A lot of attention is put toward Get Hom Bags, gear, vehicle preps, etc. How much effort do you actually put toward how you will actually get home, the route you will take. Most people use the same routes day after day. Going to and from work is routine. The same is true for the daily tasks of taking kids to school, to practices, going to church, or visiting friends. We tend to stick to the easiest and fastest routes to where we need to go.
During the ice storm several weeks ago, I found the need to take alternate routes to just about everywhere. Numerous vehicle crashes I have come upon in the last few months have also forced me to either wait for the road to clear or find another way. Fortunately, I know my area well enough to make quick route adjustments. I may not know each street by name, but I do know which turns will get me to my destination.
What if I was trying to get home in a true emergency? Whether it be a personal emergency or a true SHTF situation, getting home with these route interruptions would cost valuable time. Knowing multiple alternate routes gives options. I vary my routes often, if only to simply familiarize myself with my options. I use three or four different routes to and from work. Most of my route selection depends on the time of day and the traffic conditions during those times. Sometimes, my route selection is for ease, while other times I choose a route for time saving.
There is one (actually three) thing(s) that could absolutely stop my progress in getting home on any given day, a bridge (or three). Most of my travels require that I cross one of three bridges to get from home to work, shopping, etc. During the ice storm, two of these bridges were barely passable. The third, an interstate bridge, would have been highly unadvisable to even attempt crossing, except in the most extreme of emergency. Of course, there were people using this bridge. In my personal opinion, those people were taking much too risk when there were other options available. The two bridges I used were covered in ice and even in four wheel drive (4WD) and driving slowly, my truck slid a bit on the ice.
I use the ice storm only as an example. Replace that with any form of obstacle (traffic jam, crashes, EMP that kills vehicles where they sit) and you’re stuck on one side of the river or the other, at least with a vehicle. That adds a few more decisions to be made. Do I walk? Can I, or whoever is with me, carry everything in my vehicle? What do I take with me? What do I leave behind? Do I have the clothing with me that I need to wear when exposed to the elements instead of being in an airconditioned or heated vehicle? One big question to consider: Is the best route by vehicle, the best route by foot? Taking the same route by foot as I would take in a vehicle could make me walk miles out of the way. On foot, I can cut through parking lots, empty lots, etc. and shorten that route by quite a bit. Maybe walking along a railroad or body of water would be the faster than walking along the same roads I would have driven. However, there are neighborhoods that I would never walk through but would drive through without a second thought.
All this factors into having multiple ways to get from where you are to where you need to be. I would suggest having multiple routes for vehicle travel, as well as travelling by foot. Take the time to get off your “normal” route and find alternatives that fit just about any situation you can think of. Google maps can be a great resource to pick routes to try. I would try those routes while there is no emergency and see which ones seem the best. Keep in mind, if your phone battery dies, you may need to know these routes by memory. If you’re of the mind to actually get some exercise in the process, you could try walking some routes to see how you fair.
Determine the routes. Determine potential obstacles. Determine what it will take to get from where you are to where you need to be. Having all the gear but not being able to get home is a problem. My home is my castle. It is where I will be with family. It is where I have far more supplies than what I can carry on my back. It is where I have the absolute best chance of survival. Getting home is the first, and most important step. If I must leave there later that’s fine. But I must get there first.
Don’t just prepare. Prepare to thrive.
