Preparing for emergencies

With all the news of Hurricane Irene affecting flights, hotels, trains, car travel, etc., it had me wondering:

What do one baggers do to prepare themselves for emergencies while traveling?

Sure, with days notice of a hurricane we can all change our plans, but what about earthquakes, terrorist attacks or civil insurrection? Do you pre-plan for “what ifs” or would you rely completely on your hotel/hostel? 

If traveling internationally, do you carry the local phone number’s of your country’s consulate?

Have the local contact information for your airline or train? A copy of their schedules? 

Extra food in case you are trapped in your room for a number of hours or even a day? Access to clean water? 

Access to news? 

Flashlight?

Travel health insurance with evacuation privileges? 

What do you do or do you do nothing assuming the odds are against anything bad happening? 

(Frank II)

Comments

[stevenshytle]

For me, it starts with what I learned in Boy Scouts. Having learned to survive in the wilderness with only what was in my pockets (before Scottevest of course) in the wilderness, that "onebag" on my should is a bag of great potential and opportunity. Add to that my grandfathers advice of 100 dollar bill in your shoe for the cab ride to the nearest embassy or consulate and a little food in the pack makes for a fun trip.

[Monte L. Steiger]

We don't do any planning for emergencies all though we do have enough food and drink in the house to last through an emergency. In this part of the world we don't get emergencies except for an occassional power outtage

Lots of this emergency preparedness awareness came with the last political administration. as a means to make us think they were protecting us from something bad happening. Remember sheet plastic and duct tape, transparent or not, that were going to protect us from a biological attact.

I have always wondered what the term "pre-plan" mean? I'll bet George Carlin would have fun with that if he didn't before his untimely death. .

[Andrew]

All the above, except evacuation insurance since my regular health plan is pretty good out of country. Some of my best travels have been Third World where power outages are standard and general unpredictability is part of the attraction.
Before leaving I go online and make bookmarks/links/capture screenshots of booking confirmations, train timetables, street maps, contact info etc on both iPhone and iPad so I can access these offline on the device itself. Thumb flash drives could also work for laptops/PCs.
Good to have embassy/passport/ID and airline/housing travel info on durable paper and not just on some electronic medium which can fail or get stolen. Keeping that info on "the cloud" or otherwise online is handy backup, assuming you can access it from wherever you need it.
Prep for the worst case then enjoy that (like Irene?) the worst rarely happens.

[Paula S]

On trips, I carry an address/note book (that I keep updated according to each trip), I put in emergency contact info, airline/transport/local taxi tel #s. I have (family) global full insurance coverage supplied by my work and coverage on a platinum CC.
I always carry food, in some form, for my husband as he is more prone to diabetic crashes on trips.
I usually have a map of a city I'm visiting for the first time, I hi-light the hospital, police stn, transport hubs etc. I always keep cash and coins on me.

At home we keep a stock of water, have plenty of non-perishable food, batteries, flashlights and my LL Bean headlamp. BBQ propane tanks are kept filled, we've had to use that several times to finish cooking dinner when we lose hydro.
In an emergency at home my husband and I would have to make our way to our jobs (police and fire).

[Andrew]

One-bag travel and home preparedness are parallel themes. Irene just came through here last night and although she happily did not live up to the Y2K-level media hysteria it still feels good to know I'm prepped for a power outage had it come. As Paula says, batteries, lights, propane BBQ grill as backup, water, nonperishable foods, a decent radio. Extra iPhone batteries (see thread) for a prolonged or widespread outage. We touched on this after the Fukushima meltdown this Spring.
(500,000 + here are without power & are being warned today it could be a week or more.)

For travel, 'Ten Essentials' items like a Fenix AAA light, some power bars, a Platy bottle etc are so ultralight and useful there's no reason not to one-bag them. I expect there's a lot of overlap in our leisure travel packing list and our emergency grab-and-go bag packing list.

"The difference between a tourist and a refugee is a credit card."

[Laurie]

We live in an earthquake zone, what Andrew mentioned about parallels between emergency preparedness and one bagging are true. I think about both when I consider restocking supplies. We generally take fresh water for granted whilst traveling within the US, Canada and Europe; every where else we bring purification tabs & a Steripen. Extra food in our travel bags is usually something like: Clif bars, crackers & cheese, jerky, and ginger candy.

If you have ever eaten the emergency ration bricks that come with earthquake kits you know just how awful they taste and how heavy they are. I've been thinking about drying my own food for awhile to replace the foodbricks and to have a lightweight nutritious travel option. Prepackaged dry foods are fine for intermittant backpacking but, their high salt contents aren't great for long term consumption. If forced to abandon our home in a disaster, by necessity we would have to "one bag" ourselves and our pets to a safer location. Everything, expect water, has a lighter weight option.

[Paula S]

We live in a rural area, I know where there is a hidden spring a couple of miles up the road from us, so if bottled water sold out or if shops remained shut, I keep several empty, extra large water bottles on standby for a visit up the road.
We have been talking about investing in a small generator. We know a few people who have them who had to use them during a winter emergency. Very handy, as are portable solar panels.
We have a Dodge Journey, the back seat folds into the floor.....makes the back big enough for a mattress. We could easily live out of our car for a short time if evacuation was necessary.

[Frank II--Editor]

Remember, I underlined the word "traveling." I'm interested to see how people plan for emergencies while TRAVELING.

[Monte L. Steiger]

Traveling! You people give me your addresses and I will travel to your place in an emergency. Light weight. Copnvertible Carry-on.

[Larry]

I live about 35 miles from Galveston and we get hurricanes or tropical storms regularly. We all have a storm" kit and it wouldn't be hard to transfer some of that to travel. I carry a headlamp anyway and some food but not enough for several days. I usually have water in my room but , again, not enough for several days' I register with the State department before I leave. At least someone knows where I am.

[Paul]

My vital information is on my iPhone but is copied locally, so I'm not dependent on cloud connection.

I keep a flashlight handy whenever on a plane. I figure in the event of a crash it'll be the single most important thing (that TSA will allow) that'll help me get out of the plane.

State Department knows about my international travel, friends and family know about all travels with flight and hotel details.

Otherwise emergency preparedness doesn't come into it because one bagging is about what you need, not what you "might" need.

[TheInfamousJ]

When traveling, I keep all required information in hard copy bound up into a spiral notebook. I take a sheaf of papers in the order I'll need them to Staples, in advance of my trip, and have them bound into a spiral notebook. First on the list is my packing list. Then my itinerary. Then confirmation numbers and addresses of my flight, first night's hotel, etc.

I also put an emergency contact person for each destination of my trip. Usually it is someone I know in that location. If it isn't, I look to my social network (not to be confused with Facebook or Twitter) and see who has a friend, family, or previous coworker who lives near where I am going. In the event of a true emergency - volcano eruption or the like - I will contact that person and piggy back onto their evacuation plans. I figure that locals know best.

-J-

[Monte L. Steiger]

Sharon has a small calander book in which she has all kinds of email addrersses and contact numbers, including those for hotels where we have made reservation. We don't tell the government where we are going. We always have two Platypus bottles, a box of Baker's Semi-Sweet Chocolate, about a pound of trail mix, and a handful of granola bars. A folding cup and a Spork, both made in Sweden, complete our sustainables.

I used to take along a heating coil, the kind that sits in a cup, but never used it so it stays home now in a box along with all the stuff I've purchased to travel with and found to be not necessary.

[DannH]

Good question Frank. As I thought about it I realized there is very little difference between preparing for an emergency, either natural or man made, and preparing for what the airlines can toss at you.

Stuck for extended periods with either no food or bad food. limited water, uncomfortable and possibly unhealthy surroundings, limited or non-existent bathroom facilities, etc... The extra food, water, portable power, toilet paper, Imodium, reading material that I take in preparation for getting stuck on the tarmac in an airplane is exactly what I need to survive a hurricane, snow storm, or coup.

[K-eM]

Traveling, I carry hard copies of everything, my iPhone, and other general stuff in my purse. A good dose of patience, calmness, and common sense goes a long ways as well.

[sonnydelight]

I always take a micro print out (font size 5) of contact information and reduction copies of passport, etc. And the wonderful Pak-Lite flashlight. Oh, lots of cash, too!

[Rebecca P]

This is an issue I have been pondering given that I am considering one-bagging it to Europe including Turkey. I am from Christchurch, NZ and in the last year (for the first time ever) we have suffered some very big earthquakes (7.1; 6.3 (twice!) + over 8000 aftershocks). After what we have been and are continuing to go through, we now have over 200 litres of stored water, heaps of stored food, alternative heating and cooking sources, light, first aid, taupalins, alternative toileting solutions etc. When I started looking at Turkey, it came to my attention that the whole area, but particularly Istanbul is high risk for a very large earthquake. Most unsettling. It wont change our itinerary because I refuse to make life decisions in response to fear BUT it has got me thinking about emergency plans and I wonder whether its going to be possible to take what I feel I will need to be prepared/safe and still one bag it. I am also thinking about accommodation and am not prepared to stay in ancient stone buildings that would be certain to collapse in even a mild quake. In Christchurch, we had two buildings "pancake" and 183 people killed. People on the 7th floor just climbed out of the building and onto the pavement! My plan is to only sleep on top floors of buildings that are not too high. If there was a big one, it might not make any difference... but then again my experience here tells me it might....

[Frank@OBOW]

"I wonder whether its going to be possible to take what I feel I will need to be prepared/safe and still one bag it."

That depends on what you plan to take.

Most reputable hotels will take care of you. If you are really concerned about this, two steps you could take are to register with the New Zealand Embassy/Consulate in Turkey so they know you're there and will help find you in case of emergency, and look into medical evacuation insurance should you be injured and need to get home.

I lived in California for many years and was always prepared for earthquakes. Food, Water, flashlights, a radio and extra batteries were staples. When traveling, I always carry a flashlight and have a bottle of water in my room. I also travel with some snack bars but they aren't just for emergencies. I normally don't carry a radio any longer but if you do make sure you know the frequency of any English language stations.

Back in my touring days, we always had to be ready for emergencies. To this day, I make contingency plans and know my options in case of a problem. I don't dwell on it but I'm prepared.

So, "Plan for the worst, and expect the best."