Aly’s “Bug Out” Preparations

Considering that yesterday marked the second anniversary of starting this blog, I’m not doing very well keeping it up—my apologies that today’s post is quite late. Life has been accelerating lately, a lot of things are happening all at once.

First and foremost, we’re getting Aly ready to start college. We will drive her to her school in Washington state, a major road trip for us. We’re sorting through all of her stuff so that we’re sure she has everything she needs, but also so we know what to do with what she doesn’t need. In a cabin this small, if one of us leaves, her stuff will certainly be packed up and stored to make room.

Complicating all this is the implicit transition from childhood to adulthood. A lot of what she leaves behind she may not want or need when she returns. On the other hand, having shed many belongings of my own as I made this transition some 30 years ago, I know that she might regret letting go of some things, particularly if she has children of her own. So much of parenting is trying to help one’s children avoid the mistakes one has made . . . .

We’re fortunate that she doesn’t own a lot, but dealing with even that small amount is plenty to keep us working frantically up until our departure date.

One of the more exciting aspects of this process is assembling a “bug out” kit for her. Her college is so cool that they include the kit in their list of things to bring to college! We have, as you might imagine, added much to their list. The challenge for us is that while we’ve assembled and stashed several bug out kits for ourselves, we need to remember or imagine what she might need in urban emergencies—a Worst Case Scenario of significantly different contingencies than we’re used to dealing with. At this point, I’m confident that everything will fit into the pack, and she’ll still be able to carry it should the need arise.

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