"Everybody gotta die sometime, Red."

You can prepare all you want. You can come up with the best laid plans of mice and men. You can run 10 miles a day if you feel so inclined.

No one lives forever.

Make the best of the time you have, don't be foolish and squander the gift. Learn as much as you can and pass on the best parts to those that come after you.

You have but a little time to do what you can, then it is over. Very shortly thereafter, all memory of you will fade into nothing. Ultimately, you have no control over how it will end, only the parts leading up to that point, so if you aren't happy with the outcome, then you've only yourself to blame. You may not have many choices about lifestyle, or family, or opportunity, but you always have a choice about perspective. Even a poor wretch in a Gulag can have a positve attitude about life.

What does this have to do with the topic? Attitude is the biggest factor in our survival. I guess before I decide about whether I am going to bug out or stay put or whatever, nothing is as important to the outcome as is my expectation, and how I will face the adversities to follow.

Prepare all you want, if you don't have the right frame of mind, it will do you no good.

Consider this, what happens when you bug out, make it to whatever Shan-gri-la you are looking for, then contract pancreatic cancer and die miserably six months later. Was the six extra months of miserable life worth the effort?

The point is, have real expecations. For all our efforts, we only delay the inevitable. The most important thing, then, seems to be how best we can enjoy the time we've left.