we might have to make a hasty airplane trip or car ride. The list would include more common things like phone chargers, money, assorted medications, etc that we would probably remember and could likely do without for a bit of time but I can see me forgetting to pack one or two things and kick myself because it was just as easy to make a list.
Anyway, we’re all glad to be back home and looking forward to some normalcy.
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