Planning for a simple family vacation. A car trip. That’s the approach we’re going to take to help you work out how to put an emergency kit together for your family.
First, I want you to sit down with a pen or pencil and a piece of paper. Think about this family trip. It could be a three day car trip or a three day camping trip. Whichever level of preparedness you want to have, think about it in terms of simply packing.
Now, consider these questions (this is how I plan for all trips and how I finally put our emergency kits together):
Basics
- Who is going on this trip? Are the pets coming with us?
- What’s the first thing we do in the morning? Teeth, shower, hair, shave, get dressed.
- What do I have to pack for each person for that, for three days? If there’s no access to running water, what can I substitute?
- Then we have breakfast. What can I pack for three days that doesn’t involve cooking? What is everyone going to eat on and eat with?
- What do we do after breakfast? I need to pack something to entertain the kids so they don’t entertain themselves by tormenting their siblings.
- There will probably be a snack time necessary about midmorning. What can I pack for that?
- Lunch: Three days worth of lunches with no cooking necessary.
- More entertainment necessary after lunch.
- Another snack around midafternoon.
- Dinner: Same question as lunch and breakfast. Three days. No cooking.
- What is the bedtime routine? Bath, pajamas, teeth, story.
- What do we need to sleep comfortably? Blankets at least. Pillows? Air mattress? Sleeping bags?
- Am I forgetting anything we need? Diapers, formula? Extra batteries? Feminine hygeine?
First Aid
- What prescriptions do I need to pack?
- Don’t forget a first aid kit.
Food and water
- You’ll need about a gallon of water/day/family member.
- Don’t be afraid of high-calorie/high fat food. It could actually be very helpful to have food like that during an emergency.
Pulling it together
- What am I going to put all this in? Where am I going to keep it until we need it?
In part 3 I’ll share with you what I have in my family’s emergency kit, and where I still need to work on it.