A Would you take a vacation now

[The Tin Mom]

Or would you stay home & batten down the hatches? Should we only take be prepping now or be prudent but still have fun?

And - say you wanted to go in Sept or Oct - would you try to go earlier, wait & see what happens in the fall & maybe postpone 'till later, or just write it off? How far from home would you be willing to go?

Also, it is safe to say you are pretty well stocked up and your neighbor owes you animal chores,

[soulsurvivor]

I can only speak for myself, but I don't think staying aware has to also prohibit living a normal daily life. If anything, the most humane thing we can do is to live a normal life, and that would include taking vacations, finding our joy, celebrating life whenever we can...

[Callieslamb]

Whether I would leave on vacation now/this year or not would depend on a LOT of circumstances. But it boils down to this for us:

If I were just beginning to get myself and family prepared for what I see as a bleak future - I would not go. If I were pretty well prepared and the money for the vacation was in my pocket already - I might go. If I were fully prepared and saved the money for the vacation - I would go.

[Wayne02]

For goodness sake, take your vacation when you want to take your vacation. Being as prepared as you can is one thing, obsessing over this type of stuff is entirely another. Don't let it rule your life or consume your thoughts, otherwise you might as well be dead. Is this how you want to live? In constant fear and suspicion??? What kind of life is that? Go on vacation and have a good time!

[beaglebiz]

It depends...do I wish to travel 2 hours to the beach, or to Canada?? Or do I want to go overseas, like to Europe, or even the islands or Mexico.
Id do the beach or Canada. I have no reason or inclination to leave NA, and with money being tight, (we have a trailer), any where we can drive to is a bonus. We are lucky enough to have plenty of waterworks around (lakes , river) and can just go to our own fishing cabin

[booklover]

I don't plan my life around "maybe"s. Yes, I would take a vacation. Dd will be going to Costa Rica in the fall and then over winter break we'll be in Spain and Turkey to vacation and visit family. I won't let preparing for a "what if" to dictate my life. You still have to live. JMO.

[firegirl969]

I choose not to travel out of the country. I have taken several EMS recert classes from GBI and they warned us against going to Mexico or parts of South America due to Americans being targeted as hostages. Therefore, we have decided to not leave North America. Just our choices from what we have been told by those more knowledgeable than me.

[mnn2501]

Going to Minnesota last week in Aug to see family and friends - ya gotta live.
Its about 1000 miles from home. Being prepared and watchful is one thing -- letting "could be's" and "maybe's" prevent you from enjoying your life is not living. I gotta have something more concrete that what is happening now to prevent me from traveling.

[hunter63]

Originally Posted by booklover

I don't plan my life around "maybe"s. Yes, I would take a vacation. I won't let preparing for a "what if" to dictate my life. You still have to live. JMO.

Right on, if you do, you have already lost.

[texican]

I made a marathon trip to the Houston area last Saturday... Along with my camera, I had my go bag, some hardware and extra clips...

It was a there for the afternoon, and back home by 1:30am kind of trip. I figured I'd never see some of these folks (family reunion) again 'alive'.

I talked with one of my cousins who works in a bank, and she just couldn't understand her customers wanting physical gold and silver, and even keeping it at home. After a 'coolish' discussion, I dropped the subject. Under no circumstances could she ever see her bank closing (even after all the other banks close... somehow her's would be open).

Most of them would last less than a week.

The host had a nice place, with acreage... but he was subdividing it, building houses for yuppies in the middle of his place... arrgghh
--------------------------
If I were going on a real vacation, I'd do like I usually do... have a months supply of food in the truck, loaded down as usual with tools {the kind used for building log cabins}, extra clothing, and loaded to the gills with firepower.

[rainygardener]

I am officially a burned out preparedness person. I am tired of living in fear, tired of preparing for the end, ect. I have booked a trip to London and Paris in August for two weeks and plan on hitting every pub and department store available.
See, this is what happens when this all gets to be too much.

[Ohio dreamer]

We aren't skipping our vacation this year. We leave tomorrow for Munich, only a 6 hr drive from Budapest. It's our last, hoo-rah, before packing up and moving to the US. It's not going to be a "no holds bar" vacation...but we are defiantly going to "make a memory" for the kids. Just like Venice, the Med and the Alps last year.

[Pearl B]

I would consider a couple of things, & its just my thoughts.

1: I have animals that need to be taken care of. Its was my choice to get them. I dont regret that. The neighbors I have I would be reluctant to hire to feed them,I might wind up missing a few things, & strangers fore hire would scare me even more

2: I would not leave the US, with my luck, I could go to Mexico or Canada, & with the recent passport laws the US has passed, not be allowed back into my own country .

3:If the neighborhood Im in is high crime. When I moved into this one, it was out there, thanks to low prices, & people leaving CA in droves, & building,building,Im now surrounded by the very thing I was trying to escape from, oh well.

4: If I had the money, & didn't have to worry about the animals, & aint leaving the US, I would go in a heartbeat. I just fear most the animals wouldnt be taken care of,even if I paid someone to take them.

If I didnt have the above animals, or a massive amount of prepp supplies, that I didnt have to worry about someone breaking into the house to get to, & maybe the house itself, I would go for it.

I also dont believe that anyone should plan on the worst & put the rest of their life on hold. God decided the moment I was born, & I guess God wiil decide the moment I die.

I believe life is a matter of doing the best you have with what you got, & not letting negativity get you too far down, if your going to live, you will,if youre gonna die you will. It might be a car accident going to work.

Dont stop living in the moment that you have

[Ross]

There's some great deals on vacations now so yeah go! How ar I'm willing to go is going to be different than you or different reasons. If I won 2 tickets on the QM2 to Ireland I'd be there like a shot!

[unregistered29228]

We don't usually take a vacation, and I don't want too either. I won't leave our house empty because of all the local break ins, and I don't like worrying about asking the elderly neighbors to feed the rabbits, chickens, dog and cats, and water the garden. Plus I'm in the middle of canning season, and after all the hard work of planting the garden I'm not going to waste it.

To me, going to a strange place, spending $$ and sleeping in a strange bed isn't a fun time. A dinner out once in a while is good enough for this antisocial hermit type.

[Terri]

As long as I had the cash and a bit in the bank, I would not hesitate!

We are NOT going any where this year, because now that our debts are paid, we have repair work to do around the house. I would like the security and charm of a well-repaired house this winter, and so there is no time for a vacation.

But, since you are farther along than we are, by all means GO! And have a GOOD! time!

Originally Posted by rainygardener

I am officially a burned out preparedness person. I am tired of living in fear, tired of preparing for the end, ect. I have booked a trip to London and Paris in August for two weeks and plan on hitting every pub and department store available.
See, this is what happens when this all gets to be too much.

I've been prepping for over twenty five years now. The intensity of my efforts have risen or fallen at times, but I've never stopped. Yet I also take the family on vacations when we feel the need. There are others here who have been at it even longer than I have that can say the same.

Living a life of fear is no life at all. I suggest one not do that. But living a life in the belief that one will never need preps is simply foolish. There can be be a balance between the two.

We prep to live. When we begin to live to prep we are no longer really living.

.....Alan.

[texican]

Originally Posted by rainygardener

I am officially a burned out preparedness person. I am tired of living in fear, tired of preparing for the end, ect. I have booked a trip to London and Paris in August for two weeks and plan on hitting every pub and department store available.
See, this is what happens when this all gets to be too much.

Living in fear isn't a good thing.

If I knew what I know, and I wasn't prepared for most problems, I 'WOULD' live in fear, knowing that I'd not survive long, after the 'problems' for long, without having to resort to asking for fema help, or resorting to goblinism, to get my needs met.

Having my knowledge stored safely in my brain, a well rounded skill set, how to make tools, and owning tools, weapons, foodstuffs, seeds, and infrastructure... gives me the 'warm fuzzies'.

My prep goods are going to be used, regardless whether the 'end' comes or not. If good or bad things happen, I'll keep trucking along just the same.

If I didn't have critters and a cash cow, I'd be tooling around NW Arizona or SE Utah, or central Idaho, or Western Oregon.... or....

Now IS the time to vacation, if you think things are only going to get worse. No matter how bad things may seem, if they only get worse, travelling will disappear from the common lexicon. Going back 'in time' to preindustrial times pretty much would put a deathknell on recreational vacationing... so get er done now, while the gettings good...

[rainygardener]

Texican,
Thanks for what you said. I agree, if you can afford to go somewhere and really need a break like I do, do it. This last year with the economy, our business and the cut backs at the job I have and worry have completely worn on me. When I was 18 I wanted so badly to go to Europe and couldn't, now I feel like things will get so bad I never will be able to do something crazy like this, so I am going. I just really need a release from weariness.
This may be the boost I need to continue on with my preparedness life stlye.

[tarbe]

I am heading to Idaho in September, but at least I will have gear and a rifle with me!


Tim