Prepping from far away
Posted by Signal_Brain_933@reddit | preppers | View on Reddit | 22 comments
Anyone else here have a job that makes family prepping majorly complicated?
I'm a flight attendant for an international airline, so yeah. My work (which I love) creates a problem I don't see discussed much in preparedness groups: I'm not always home.
Sometimes I'm in Tokyo, Sao Paolo, or New Delhi when my family is back home asleep. If something big ever happened, I could be stuck on another continent with no realistic path back and limited communication options. My wife and kids are great, but they aren’t particularly preparedness-minded individuals.
I've slowly been building up our home supplies and trying to have casual conversations about what they'd do in different scenarios, but I know that if I were 8,000 miles away and SHTF happens, they'd be largely on their own and figuring it out in real time.
It's a different kind of anxiety than the standard “how do I prep for X” calculus. It's not just "do I have enough food and water”, or “how do we bug out”, it’s more like "would my family know what to do without me, and what would I even do stranded in a foreign city with just my rollie bag and a hotel room."
I keep some local currency, a lifestraw, a packable backpack, some basic travel sized first aid supplies when I'm abroad. I know where embassies are, and leave a simple one-page emergency plan on my fridge my family can follow. But honestly I feel like I'm guessing.
Does anyone else here have work situations that create this kind of split-location problem? Truckers, military families, travel nurses, offshore workers, performers, etc? If so, how do you actually plan around it?
Radtoo@reddit
I think an obvious shelf or box where they can find the preps for situations where they don't absolutely need to leave right away with instructions to read (and LED lamps to read them, and you maybe having showed them the stuff before) are a good start.
If they also already know how to use much of this from hiking/camping/a simulation game or w/e that's even better, but in most cases they'll probably actually have time to figure out what's there even if they forgot.
Only the situations where they should have acted almost right away but also would be much better off with the right equipment are actually very hard to do unless they're fully trained. If there are such local circumstances that are likely, there is nothing but to train.
Ra_a_@reddit
It’s the same as for other people
Prepare for the variety of situations you may find yourself it
Home. Not home
Sick. Not sick
Fever. No fever
Weather. No weather
Same
DeafHeretic@reddit
I would get a Starlink mini on their “backup”/standby plan as a comms backup.
I would create a plan, inventory list, etc. to leave with the family so they know what they have, how to use it, and what to do.
Signal_Brain_933@reddit (OP)
I don’t know the first thing about this - is it a sat phone?
DeafHeretic@reddit
Starlink is a LEO satellite system that gives you internet access most anywhere in the world assuming you have a clear view of the sky. They sell the service and the hardware. The Starlink mini is a receiver about the size of a laptop computer.
Starlink and TMobile are now offering Starlink services via a standard cell phone (there is a list of compatible phones) for $10/mo. At the moment the service is only SMS text messaging, but they will be upgrading the service to include voice and email.
Note: Starlink is not available in some countries, but is available most places.
Signal_Brain_933@reddit (OP)
Oh, cool - is this similar to the iPhone’s “Messages via Satellite” function? I think it’s text only, not sure how it compares to Starlink. And would you need both devices (two cell phones) to have the Starlink plan to allow two way communication?
DeafHeretic@reddit
Yes similar.
No, it does not require both devices be subscribed to the same service; you can send a message to any other device capable of receiving an SMS message. The Starling transceiver connects you to their satellites (thousands of them in LEO) which in turn connects down to various ground stations which in turn connect to the internet backbone.
https://starlink.com/
https://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/satellite-phone-service
Of course, this all depends on the internet being available to the intended recipient. In that sense, if you are somewhere (say Japan) that you already have internet access (via cell phone or WiFi, etc.), Starlink doesn’t buy you anything - it is only beneficial if you don’t have internet access via some other method.
Thunderslide_Icon@reddit
Please note that the standby mode for Starlink may be limited to only 12 consecutive months.
iambecomesoil@reddit
This isn't really a prepping problem. This is a relationship...I wouldn't even say problem. You're just not on the same page, you have differing thoughts about preparedness etc.
The plan is that if you are 20,000 miles away and she doesn't care or know about any of the preparedness stuff, well that's just how its going to be.
If you feel like its really a problem, you need to sit down and talk with her, not people on the subreddit.
There's no extra bucket of shit (except some instructions or something) that is going to make her somehow know all that you know or somehow get you home.
Signal_Brain_933@reddit (OP)
I think it’s more my problem than theirs. I like to think they’d probably figure it out, but feeling helpless to protect those you love in an emergency is the absolute worst feeling in the world, and that’s what I’m trying to mitigate or at least troubleshoot as much as possible.
iambecomesoil@reddit
Communicate that to her and see if she understands and wants to make a greater effort to put your fears to rest or if she thinks you're a over-paranoid weirdo.
Motorcyclegrrl@reddit
I sorta have this situation no idea what to do about it really. I have seen characters similar to your situation in post apocalypse movies n books.
Signal_Brain_933@reddit (OP)
Hopefully I don’t end up in one of those books! Post-apocalyptic survival on the other side of the planet would be… not cool.
Motorcyclegrrl@reddit
Seems pretty rough in the books. The quest to find a way home. Leads to a lot of adventures.
SheistyPenguin@reddit
Not in your situation specifically, but similar family outlook- I'm generally the planner who does the actual prepping.
What I do is create and laminate simple instructios for things, and stage them where they would be needed. For example:
You can do this for just about anything. The key is to keep it super-simple, and get your spouse's input on what to add and how to word it.
MOF1fan@reddit
I like that idea for generator. Im going to do that for sure.
Signal_Brain_933@reddit (OP)
Awesome tips, thank you! That’s a great way to organize critical information, I think I’ll adopt some of this for my own family!
Ryan_e3p@reddit
If anything happens, don't rely on them remembering what to do. Hell, I was an Emergency Manager in the military, and even I don't rely on remembering what to do.
This is why documentation is important. Keep checklists, steps to take, things to do, all that good stuff written down and in an easily accessible location. Don't leave it up to them to "figure it out in real time". Have the first initial pages of any documentation be basic reaction steps, including more in-depth responses and alternatives broken up into sections that are easy to navigate. And don't just include responses to situations, include recovery to situations.
Signal_Brain_933@reddit (OP)
Really good point about “Recovery from situations”. That’s something we almost never talk about. What do you envision for this - psychological first aid, decision-making trees, long term survival priorities, etc?
Ryan_e3p@reddit
That will vary from person to person, scenario to scenario. Hard to generalize recovery operations. It's more of a "what to do to bring you back to full capabilities prior to the event" sort of thing.
shinytentacool22@reddit
Man, I’ve wondered the same. I’m in a similar line of work, one partner, no kids. I usually don’t leave the domestic US, only occasionally going down to the islands. We’ve been trying to be prepped for both bugging in and out since we live in a more urban area and a small apartment. Most of the preps I see here are pipe dreams in our apartment. Hard to have two days worth of water on hand, let alone 2 weeks when you live on a second floor 800sqft apartment. I know the “hacks” of filling the tub and draining the water heater, but man that doesn’t feel the same as actually having the water/water storage on hand.
Me and my partner have talked and they know they are to get out of dodge if they feel that’s the best course of action. And I plan to make my way to our apartment first, then our second location next. It’s not ideal, and I’m not sure my partner would “leave me behind” if push came to shove, but talking about it and mentally thinking through options are all I really feel I can do.
You sound better packed than me. I’ve got some HSA money burning a hole in my pocket, I’ve been considering a travel kit for my Over Night Bag, what are you rocking to be TSA approved? Also, no KCM here so restricted on liquids.
Assuming you’re at a major in the US with decent seniority, you could always bid trips that are domestic US. I know they aren’t as fun and don’t pay as good, but the chances of getting home from Cali are a lot better than New Dehli. I will also admit I only vaguely know how DAL FAs bid, no other 121 experience.
I guess also think through what SHTF level you want to prep for. Had a friend under armed guard in China when he was hauling cargo during COVID. A Tuesday disaster, is probably going to fall on your partner to deal with (this is where a good partner is a must, my ex was a sweet person but was incapable of running the house if I wasn’t around, that was never going to work out). Hard to do much about power/water being out when you’re 8,000 miles away. Anything intermediate you’re probably getting paid and can take emergency leave and get home to deal with it. Anything bordering on apocalyptic I feel like you’re just going to have to make peace with your dear and fluffy lord that you can’t make it home or that you may die trying.
Lastly, not sure how long you’ve been in 121, but remember Spirit. You’re infinitely more likely to be laid off in the next 12 months because jet fuel went from $5/gal to $10 to $20. But financial prep should probably be your biggest concern.
Sorry for the ramblings. It’s been a long work cycle without enough sleep.
Signal_Brain_933@reddit (OP)
Thanks for the detailed reply! Yeah, I’m lucky enough with my seniority that I doubt a layoff is in the cards, but you’re right about financial preparedness being at the top of the list, especially in our line of work.
There’s honestly not that much I can fit in my baggage to give me much of an “emergency kit”, especially given TSA rules (nothing bladed, no matches, etc), but a portable water filter or purification tabs, packable backpack, merino clothes, tiny flashlight, emergency Mylar bivy, offline maps of wherever I’m at, portable power pack, Paracord, multivitamins, collapsible water bottles (2), and a few protein bars. Good shoes also, always.
Yeah, for anything apocalyptic, there’s not much I can do in that situation other than hope my family figured it out; we have a great bugout location, but it still keeps me awake at night sometimes wondering if they’d be okay without me there in the worst case scenario.