Postcards from South Korea: Using Travel to Check Prep Essentials

Vacation time is here.  As you know, I took mine early.  Dirty job, but someone had to do it.  I’d like to say it was all in the name of research for the blog and write off the expenses, but I suspect the IRS wouldn’t smile upon the idea.  Sad.

As we had decided to take only one carry-on bag per person, I had to plan my packing well, taking only the bare essentials.  With such limited space, my primary thought was, “What will ruin this trip if I don’t have it?” 

It rains a lot in South Korea, so I figured it would be a good idea to have a spare pair of walking shoes.  I actually started packing about a week before our trip, and the spare shoes were one of the first items in.  I also decided on a spare medical device that I was pretty sure I didn’t need, but would ruin the trip if I didn’t have one should the first one fail.

Then there were my shoe inserts.  I have one pair—the only pair I’ve used for the past 38 years.  I wear them all day six days a week.  (They aren’t very compatible with my church shoes, and I don’t generally walk much on Sundays.)  I couldn’t pack them early, and besides I’d be wearing them anyway.

Which is what usually happens, but this time we were leaving home at 4:00 AM Sunday to attend 9:00 AM church in Reno where my daughter’s best friend was giving a farewell talk just before departing to serve an 18-month mission in Germany.  So I dressed in my usual church dress and shoes because there wouldn't be time to change when we arrived.

And during church (I know, I shouldn’t have been thinking about earthly things) I remembered my inserts were at home.

I had just completely ruined this trip.

The panic of that realization chased any thoughts of what I should be focusing on during church services from my mind.  Being so sleep deprived (Ellie’s second wedding reception the previous night prevented us from getting to bed before 11:00 PM and we had to get up at 3:00 AM), I couldn’t fathom asking Aaron to meet me halfway between home and Reno.

My friend Cyndi suggested that her husband could meet Aaron in my place, but I wouldn’t hear of that.  Her next suggestion was that I could use her custom-made inserts.  Naturally, I assumed there was no way they would work for me.  Feet vary a lot from one person to the next.  Of course, it wouldn’t hurt to try them on.

Her inserts weren’t a perfect fit, but they were pretty darn close.  Cyndi and her inserts saved my trip, allowing me to keep up with the girls and walk up to 8-10 miles per day (which we did at least three times).  Obviously, this whole experience illuminated the “two is one, one is none” preparedness mantra for me in a very personal way, one that I immediately corrected while in Salt Lake City for Aaron’s cataract surgery. 

I have to say that it would be very difficult to ruin a vacation to South Korea.  Rainwear and umbrellas readily available at every convenience store, and there’s at least one per block. The same goes for pharmacies, so the little emergency med kit I packed was a complete waste of space and unnecessary weight, though I did take advantage of the Benadryl for helping me to sleep on the incredibly hard (as in might-as-well-have-been-sleeping-on-the-floor hard) bed.  Everything is written in Korean and English; all transportation announcements on the buses and subway are made in English as well.  Most everyone speaks at least a little English, and most taxi drivers have some type of translation app on their phones or cars.  Socks are sold everywhere, for $1.50-2.00 per pair.  Other clothing and shoes as well. 

Of course, our focus here on the blog isn’t in merely getting ready for a vacation, nice as that would be.  We are preparing for the challenging times that lie ahead.  Preparing for this trip, however, forced me to take a hard look at what was truly essential and what, if missing, would ruin the trip.  What is essential for facing TEOTWAWKI?  What, if missing, will ruin it for you?  (The thought of “ruining” TEOTWAWKI just strikes me a little funny.)

We all made sure to pack the right clothing.  We could have done much better having the right currency prepared in advance, as I mentioned last week.  What will be the right currency in TEOTWAWKI? 

We aren’t too concerned about being able to communicate with neighbors here in the hinterlands—everybody speaks English.  However, it occurs to me that maybe I need to work on some social skills a bit.  Introvert that I am, I didn’t even want to try communicating with others in Korea if I didn’t absolutely have to.

With sufficient funds, we were able to buy the foods we wanted.  Situated as it is surrounded by the ocean on three sides and with the North Korean paradise to the north, seafood comprises the majority of meat in the South Korean diet.  Half of my family, however, does not care for fish, so we paid more for beef and pork.  If fish were the only animal protein available to us, we would have been sad.  Incredibly surprising to us was the fact that the majority of Korean bread (and there are bakeries everywhere) is very sweet.  Even the garlic and onion breads.  And whole grain breads were nearly non-existent.  We became almost desperate to find bread that wasn’t sweet.  I think a sourdough bakery would do well there.

Of course, a good supply of essential medications is critical.  (The one area I didn’t see much English was in the pharmacies.)  While I’ve felt much better since switching over to sourdough bread, I’ve gone back to taking a few of my supplements.  I wouldn’t have wanted to try sourcing those in another language.  And definitely not anything prescription.  Naturally, visiting a doctor or hospital in Korea would have been interesting, but it’s not a way that I would want to spend precious vacation time.  And in TEOTWAWKI?  Y’all know we really don’t want to go there. 

So while I was extremely hesitant to leave the States for two weeks (and honestly, I don’t even like leaving home for very long), I loved the opportunity to experience a different culture and am extremely grateful for the major hole this travel revealed in my personal preparedness.  I also thoroughly appreciated the blessing of being able to consider a different perspective in preparedness with respect to food storage, both my family having the food that we want as well as the disappointment others will feel at not having the foods they want, and in the concern that people may feel in the initial days of collapse regarding their ability to barter or have the “right” currency for meeting their needs.