If you must bug out, where do you even bug out to?

I have people telling me all the time, “I don’t have land so I can’t bug out” or “I live in the city so I can’t bug out”, or “I can’t bug out because I don’t have anywhere to go”.

Stop making bugging out so complicated!

Bugging out has gotten this negative connotation to it, like the only way you can bug out is if you have an underground bunker on a million acres of land or that when you bug out you must bug out to the mountains or in the middle of a forest somewhere.

Bugging out has been glorified as this great adventure into the wilderness. However, bugging out isn’t going to be any sort of fun adventure.

As we talk about bugging out in this article, we’re talking about bugging out because of some emergency or disaster; not the apocalypse.

When you have decided to bug out, that means that things have gotten so bad near your home that you cannot stay because otherwise you and your family will be in grave danger.

Bugging out doesn’t happen unless your lives are being threatened and you can no longer stay in your home/work place/where ever.

We’re not talking about an apocalyptic situation here, we’re talking about everyday emergencies and natural disasters.

When it comes to bugging out, where do you even bug out to?

1. Sit down with your family and make a disaster plan. The best way to figure out where you’re going to bug out to is to make a plan. You know that old saying, ‘if you fail to plan, you plan to fail’. The whole family should be involved with this process. You should figure out destinations in every direction; north, east, south, west. The type of emergency or disaster will dictate which direction you’ll want to go.

2. If you live in the city, plan to get about 30-100 miles away from the city. I always recommend that people plan to bug out at least 30 miles out of the city. All of our bug out locations are actually 100 miles away from the city in all directions. It doesn’t make sense to stay within 30 miles of the city where a natural disaster is about to occur. You want to be pretty far away from the chaos so that you stay as safe as possible.

3. There is no ideal bugging out location. If you don’t have any friends or family that live within a 100 mile radius of the city, then you’re going to have to get creative. We don’t know anyone in any direction that would be able to provide us with a safe place to bug out to within a 30-100 mile radius of the city. There really is no perfectly ideal place; bad things can happen everywhere. While heading out to land you own or land that your friend or families own, it may also not be the most ideal place. You may think that going to a park isn’t ideal, but is it away from the emergency or disaster? Then it’s a lot better than being in the middle of chaos. A hotel may not sound ideal, either, but again, if it’s away from the danger, then it’ll work. You will definitely need to consider weather and security options at any location.

4. Consider the whole family’s comfort. If it’s just you going solo, then you may be able to run off into the woods somewhere be perfectly happy waiting for the disaster to pass. But if you have a family or a group, you must consider the needs and comfort of everyone. Disabled, elderly and kids must absolutely be considered and you’ll need to decide where the best place(s) would be for everyone to bug out to and for everyone to remain comfortable and have their needs taken care of properly.

5. If you don’t have anywhere to go, then just go. If you never got around to making that disaster plan, then if something bad were to happen and you need to leave ASAP, then just go. Drive away from the disaster as far as you can get and figure out where to go along the way. This will be more stressful, but if you need to get to safety, then just get in the vehicle, pick a direction and go.

Remember, bugging out would generally be temporary. Though in some cases, it can be more permanent, depending if you even have anywhere to go back home to. So if you have to stay in a hotel or camp out at a park for a few days while the disaster passes, then so be it.

During Hurricane Harvey, many Texas parks opened up to people who had to bug out and get away from the path of the hurricane.

Here are a few bugging out location suggestions:

Parks

Hotels/motels

Driving somewhere and sleeping in your car

If you own an RV, drive the RV to a safe place and park it

There’s lots of opportunity here to think outside the box!

One last thought:

Your life is way more important than any amount of stuff or your home. Trust your gut and if you think that you and your family/group could be in danger then just bug out.

Bugging out is simply a last resort to get you and everyone else away from the emergency or disaster and off to safety.

Conquer tomorrow, by preparing today!