What to do with the Sentimental Stuff in a Bug-Out Situation
I would consider myself to be somewhat of a sentimental person. I’ve been around the block a time or two and have collected some lovely treasures along the way.
So why do we hold on to these worthless things? (worthless to others) One word, reminiscence. These items spark powerful memories and feelings that take us back to the good ‘ol days. They enable us to be transported back in time.
With two grown children and two semi-grown highschoolers of my own, I have acquired items that I wouldn’t take thousands of dollars for (millions… maybe ;-). For example: I have my children’s school photos creatively placed in precious albums. It makes my cry when I look back and see how they have changed over the years. If someone came into my house with wads of hundred dollar bills asking to buy my albums, I would say “heck no”. Then I would call the police because what the heck is this lunatic doing in my house in the first place? But if one of my photo album ever ended up at Goodwill, God forbid, someone might pay 50 cents for it and throw out the pictures. So our things are indeed very valuable to us. One man’s junk…
Are you willing to walk away from your treasures? What about in a bug-out situation. What are you willing to leave behind? Your grandparents wedding pictures? Your box of high school sweetheart’s love notes? Your children’s painted hand print art? What about the Christmas ornaments that you have collected over the years? Your dog’s favorite bed? What is disposable?
Now hold on just a minute. Just to be clear on where I stand on this whole “bug-out” thing, let me enlighten you with my wisdom… cough cough… hush honey, I wasn’t talking to you…
Here’s what I think:
Stay put.
That’s it.
If your house is intact, stay put. There are some reasons that you might need to leave your home and everything in it. Those would be severe situations: If your house was on fire or under water; If a mob of bad guys forced you out at gunpoint… after all… some people’s idea of “prepping” is owning a gun and stocking up on ammo.
Back to your treasures.
If you have to bug-out, you can take all of your treasures with you. You just need to be a little creative. Here is how you do it in 3 steps.
Step 1: Take photos of all the things that are special to you.
Step 2: Download your pictures to a flashdrive (or 2 or 3)
Step 3: Keep them in your bug-out-bag or in your BINDER
Now I know that a photo of something is not the same as the something. But if your something is gone, how awesome would the picture be? It will still spark some great memories.
This elaborate system works for other valuables too, not just the sentimental ones. How much easier would it be if you went to your homeowner’s insurance agent after a fire with a flashdrive in hand? Much.
Now here’s the catch. You have to do it now. You can’t wait until the last minute. This kind of thing takes time. It is a project, like spring cleaning. I don’t know about you, but I can’t find anywhere on my calendar that says when I need to be ready. In no little square does it say SHTF. Now don’t exasperate yourself. You can do this project in smaller chunks… just make sure that you do it. One day you might just find yourself very thankful that you did.
