If you have a Go Bag packed, where do you expext to go with it?

[Hyroplate]

Is it really for very localised things that mean you need to leave home quickly, but the rest of the area is fine?

Because I'm struggling to think where we'd go or how we'd get there, if everyone was in the same boat.

I think it’s more that you don’t really want to lose the passport and if you can’t get home and need to claim on insurance you have the policies with you. I have them separate but not in the go bag. Wouldn’t take them for a hospital appointment/ admission but would on the two occasions I’ve been evacuated from the house.

Hospital, hotel, my parents house, community evacuation hub of some sport. Disruptions or disasters do tend to be localised rather than national.
We dont actually have go bags admittedly - more our holiday carry ons stay vaguely packed.

In case you need to prove your identity.

I was awake at 3am and this was what my brain decided to focus on.
I have quite a minimalist lifestyle. So I'm going to have to actually buy a bag. I don't have a spare bag to keep filled at all times. Or I guess I could use a carrier bag and throw it in my gym bag when the time comes.
Then I'll need to buy some extra pants and socks. An extra deodorant, face cream, a towel? Spare t-shirt? Spare san-pro, paracetamol, plasters, antiseptic wipes? I guess you have to buy all these things extra and keep them in the bag so you don't end up randomly using them in everyday life.
It all becomes a bit expensive and complicated really.

Not quite the same but I’ve got a hospital bag with decent pyjamas, water bottle, charger, socks and what not. I’ve only ever been to hospital when I had my children.

My fundamental issue with this whole strategy is that I have to be where my go bag is when I’m told to go. What happens if I’m at work which is 45 mins away?
That said, I’m one of those people who always has chargers, a power bank, a cereal bar etc in their hand bag. Plus we’re fortunate enough to be in a financial position where we could buy spares or pay for a hotel or whatever if we needed to be.

This really. I’m late 50s and would be useless and obsolete in an apocalypse scenario as too old and obvs without reproductive capability which is needed if the human species is to survive. DH is disabled and in his 60s, he’d be no good either.

My DCs(late teens, 20s) would be in charge. Al Murray (The Pub Landlord) did a hilarious sketch about young people in a WW3 situation but I do hope if the shit hits the fan, they will muster up.

That’s a problem. Both the times my street has been evacuated I have been at work and sans bag.

Just had another thought pack of cards of some travel games would be useful.

The evacuation of entire neighborhoods happens in moderately "ordinary" reality - flooding being the most common, but also an industrial accident or even a WW2 bomb being discovered and destabilised during the demolition of a building/ other building work...

Not an every day occurrence but also not Armageddon.

That said, I don't have a go bag. I'd be forever wanting things I'd put in it, and battery packs would lose their charge/ clothes might not fit any more or not be season appropriate, medication would be out of date after a year, emergency food too even if long life.

If you have one, you have to keep it up to date (and maybe next to the front door?).

Families not far from us were evacuated from the first floor and roofs of their homes in flooding a few years ago - even if you have a go bag, where in the house would you keep it?

Having documentation that can't easily replaced in a waterproof, fireproof safe would be more useful, and knowing where your purse is and having an emergency fund to be able to pay for a couple of weeks in a hotel and essentials/ a change of clothes etc.

Documentation, prescription medication and bank cards are actually all you need, unless you cannot afford to buy new basic cheap clothing, in which case you probably don't have a lot of spare clothes to just leave packed anyway.

Clothes and toys and blankets tend to get donated, but nobody can donate your passport and certain other paperwork back to you, especially if you don't have a record of account numbers and key details. Getting things replaced is expensive and generally requires proof of identity.

If you can't prove who you are, and what belongs to you, and who you are insured by etc. you'll have all sorts of headaches down the line if your house is destroyed in fire/ flood/ landslide/ previously unexploded ww2 bomb disturbed by builders and does explode - or whatever - and you can't get back to your things.

I think if you don't have a physical go bag, a list of things to grab in a hurry is a good idea.
When you're flustered it's hard to think, so a list would be a good prompt if you have a few moments to grab things.

I used to work somewhere that was designated as an emergency evacuation centre if there had been a reason to move large numbers of people out of the city centres. It was never used as such but we were briefed on what would happen. I assume if we faced such an emergency we’d be told where our nearest centre is.

Saying that I have never had a go bag. Put aside a few tins and sterilising tablets during Covid but that’s it.

amused at the hotel idea. They would increase the prices exponentially as soon as they could. So what would you pay/could you afford?

We live in a remote area so would have to drive. I work 45 minutes away as well so I’m guessing that the car would be a good place to store anything.
I also have a campervan which usually has some clothes, food and water, toiletries and basic first aid kit.

I will be fucked if we flood and can’t drive though 😂 maybe I need a boat?

The more people who are prepared, the fewer people the emergency services have to wait for whilst someone faffs around finding their child's formula etc, and the fewer flooded out people in the sports hall need to be found emergency meds etc.

It's just a numbers game - we never have less than a week of food without prepping anyway as it allows us to be fairly disorganised and still have food in always.

I have elderly, unwell parents so I keep a case packed in case I need to get to them in a hurry. It would serve for any emergency, it has clothes and toiletries to last approx 5 days plus a power bank and charging leads.

If there was some kind of local emergency, I'd anticipate being evacuated by the emergency services somewhere specific - people get sent to church halls, sports centres and the like.

If there was a national emergency, I'd stay put, might as well get nuked at home as in a tailback on the M6!

I had a grab bag for years due to MIL being very elderly. A&E at 3am is a very unpleasant place without water, snacks, blanket and a good book.

I don't have a grab bag for me 'just in case', can't imagine the circumstances where I would need to leave hone in an emergency and not have support from local council/emergency services etc.

Ahh now this makes more sense. My point was really, why take a passport if I have my driving licence with me for ID.

We have a go bag for hospital because DC have allergies and every time we end up in hospital we are told they can't cater for them. We once waited 5 hours to get an apple! (And I couldn't leave the DC on their own to go and buy something else)

What I'm struggling to get my head round is the implication that we are prepping for some widely varying scenarios.
House on fire -- grab loved ones and get out ASAP.
House evacuated -- take essentials, but does that include food?
Power down -- have food that doesn't need heating, plus power banks (magically always charged up without ruining them from overcharging)
Also power down -- oh dear, my passport is in my safe which is powered by electricity
Water off -- have all the food, but also don't have means to wash pans and plates,so eat out of packets and lick the plates clean. Also prepare for sewage system to be off, buy special packs to stuff down loo to avoid sewage spilling out of loo.
I think I'm overthinking this...

That rather deprnds on the scale of the evacuation doesn't it? If it's just one street it's not going to impact prices in the next city. If it's an entire city then people will be evacuated/ bussed to sports hall type accommodation somewhere else if they can't completely leave the area using their own transport.

People who write that they are "amused" are usually actually more sneery and condescending than amused, but hotel prices are the least of the problem. Prices may rise according to supply and demand, but if only a few houses are evacuated that would be negligible, and if a whole region is evacuated local friends and family will be no help and hotel prices irrelevant - getting out would be the issue.

The scale of an emergency could be anything, but small scale is more common.

I think the housefire (individual) scenario is one we're always all meant to be prepared for but few of us ever are. People who have experienced a serious housefire often do live with administrative repercussions, which obviously are better than losing family members but nevertheless, things like not having insurance policy details and certificates can end up expensive and stressful. There have been localised floods in recent years leading to evacuation and housing not being accessible for some time afterwards.

Power supplies, internet, water (and as you say sewage) etc being down for days seems the most likely scenario if the new concern is sabotage. Anything more than a few days and most people in ordinary housing can't prep for that - it's meant for until emergency measures kick in, but hmm, we just don't know how that'd go.

If you really need to go, you will be told where to go (eg a church hall will be heated and opened if a storm floods or destroys your house).

I understand this but also surely everyone has access to their insurance details on their email now?

Thanks for spelling it out a bit more sensibly than me, @TwoYearsToo.

I think you've identified why I'm feeling unsettled by all this. We, as normal citizens, are meant to do these (basic, doable, but also slightly annoying/pointless) tasks to prepare ourselves -- but the logical next step in pondering this is that if the situation is worse than a small, localised, temporary issue we have to trust that the government has got some great contingency plans in place. And I don't see much or any evidence of that (particularly with regard to our food security).