Simulated bugout?

Let's simulate a bug-out!

You know where you want to go, and maybe you've planned how to get there.  Your route avoids the highways, sticks to the secondaries and includes stops to pick up your buried supply caches.  Or maybe it doesn't include any of those details.

I see preppers on YouTube all the time who put on their Bug-Out Bag and hike to their bug-out location.  They highlight their skills, talk about things to be on the lookout for, and offer a view of what it might be like to do this thing. 

What if you plan to drive.  It's not beyond the realm of possibility.  You might have a place to go, or at least an idea of the area you want to go toward.  So how might you simulate a trek from your home to this other spot. 

In a world where things operate normally it might be hard to get an idea of what a trip like this would be like.  But you can pretend. 

In the current world where everything works the way it should you have access to all of the things you need to execute a road trip.  Gas stations, restaurants, hotels.  Practicing your scavenging skills in this environment is a little frowned upon, since breaking into a house to look for canned goods could land you in jail.  Just like siphoning gas from cars in a parking lot.

To simulate a world where these things are flipped over, you need to establish some rules to play by.  And stick to them as much as you can.  Obviously there will need to be concessions made for practicality, but you might even be able to get around some of those.

Travel

You will probably drive.  If not, and you plan to walk, then most of these guidelines won't apply to you. 

Drive the route marked on your map.  You will obviously stick to secondary and back roads since the mains are likely to be clogged in a real SHTF situation.  If you have a plan to carry extra fuel, do so as you normally would.

Getting more fuel

Obviously in a bad situation there will not be open gas stations.  So we will simulate the task of getting fuel, probably through siphoning, by burning time.  Determine how long you think it will take you to siphon a gallon of gas from a car.  Depending on the equipment you have this might be a short time, or a long time.  Come up with a set amount of time as your average time to siphon a gallon of gas. After you fill up at the pump, keep track of how many gallons you got.  Then find a parking space and start walking around.  You want to use up the time it would have taken you to siphon that gas.  This could simulate stopping at every car you find on the side of the road, or pulling into a parking lot and siphoning there.  It's an average time, so it will be loose.  Once you've spent the required time, hit the road again.

Potty breaks

This isn't something you need to be elaborate about.  You can stop for toilet breaks anywhere that is convenient on the trip.  In a SHTF situation there will be no shortage of places to go potty in the great big world.  Just remember that you'd need to have your own toilet paper and hygiene items for that evolution.  And there wouldn't probably be running water to wash up with. 

Food

This is where the game rules can be a little tricky.  If you are bringing your own food stuffs then this might not be an issue.  Make a meal, enjoy.  If you think you might only be making this trip after you've consumed your supplies, then you will need to do a little pretend scavenging.

Decide on a cash budget.  We will use cash for this because it's easier to divide up.  This figure should be very modest, since it's to help simulate the scarcity of items.  Divide the cash into random amounts and place that amount in envelopes.  One envelope per day.  Mix up your envelopes, then number them for each day of the trip.

It's random to give things a little variety.  Then numbered because you can only use funds from a particular day on that day.  If you have some left over from Day # 1 you can't use it on Day # 2.

Stop to scavenge along the route.  You will probably use a grocery store, but you might use a gas station convenience store, or even the Dollar Store.  When you shop stick to canned goods or dry goods.  Skip fresh fruits and veggies, meat (that isn't in a can) anything that would stay edible for a long time.  This will represent items you could scavenge from houses, stores, abandoned cars, etc. 

If you are part of a team, and by team I mean any combination of people, try to get everyone involved based on their ability to participate.  Kids, bug-out buddies, spouses, roommates, everyone gets some of the cash and are sent off to shop.  This can help break up the items you get so you aren't getting everything knowing what goes together to make your mother's goulash.  Try to make your loot as random as you can.

Sleeping

Camping

In a real SHTF situation you will sleep where you can based on a lot of factors.  For this simulation, I recommend making reservation at campgrounds for a tent site.  This will give you a chance to practice your fire making skills to cook outdoors, or use your gas stove.  Pitch your tent, or set the car up as your shelter.  Whatever you think you might do, try to do.  We are at a campground, but avoid using the facilities (except the toilets) since this is to simulate you being on a bug-out so you might be camping just off the side of the road, or behind a Wal-Mart, or under an overpass.  But actually camping in those places in the normal world makes people grumpy.  If you want that deep immersive experience, by all means do what you are comfortable with and what you feel you can do safely.

Squatting

In a real SHTF situation you might decide to shelter in abandoned buildings/houses or the like on your bug-out.  This can be simulated in a number of ways.  Airbnb, couch surfing, staying in a hotel.  The key is to keep in mind the things you'd lack and try to make due.  It will never be an ideal simulation, but keep in mind what would be different.  Couch surfing or Airbnb might be like squatting in an abandoned house.  It's probably an unfamiliar environment, so you might not get the best night's rest.

If you have to stay in hotels because there are no campgrounds or other options along the way, try to keep the simulation working by not taking the elevators (ask for a room as close to the ground as you can) , skipping the ice machine and the mini-bar.  Don't use the room AC or heat.  As I've said, it will never be an ideal simulation, but while you're doing it keep thinking about the conditions as they might be and how you would deal with them.

Conclusion

This was a flight of fancy.  If you decide to do some bug-out simulations, make notes of what you did to simulate the potential crisis conditions.  Practice and refine your craft.  Like any skill, practice is how you improve.