To prevent the further hijacking of "What did you do today to prepare?" I'm starting a new thread.

Scenario: You have enough advanced warning to plan, book a flight over sees, pack and get onboard before a mass evacuation. You already have your passport. What do you do? What do you pack?

Me? I have all of my important papers and medications, even reserves.

Jeanette Isabelle

You said most of the important things, but I would add money (as much as possible) and credit cards as must haves, then a couple of other small things.

The problem is the restrictions airlines place on carry-on (size, weight, number) when combined with TSA regulations for carry on. Just my insulin, syringes etc. take up quite a bit of my carry on, despite (theoretically) being exempt from the basic carry on regulations (you can never successfully win an argument at the gate). So, what you can carry on is very limited.

Theoretically, you can put more things, and a greater variety of things in checked bags. But these are subject to many mishaps and also there may be customs inspections/restrictions, again, possibly very arbitrary. My rule for checked bags is nothing goes there that I can't do without.

So for me, in the situation you propose, it would be papers, medications, money, credit cards, enough clothing for the weather, my phone, thumb drives with important files and my laptop. All else would have to be left behind. When you land, you start over.

If possible and you have enough time, some things could be shipped (if you have an address overseas) before departure, and, if the circumstances permit it, you might be able to wire funds to a bank account you have established overseas (that can take some time to set up, and would need to be done way in advance).

Based on the State Department / Family Liaison Office / Post evacuation resources / go bag contents.
https://www.state.gov/m/dghr/flo/c1991.htm

Money
-ATM & credit cards
-Checkbook
-Cash (better to have too much, and just re-deposit the excess)
-Safe deposit keys
-Travel credit card

Medical Items
-Medical and dental records
-Immunization cards
-Glasses & contacts
-Prescriptions Medications & paperwork

Documents
-Government issued ID (drivers license, passports, etc. Look for forms of identification that meets the "Real ID" requirements.
-Marriage, birth, adoption and/or naturalization certificates.
-Auto insurance policies, registrations and title if applicable
-Power of attorney & will
-School records
-Pet records
-Household effects inventory
-Employment records
-Powers of attorney (medical, durable and bank)
-Wills and trust documents
-Bank records (most recent year)
-Stock records (records of purchases)
-Passwords for internet accounts*
-Tax records (last three years)
-Address database or book
-Computer / backup (Critical data should have three copies: On the computer, encrypted online backup, encrypted portable media)

Personal belongings
-Clothing
-Toys and games
-Pet items
-Cell phones
-Chargers for all electronics
-non-replaceable items (albums (might want to create electronic copies), heirlooms, etc.)

Other
-Snack food
-Water
-Usual travel detritus (first aid kit, pen/pad, earplugs, etc.)
-Bag(s) to carry it all

Sometimes adverse situations develop really fast. What criteria do you use to determine the coming of a mass evacuation? What will you do if you "miss the deadline," so to speak? Have you considered land-based or sea-based escape routes?

This thread is the offspring of the following post:


If it were just a tsunami, damaged infrastructure, attack on the power grid, war or collapse of the economy then likely we will bug in. If it appears as if it will get worse or, in some other way, we get notice to bug out to a foreign nation, we will pack what we can.

If we miss the window of opportunity, then we will have to go with the rest of the mass evacuation.

If not by plane then by boat.

Jeanette Isabelle

I'd have to be truly desperate to leave the USA for a disaster. Most likely it would be an "I'm never coming home" event. We'd be taking important papers, a few days of clothes, a computer or two, and comfort/distraction items -- not too much else. Given enough time I'd take the bulk of our funds in travelers checks or similar instruments.

In a separate thread, Jeanette gave a historical example of such mass evacuations, and it seems that she has in mind, among other things, large-scale persecution of certain groups. This sort of stuff is really hard to gauge -- when is it so bad that you can no longer get out, and when is it not so bad that you can still stay? I'd wager the window is quite narrow. Six million people misread the situation in WW2. How can we do better?

I don't know what warning, if any, the Jews received.

The Armenians, on the other hand, received advanced warning. Beyond that we can only assume what happened.

Jeanette Isabelle

There's a pretty good account of the laws and attitudes leading up to the holocaust in the autobiography" The man without a shadow" . There were a few years of increasingly persecuting laws before the ghettos. The Jews' attitude mostly stayed at "It'll get better, we'll deal with it until then" untill it was too late. There was a brief period of "send the kids away", then "Oh s###". By then, only a few countries, mainly in South America, were accepting refugees.

They were convinced that "civilized Germans" had limits that they would not exceed. The modern expression is "Frog in a pot".

For us it's not "It'll get better." The problem I see is "It's not that bad. It would be better to bug in than pack up and leave."

Jeanette Isabelle