A fellow monkey asked why I was on Survival Monkey. Asked what I was preparing for, basically what was my goal for being on a Survival site. He made me think, what am I preparing for. Short answer, I am preparing to care of my family more independently then I have in the past. If things break down, I want the knowledge to keep my children secure and fed. I was reading an article on Survival Mom about relocation (Strategic Relocation: ur doin it rong - Survival Mom ) . This is something that is discussed on most survival/preparedness sites. Relocation- establish or lay out in a new place. Many experts in the survival field feel that living in a rural location gives you a better chance of survival should SHTF. I have been a member of and browsing “survival” sites for about five years. I am sitting in the same spot that I was in 5 years ago. Will I be relocating upon survival experts’ advice: NO. Will I be in this location forever: NO. When first starting down the survival path, I kind of panicked thinking we have to get out, we need to move, danger, danger. Well we have survived and we have become stronger in skills, equipment and knowledge. It all came down to realizing that quitting my job and relocating all based on a “what if” was not reasonable or rational. I recall Y2K, I remember the panic that some felt. As Y2K drew closer and we read stories of people preparing for total collapse. My husband and I discussed if we should do something to prepare. We talked about getting a couple cases of canned goods but decided all would be fine. Midnight came and then it was January 1, 2000 the lights stayed on and life continued. But Y2K and the months leading up to it we learned about people who were preparing and what they were doing. Fast forward from January 1, 2000 to 5 years ago when I started to see signs in society that caused me alarm. Five years ago I started adding things up and starting to have doubts about stability of my country. I know economics, I know history and I know we were heading down the wrong path. The time is getting closer to taking larger steps in securing my family. Relocation is getting closer. As the article in Survival Mom pointed out: Like the article pointed out, relocation takes getting to know a new place. And financially it is best to only make that leap when you are prepared. Had my fears 5 years ago taken over and had we made the move while not financially ready, we could have been in trouble. We may have been in a better location but we would have been behind in preparations. Through reading I have a general idea of what I would look for when relocating. I have a list of what I feel would be good to have in a new location. My needs when looking for a new place- situation of land, water access, feel of the town or neighbors (I would go meet them prior to purchase), how far commute to make a livable income. Plus I would look for a place that maybe had established planting plots, fruit trees would be nice also how heavily traveled is the road leading to the house. Any Monkeys have knowledge, plans or hopes of relocating?
If I could only get everyone here on that train of thought!! Currently lulled into a sense of false security...
Did it, started in 1972 with the purchase of rural land. Stayed in place with a good job and income and commuted to the rural area as time, money, family and health permitted. By the time I was ready and secured a new job in the rural area the place was paid off and mostly built. I left a long term job, giving 3 weeks notice and we started the long move which took 6 months to complete. Just in time the house sold and the new place had secure winterized quarters. Sure, sure, he was just lucky! Well I heard that more than once but the luck came from planning, timing and a continued awareness as well as continued education, taking care of each health issue as it appeared and staying in shape while doing all the above and raising a family. My Luck has made me a bit critical of the pie-in-the-sky bunch as well as the whiners in the work places I once enjoyed going to each day and busting my butt to keep my sanity (might have missed that train) as well as my morals and ethics. I witnessed many around me with failed marriages caused by job stress, infidelity and poor financial planning and care. We struggled together, a most unusual couple with a blended family that continued to grow as we dodged the road kills of life flowing around us. Major medical problems came and went, keeping a steady job with good insurance was a must as was a "retirement" plan that we changed as the world around us changed. Best example of "being lucky" was when we moved out of expanding markets and into a safe haven that all said was stupid, after all "you can make $$$$$$" in the market. At the bust/bottom when I was ask how I knew the bust was on the way, I replied I didn't know. The person who now found their retirement fund down from 6 digits to 4 pressed me for an answer. I replied " Better to be a year early than a day late on your financial planning." Sure traveling the world in the Mil was a plus and a real education, getting married later in life was a plus but also a negative for I found it difficult to find a woman that was not an air head and was ready to settle down. No problem the land of Ozz and American Airlines did their part and two years later we were married. Luck there? (Who knows after all she escaped Ozz near penniless and returned to our home state to seek a new fortune and me....) Maybe luck but knowing what you want and need goes a long way in securing a good relationship that soon encompasses your total life. As to that total life; I have to say that the most important part of our marriage vows is the part that we repeated to each other, "Forsake all Others". No one has a right to your marriage information or how you live your life together. Many will want to get involved in a new marriage of which they do not approve. Even though they have not a whit of an investment in that marriage. Some just to see if they can break you up, some looking for a new playmate and others just because they do not like seeing another couple happy after they destroyed their own marriage. A good marriage is the center piece of our existence and one of the reasons we prepped. So make up your mind what you want to do and go for it. Yes I have been called a hard ass, also a zealot and a guy who doesn't know how to get along and seldom plays well with others but I do know what I want in life and I'll do my best to check out of this world knowing I can meet my maker with a clear conscience of not hurting others, well, others that have ethics and a solid grasp of the world at large. I learned early what a good person did and respected them and also what a zero was and how to avoid their influence. Losers? Not my problem.
We're currently in a free state but it's currently "Purple" and the socialist's are gaining ground in my town. I've considered moving a few towns north where local politics are better but Mrs Sneaky aren't getting any younger and the idea of continuing to shovel snow gives me pause. Tennessee (western end) and Missouri (southern part) (2nd choice) seem more conservative (and warmer) and we need to look into subjects as ; Gun laws (a big issue as I will not move to a ban state and prefer strong stand your ground and castle defense laws) which pretty much dictate how oppressive local gubbermint can be, zoning laws, real estate & income taxes, local politics and right to farm. Pretty much in that order. The Mrs has a good chance of being able to backpack in her job and work from home and I'm pushing retirement age which really means I'll have to work twice as hard taking care of any animals and a rather large garden. I've got experience at rustic furniture making and starting in on silversmithing as homestead trades for additional FRN's. Relocating's never easy, did it once before back in '90 so I've got my eyes and mind open to whatever heads our way. The next two to three years will tell.
I would question anyone who ask you why your on here much less what are you preparing for... Sorry if I'm breaking it off in someone's a$$, To Bad, Then again who would dare to question what we do what we do.
I respectfully disagree. It all depends on the manner in which the question(s) were asked. Think about it for a sec, we could all learn from the answers each give with out giving up OPSEC. JMO and yes I'll give *my* answers in a minute
Get outa town. How do you "get" who's in or not? I'ld go to the mat for my boys and girls. FL, GA. NC. SC seem to be great folks too. I know how to get to our "safe" place. But it's a real long way. We'ld go feral quick.
I wasn't really of a prepper mindset before joining this site...aside from what came naturally to me. I had been collecting silver since a child, not cuz I had worries of economic collapse, but simply because my Grandfather told me to and got me into it. Firearms are common in my family and circle of friends. Hunting/fishing - same. Gardening was my moms thing but I got into it because it felt like printing my own money and was therapy.....with that being said... When i woke up - yeah...panic a bit. "WHERE AM I GONNA BUG OUT TO?" - this lasted nearly a year with thoughts and plans....mainly because we're not far enough out of metro Van for my liking..but my brothers and friends eventually made me realize that we only need to bug out when the danger of being over-run is literally "down the road". SHTF - MOST of our friends with firearms will come here. We have land, they do not. MOST of the locals are unarmed. Our defensive position will be a hard nut to crack and it's unlikely we'll be outgunned by anybody other than if law enforcement came to remove us - which we would probably comply with so long as they didn't disarm us or take our food. Anyway - that's where Im at. Stand my ground until forced to bug out. Could change in a moments notice - depending on the SHTF scenario.
Came from a family with a prepper mindset only no one called it that back then. Raised on a ranch so growing your own was the norm as well as everything to do with the out doors. Started reading Tappan,Benson,Cooper Ayoob and others back in the 80's and its kinda went on from there. Joined my 1st online group in '98-'99 and started planning on a family level then. Lots in between but a divorce, meeting and marrying my best friend and soulmate, years of 100+hr work weeks, a couple of patents and smart investments and here we are. We are at our SHTF retreat unless we get caught while traveling. If so we have a few different places scattered across the country we can go to along with Mutual Assist Agreements with friends through out the country as well. This has been years in the making,and over those years the event that was being prepped for has changed,others added to the list,but the reason is the same. So that me and mine have every chance I can give them to not just survive, but to live and thrive PSHTF.
I have grown up in a variety of geographic locations, rural to full on large city downtown urban setting. I have had the fortune of having lived in other countries and travelled quite a bit until I finally grew up enough to settle down in Texas. I can understand the "city life" standpoint many hold. Understand it, but not quite like it myself. I have tried to remain as far from the bright city lights as feasible, accomodating for commute time; both budget and sanity wise. In the last year I left my semi-rural subdivision living, where my commute was a measly 15 minutes to a very rural in-the-middle-of-the-God-be-damned-woods 1 hour one way commute with no traffic. Worth it? Completely. Momma Falc and I were blessed enough that her retirement from teaching funded and paid (in full) a very large, Class-A motor home. We moved in full time. Downsized from a modest 1500 square foot house to a (being very generous) 400 square foot living space. We are quite literally more financially free than ever. Our "home" is paid for and owned, lock stock, and two smoking tail pipes. Even if I opt not to pay the "registration" tax, the state will not seize the "property", because I can legally park it anywhere and just let it sit. Our eventual goal is a piece of land on which we can build a slightly larger (but not very much, perhaps double what we have now), fully off grid house. We want multiple acres, but will build the intial homestead on just 1 acre and expand as needed. All in all, prepping for us is a game of patience and consideration. Panic is to be avoided. Free advice (worth every penny you paid): if you do not have a bug out location, worrying about it will do nothing but waste energy. That being said, if you do not have a bug-out location, plan for bugging in, with bug out as a last ditch (as @Mindgrinder said) danger is literally just down the road, scenario. YMMV, to each his (or her) own.
My problem with relocation is money, not saved money but how to continue to earn what I have become used to. Years ago I started to do things to eventually make my move to a place that is more ideal for me. I have purchased land, fairly close to a small town that has a hospital and basic shopping. Been squirreling away my nut and acorns , accumulating assets, and learning skills. Each year my hunting shack becomes less of a shack and more of a home. If I had no responsibilities I would already be gone, but I have aging parents, kids almost ready for college (next year), and a business that counts on me. Life lately has been very complicated, save for retirement and other current would plans, then also having to save for shtf plans. The two are very different actually almost polar opposite. For example if I was purely planning for retirement and college expenses ( current world expenses) it would go into a balance stock fund, moving more towards bonds and less towards stocks as the expense loomed closer. Shtf savings to me means precious metals, both physical and paper, no debt, purchasing items and learning how to use them to become self-reliant. Sometimes I feel like I am straddling two different worlds.
Most have to straddle two worlds. Many don't realize that economic survival can require a relocation. If the area one lives in can't provide the required income or living, one needs to move. The former industrial giant states of the Midwest aren't coming back anytime soon. When the water dries up in the Serengeti, the animals move on. When the animals move to greener pastures, the people that relied on them for food had to follow. Modern society has us stuck on a fake tribal condition where we feel we can't leave because we have family there. I suppose misery loves company... I didn't desire to move 2600 miles from my extended family with a 1 yr old baby but my economic survival required it.
Fact is, everyone used to follow the work. Weather it was agricultural work, railroads, oil, mining, hunting or jobs like printing. You went where your skills were needed, the job did not come to you. It was support and back ground jobs that grew towns, (food, lodging, tanneries, blacksmiths, ext) they tended to stay where they were successful, but even a mill or smith would move if the need was great.
