10 Modes of Emergency Transportation

During a disaster, you may need transit either out of or into your home area.  Be prepared with these modes of emergency transportation:

1. Walking (free, slow, can get through places no other sort of transportation can in a disaster area).
2. Scooter (cheap, low maintenance, requires balance, quicker than walking, only really works on pavement).
3. Bicycle (cheap, DIY maintenance, can travel 100+ miles a day, can use on/off road).
4. Community transit (cheap, no maintenance, usually not available in rural areas, may not be usable during certain types of disasters).
5. Motorcycle (cheaper than a car, more agile in disaster zones, better gas mileage).
6. Mass transit--bus, train, airlines, ferry (useful to leave an area quickly, may be overcrowded during a disaster, require infrastructure such as roads/intact tarmac/intact rails, etc).
7. Water craft (useful in flooding disasters, useful in areas with large bodies of water to cross, can be somewhat expensive, possibility of drowning if it fails).
8. Car (can be expensive, requires fuel that may or may not be available, can travel far, requires roads to be in somewhat good condition, can provide shelter as well as transit).
9. Animal--horse, donkey (requires continual care and feeding, more agile in disaster zones, can't travel very far in a day).
10. Unusual modes of transit--private aircraft, sled dogs, skates/skateboard, Uber/Lyft, snowmobile, etc (if it works in your area, definitely keep these as an option).

Your emergency transportation plan should include most if not all of the above, depending on the disaster.

DPT--Check Out Your Local Transit System

Up until a few years ago, it had been decades since I had used public transit. Then gas prices went through the roof, then I noticed a bus stop by my house, then I gathered up the courage one day to hop on the bus just to see where it would go. After that I was sold on public transit and now use it regularly in my city and quite often when I travel as well.
It just makes sense to know ALL of your options when it comes to transportation. There may come a time when for some reason or another you cannot drive your car or get a ride with a friend, walking or riding your bike may not work because of the weather or the distance, and calling a cab may be too spendy.
So, take some time this weekend to get a day pass for your local transit system and ride the bus/subway/light rail/monorail/etc just for the fun of it. This will allow you to find out not only where the transit system can take you but costs/distances/times, how far you can get away from the city and into the rural/mountain areas, and provide some options/ideas for bugging out should the need arise.

Alternate Transportation Plan

Do you have an alternate transportation plan? Even if you aren't planning for a SHTF bug out scenario, having an alternate transportation plan can be a good thing to have. What happens if your car breaks down and you have an important meeting to get to? What happens if you are stuck out of town and your kids are at school waiting for you to pick them up? By putting together an alternate transportation plan now, you will have the information and resources at your fingertips to make quick transport decisions if needed. Here's the information/supplies/gear you need:

• Car (with registration, proof of insurance, and maps in the glove box, at least a half tank of gas at all times, a car BOB and emergency supplies in the trunk, $200 in cash hidden in the car for an emergency, and any other goodies you can think to add).
• List of local cab companies and their phone numbers by the phone and on your cell phone.
• List of local car rental agencies and their phone numbers by the phone and on your cell.
• List of five local friends you can call for a ride in an emergency by the phone and on your cell phone.
• Printed and/or electronic schedule/info sheet with hours and routes for the local bus/subway/train and handful of tokens.
• Info for other forms of public transportation that you can access if needed such as airlines, Amtrak, long distance bus lines, ferries, shuttles (some casinos on the east coast have shuttle service from New York to Boston), etc.
• Other forms of transport that you can keep in your garage (bicycle, motorcycle, moped, canoe, kayak, motorboat, ATV, motor home, along with any registration/license/spare gas/gear such as bicycle helmet or life jacket/BOB that can be strapped on or tied to it/emergency cash/supplies like spare tire or tube, oars/etc).
• Unconventional forms of transportation: horse, hitch hiking, freighter, limousine rental, etc.
• Forms of transportation used in other countries: jeepney, tricycleta (bicycle or motorcycle with a side car for hire), banka (boat for hire), hiring a car and driver, etc.
• When all else fails and/or for locations within about 10 to 15 miles, don't forget to consider your own two feet.

Those are pretty much the components of an alternate transportation plan. The idea is to have enough transportation alternatives that you never end up stranded anywhere. Be sure to go over the plan with the family and actually practice using the various modes of transport before you need to use them in an emergency.

P.S. for the hardcore survivalists, you may want to add older basic car registered in someone else's name (along with permission for you to drive it, registered to a ghost address, and stashed at a distant location) to your plan. Never know when you will need to get away in an incognito fashion...

10 Things to Take With You When You Travel

I'm on the road for this week and part of next week. With very little time to post (or think up creative topics to blog about), I figured I would list the things that I always take with me when I travel...

1. A jacket with pockets. I keep my wallet, cell phone, passport, boarding passes, etc. zipped in my jacket pockets when I travel. This way they are easily accessible and not prone to being left behind or stolen. Should I have to exit the airplane in an emergency, my stuff will be on me instead of in an overhead compartment, and I am sure my sciatic nerve will thank me if I don't sit on my wallet in a hard airplane seat for 15 hours straight.


2. A GPS device. I use a portable Magellan unit in my car at home and when I travel, it goes in my bag, this way I can park it on the dash of my rental car so I will know how to get to where I am going. Note: take the thing with you when you leave your car so it won't be a target for thieves.


3. A Kiva backpack. This very tiny backpack folds up into itself and clips to my belt. It is an excellent companion for travel because I hate to have my hands full carrying things. When I acquire stuff, I just pop open the backpack and I have an instant way to carry my stuff.


4. A cell phone that will work in the area I am traveling in. I have cell phones from a couple of companies so if I am going somewhere new, I check the coverage maps from both companies to see which phone will work where I am going. In cities this is no problem but in outlying areas there isn't always coverage depending on what cell company you have.


5. ATM/Credit/Debit cards from a few banks. I keep money in a handful of bank accounts, all of which have ATM cards associated with them. The problem with traveling is that sometimes your bank will see unusual transactions and promptly cancel usage of the card until they can figure out what is happening. One way to prevent this is to tell your bank that you will be traveling so they can note this on your account. If you forget to do this, one of the other cards may work. In other words, don't just rely on one card for travel. Cash is also nice to bring.


6. Contact numbers. I keep a laminated list in tiny 4 point font in my wallet with emergency contact numbers on it. Included on the list are numbers for people I know in the area that I will be traveling in as well as numbers for people who I know I can count on in an emergency no matter what is happening or where I am. This way, if I don't have cell coverage or lose my cell phone, I can still get in contact with someone who can help me.


7. Laptop. Since I am almost always working when I travel, I usually snap up the smallest laptop I can find when then come on the market. I now have a tiny Asus laptop with a 120 gig hard drive. It easily holds all of my programs and files and weighs about a pound. When I think back on traveling with a 15" laptop, I shudder. This tiny computer rocks.
8. A thumb drive with all of my computer files backed up on it. While I always take a laptop with me when I travel, I am not foolish enough to think that is will always work or never get stolen. Therefore, I always carry a thumb drive with all of my files backed up on it. In a crisis I can always find another computer to use but without a backup I won't be able to access my files.
9. A 2500 ci backpack. I hate schlepping luggage. I always travel light, with what I can fit in my Mountainsmith backpack. I figure that if I absolutely need something that I didn't bring with me, I can always buy it when I get to my destination. Note: if I am heading off to very remote places for specific purposes I do end up schlepping a ton of gear, equipment, and supplies but for regular travel, you can pretty much buy anything you need, anywhere you go.
10. Food. You never know when you may become stranded somewhere, whether it is on a plane, in an airport, or on a remote island, so I always carry food with my where ever I go. Jerky, nuts, dried fruit, granola bars, and other items that travel well along with a bottle of water will usually hold me until I can get some regular food.

Week Three--Bus Challenge Update

Three weeks ago I parked my car and decided to challenge myself to use alternate transportation for at least a month. The rules aren't hard and fast but basically I didn't want to drive my car at all--I would use the bus, ride with the spouse if we were going in the same direction, car pool with others, etc. Here's what has happened in the past few weeks:

• Looking at a map of the area I live in, it looks like a majority of our area is a long way away from a bus stop. I guess I am lucky that I live relatively close to the bus line--I only need to walk about a third of a mile to get to the bus stop closest to my home.
• I'm getting exercise! As someone who sits in meeting/at my computer all day, taking time to exercise was something I had to force myself to do. Now I get a lot of walking in while I am taking myself from the bus to where ever I am going.
• The bus is cheap! Although monthly bus passes run about $30 here, one of my clients provides half price bus passes to all of his employees. When he heard about my challenge, he offered me the same deal so the total cost for almost all of my transportation needs for the month is a grand total of $15!
• The bus system here is OK--it goes almost everywhere I need to go. The only problem I see is the limited hours (fortunately I work during the day but those who work nights would be out of luck because the last bus runs around 9pm), the longer waits as the system runs on the hour/half hour depending on where I am going, and the limited area that is served (fortunately almost all of my work takes place in the city). I much prefer the bus/subway system of larger cities like New York, DC, Tokyo, etc. as these buses/trains/subways seem to run every few minutes.
• I need to pay more attention to time. With your own car, you can be a little late with no repercussions; if you are trying to catch a bus you need to be on time. There have been a couple of times when I didn't actually run to catch the bus but I did have to walk pretty fast.
• I've pretty much got past the stigma of riding a bus. The first week it felt like everyone was looking at me; this is my own insecurity and status consciousness which made me feel that everyone was looking at me and pitying me for having to ride the bus. I even had a couple of people I know stop and ask me if I needed a ride while I was waiting for the bus; I had to explain it was an experiment and I was fine riding the bus.
• Safety concerns to date include: crossing the street (so many people who are turning right at a corner look to their left to see if cars are coming but don't look to see if they are about to run over a pedestrian who is in the cross walk to their right). secluded locales (no problems here but I would be worried about young females alone who are walking to or waiting at outlying bus stops). and some of the creepy people on the bus (no problem here either however some of my fellow passengers are decidedly odd, though to date not dangerous).
• The spouse flatly refuses to ride the bus. Period. This is again where status-consciousness comes into play and the "what will people who know me think" mindset also comes up. I say screw what other people think about me (but it took me a couple of weeks to get to that point).
• I've taken car pooling to an art form. I go to a lot of meetings which are spread out over half of the state. Fortunately there usually seems to be other people from my area who are also going to these meetings so to date I have been able to get a ride with them.
• I can now recite the bus schedules and Amtrak schedules by heart. I haven't had to take Amtrak yet but their trains do run between the major cities in my region so this will be an option if I can't car pool.
• Most of the people on the bus are pretty normal--many look like regular people who are fed up with high gas prices. However it seems that the closer you get to the inner city, the odder (and smellier, and less socially adept) the people seem to become.
• It is actually relaxing to ride the bus. All of the time that I used to spend driving I can now use to review reports, write notes, plan my day, read the paper, etc--this part is definitely a bonus.
• You need to be prepared. I learned this by watching what other bus riders do/have. Funny that everyone on the bus had an umbrella with them even on sunny days. I didn't quite figure out why until I ended up drenched from a sudden downpour. Now I am an official "bus person"--I have my trusty umbrella, a fully charged cell phone (before if I forgot to charge my phone I would just charge it in the car), a laminated bus pass, and am looking for a backpack of some sort (the messenger bag/briefcase slung over my should that includes laptop, et al, is threatening to do in my rotator cuff).
• As I said, the spouse still uses a car every day. I think it would probably be necessary for us to have at least one car as shopping trips, out of town trips, and going places where the bus doesn't go still come up, however with no cars and their related expenses, it could actually be more cost efficient to use a rental car or taxi for these trips.
• Speaking of costs, I have seen a couple of families on the bus (a husband, wife and four little kids in one instance). I think if our kids were still small, that riding a bus may be #1 too expensive (instead of paying for one bus pass you would need to buy six which could possibly equal out to what you pay for a car) and #2 too much of a hassle (I saw the parents trying to heard the kids on and off the bus and figured that would have been the first and last such trip for our family if that would have been us).

Overall, I give riding the bus two big thumbs up. It is super cost efficient, super easy to use, and having the extra time in my day to read instead of drive definitely has decreased my stress level.

15 Ways to Get Out of Dodge

Do you have an evacuation plan? If you had to quickly get away from your home, maybe out of your town, possibly even out of your state, how would you do it? Here's some of my ideas:

1. My car would be first way I would consider evacuating. This is a good alternative because I would be able to control where I was going, there is plenty of room for everybody, I could pre-pack it with all of the supplies I would need, and the range I could travel in it would be limitless. Some of the negatives about this form of evacuation: the high price of gas which could limit our range of travel, the possibility of no gas being available, and most distressing, traffic congestion when everyone else has the same evacuation plan in mind. This goes for vans, trucks, and RVs as well.
2. Walking is always an option. Of course the range would be limited on a daily basis, especially carrying a heavy pack. Some good points would be not having a need for gas and congestion wouldn't be an issue. A bad point is that this form of transportation exposes you to everything (the weather, other desperate people, etc).
3. Bicycling is a consideration. Again, the need for gas and congestion wouldn't be issues and travel range would be longer, however once again this form of transportation exposes you to the weather and other people.
4. Other motorized vehicles such as a motorcycle, ATV, or a snowmobile may be good options, only limited by a few factors such as the need for fuel and, in the case of snowmobiles, the need for snow. Motorcycles will be an optimal choice if you are looking for something more maneuverable and more gas efficient than a car but less taxing than a bicycle. The range with these, provided you have enough fuel, is also exceptional.
5. How about leaving by horse? It sounds funny now but for millennia, this was the transportation mode of choice. You need to be able to feed the critter, and of course you will be exposed to the elements and other people, but this is not a bad option.
6. Ride sharing. This could take many forms including hitch hiking or getting a ride from someone on Craigslist or a neighbor who is also heading out of town, etc. I haven't hitch hiked for decades and certainly wouldn't recommend it now unless it was a dire emergency. In that case I would of course be well armed. Also, during an evacuation I am guessing that people would rather fill their cars with supplies and food instead of other people.
7. Having someone come and get you. This happened in a few recent disasters. People would phone friends and relatives from way out of town during Hurricane Katrina and the California wildfires to come and get them so they could evacuate. Depending on the type of disaster going on, this may be an option.
8. Public transportation. Generally during a disaster, public transportation (city bus, subway, etc) will either be shut down or commandeered by the authorities. However just prior to a full-fledged disaster, you may still be able to use this form of transportation to escape.
9. Commercial aviation. This may or may not be a good option. Of course you would need to be able to afford the ticket and then be able to get yourself to the airport and then have a destination in mind. This would also most likely need to be done pre-disaster. As we saw during the World Trade Center disaster, due to the type of attack, no one was flying for a few days afterwards.
10. Hopping a train. I used to do this in my younger days (we are talking quite a while ago) as a quicker way to get to the next town than my own two feet could carry me. At the time I didn't realize that it was both dangerous and illegal. Also, I don't know how much security has improved since then and other than as a last resort, probably wouldn't want to find out now.
11. Private aviation. If you have friends in high places (ie: the local sky ways), you may want to consider the option of being able to use a private plane or helicopter to get yourself out of the danger zone. While a MOU for this situation would be presumptuous and not likely to hold up in court after the fact, you may want to start having conversations now with friends who could provide this service to you in the event of an emergency. Better yet, if you have the time, money, and inclination, you may want to look into becoming a pilot and purchasing an aircraft yourself.
12. Boat. Whether by canoe, kayak, or power yacht, if you are in certain locations where this would be feasible, this may be an option. This would probably be one of my lower rated options for evacuation due to the limited amount of gear you could bring with you (depending on the boat of course), limited range (under your own power this will be pretty short), need for fuel (on any boat with a motor), and exposure to both the elements and other people.
13. Stowing Away. Again, another last resort. Somehow getting on an aircraft, ship, cargo truck, etc will only be your first challenge. Keeping hidden and not dying from a variety of causes (exposure to the elements, carbon monoxide poisoning, etc) will be your next.
14. People Traffickers. Funny that no matter what kind of country you are in--even communist countries and dictatorships, the free market law of supply and demand will always produce a way to fill people's needs. If you need to be trafficked from one country to another when it would otherwise be illegal or very dangerous (ie: at this particular time from Mexico to the US and during the any war--Vietnam, WW 2--out of the danger zone) there will be people who will fill this need for a price. This is also one of these very, very last options. You basically don't have any control over the situation, the people you pay will be just as likely to rob you and leave your carcass by the side of the road, and going about finding a "good" trafficker at the last minute will be quite difficult.
15. Anything with wheels. Some people have said "hey, I'll just use my rollerblades/skateboard/scooter to get around like I always do". Um, I say good for them and good for the orthopedist that would need to put me back together, but bad for me personally. Some people do rollerblade to work or skateboard to school, but again, this is good for a very limited range and I just can't picture this happening for the majority of the population, with or without a heavy pack on their back.

Anyway, those are some quick options to consider should the need arise to evacuate. Of course you can just wait for the government to tell you what to do, but we saw how effective that was for the people stuck in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. It is ALWAYS a better option to keep the situation under your own control as much as possible.

Rant--Flying Basics 101

I'm off to another conference and either because of jet lag or just a generally crappy attitude after no sleep and lots of stuff to do, I decided somewhere over the mid-west that a list of air travel "do's" and "don'ts" should come standard with each reservation. Here's the list:

• Dress appropriately. Airline travel used to be about style and class, now it is about getting to your destination in cattle-car fashion so dressing to survive instead of to impress is only logical. The new "show the butt crack when you sit down" jeans, are atrocious. Ditto for ultra mini skirts, and other clothing more appropriate for a nightclub than a family-oriented event.
• Consider that you may need to escape down a slide from your aircraft and run from the crash scene. Spike heels, no shoes, ultra-thin clothing made of plastic material, et al. won't help in this situation and may make your chances of survival even less.
• Leave the perfume and cologne in your suitcase until you reach your destination. Some one's nose is going to be about five inches from your body and they may not want a migraine inducing dose of "eau de stench" (whether from cologne or body odor) so take pity on the poor souls who are crammed into the seats next to you and try to be as "smell neutral" as possible.
• Consider that the entire forward section of the plane does not want to hear you chat on your cell phone until the very last minutes before take off. I don't need to hear about your liposuction, gallstones, wayward children, wayward spouse, etc. This is also my pet peeve in public restrooms, public transportation, or other locations where others can easily overhear cell conversations.
• Be patient. We are all trying to get to the same place so cutting the line to get on the plane first or having your lap belt off and bags out of the overhead as soon as the plane's landing gear touches the tarmac is unnecessary.
• Travel light. Yes, the baggage rules are becoming more restrictive every day but bringing three unwieldy carry-ons and a small animal with you is annoying to everyone else.
• Do: dress comfortably but appropriately, wear good shoes, carry on only one bag, bring your own food, drink, and entertainment, dress in layers, and keep your ID, some cash, and a credit card in a zippered jacket pocket in case you need to exit the aircraft in an emergency.

CNI Challenge #5--Take Public Transportation for a Month

Horrors! A bus?? With those kind of people? For most of the American suburban middle and upper class, taking public transportation is, um, distasteful to say the least. We Americans love our cars and to suggest people do without them is akin to anarchy. Granted, public transportation in many areas is sadly lacking compared to other locations around the globe and many large cities in this country, however it could be a workable possibility for many people given the right mindset and proper planning. After not having taken public transportation since I was a teenager (back in the stone age), I recently decided to take a bus to get from one end out our county to the other just as an experiment. Here are some thoughts on the validity of this challenge:

• Look at the financial impact of taking public transportation. If you lease an expensive car, pay insurance, pay for gas, and pay for regular maintenance, you can easily spend $1000 per month. Cost of a bus pass? $35 a month. Do the math. With a bus pass and selective cab rides, you can save an armload of money each month.
• We take public transportation in every country we travel to, why not take public transportation here? Except in cases where I need to hire a car and driver, I am perfectly fine taking subways, buses, jeepneys, rickshaws, etc. in foreign countries. A nice thing about our buses? The people don't sit so close together and there are no farm animals riding shotgun.
• We have a very out of proportion need for automobiles. A big percentage of people around the world can barely afford food yet there are five cars sitting in my driveway for two drivers. Craziness.
• Taking public transportation makes you think and plan ahead. It makes no sense to take a bus across town for groceries, bus to the other side of town for banking, and ride to another location, miles away, to go to the library. When you switch to public transportation, you will plan your route and plan your errands with more care so as to make each trip count.
• You get some uninterrupted time to read, listen to music, study, etc. Actually this challenge idea came about because a friend said she took the bus an hour each way to a class she was attending. I couldn't believe it, but when she said she saved hundreds on gas, didn't have to worry about driving through gridlock, and had two hours a day of uninterrupted study time, a light bulb came on in my head. Wow! Great idea!
• There are some things to consider: what will you do if the bus does not go where you need to go? what will you do about very real safety concerns such as walking to and from your bus stop or problems that may occur with other people on the subway? what if you miss the bus?
• What will people think???? Will your reputation survive the challenge? Many people are so afraid of what others think of them that they never try anything new; this is really limiting and impedes your personal development on a number of levels. By doing this challenge, you will learn learn how you react to new situations, be given a reason to try something new (tell people you are riding the bus for an online challenge), and you will learn to be more flexible (a definite plus when it comes to survival situations).

Good luck!