I have a candle in colours of Estonias flag and a couple of small table flags = flag of Estonia and the flag of the estonian city of Tartu.
Because my girlfriend is estonian and she studied at the university of Tartu.

I have a couple of medals and certificates from shooting contests and a couple of QSL cards from HAM activities. I also have a ruber duck as signature item.

I was beginning to think I was the only person in this forum who still hangs on to sentimental items.

Jeanette Isabelle

I have half a house full of stuff that held value for my late wife that individually mean little to me but collectively constitute her prepping and hobby activities over the years.
Some of the stuff has aged out to being possibly unusable. (Y2K stored food for example)

Many items I just wonder why they are in the house.

And I don't know if, or what, I should do about them.

My shooting competition plaques, a weird clock that broke a few weeks after I got it (and I keep it to remind me that the person who gave it to me might be right twice a day), more shooting plaques, old and/or irrelevant IT-related certifications (the first one awarded when I was ten years old), at least a thousand books I won't read again, Girl Scout gear from when my better half led a troop years ago, the list goes on. We make periodic efforts to declutter with some occasional success.

Inheriting items that meant something to a deceased loved one complicates things further when deciding what and what not bring with you in a permanent bugout. I'm using a drawing table, which belonged to Dad, as a computer desk; clearly, I'm not bugging out with a drawing table.

I'm willing to bet dollars to donuts Mom will pack her grandmother's Bible.

Jeanette Isabelle

I don't know about others, but the most important substance I inherited from my parents was their DNA, and it a high priority to pass it on and safeguard it in future generations. Other material items are of far less concern.

Last year I walked away from a house full of cherished items (grandparent's furniture, fine china, etc.), not knowing whether any of that stuff would survive. But the DNA, and the ability to support the DNA I had passed on to my children, was in good shape. The rest was just stuff, which could be replaced, in kind, at least.

I did it once, and i would do it again, in a heartbeat.

For the record,one of the items I left behind was a grey fleece sweater I purchased more than thirty years ago. It protected and warmed me through some really hairy SAR operations, warmed me while scuba diving in frigid Lake Michigan, and was my garment of choice of my first post-divorce date - talk about versatile usage. Rather worn now, I cherish it highly, but it is really just an item of clothing.

Items, such as your sweater, tell a story. You can pass down your DNA and nothing else; you will end up with a generation not knowing anything about their past or where they are from.

Jeanette Isabelle

I went through my non-practical treasures again to determine what I will bring with me and will be left behind. Though I added one item to the list, the bulk of what I'm packing is smaller. In no particular order here is the current list of things I'm bringing with me:

Limited edition CD set by The Sounds of Christmas Orchestra and Chorus
High School Diploma
Four Dallas Opera Stagebills
The book The Shepherd of the Hills, autographed by the cast of The Shepherd of the Hills.
https://theshepherdofthehills.com/drama/
Two other programs from live performances
Journal
Twenty-four pages of printed E-mail and drawings
Eighteenth birthday gift, an original drawing by the cartoonist Bill Holbrook

Eighteenth birthday card
The original drawing of the July 8, 2004, Kevin and Kell comic strip

https://kevinandkell.com/2004/kk0708.html
Note: The digital form was edited
A letter from the cartoonist Bill Holbrook
USB drive

I think that's everything. This is the test I use to decide what I will bring with me: Does it tell a story? Would an archeologist from another time know my life's story based on the treasure he/she discovers? Though the Christmas CD, the Stagebills, book and remaining programs do not fit the "puzzle," I think, in light of everything else, the meaning is obvious: they reveal what these items mean to the owner.

Jeanette Isabelle

Jeanette,

If you evacuate and can't go back for some time, one of the primary things you are going to need is documentation. Go to the Listening to Katrina website for lots of good information about Documentation.


All of this will fit on a USB drive. This is part of my EDC. You can also encrypt it and store it on the cloud.