i know, i know - not the most glamorous post.
but I wanted to mention something we have that brings me an incredible amount of peace of mind: our evacuation bag.
and really, you must know: this all started because we had a power outage when KK was seven months old. and we heard that my parents’ home seven minutes away still had power and guest room with a big, cozy king bed and a crib. so we were like oh yes, let’s go there. but i quickly learned packing in the dark while taking care of a child is not for the weak of heart - I couldn’t do it. my brain was mush.
and I was like MY WORD, this isn’t even an emergency situation? what if we actually had to evacuate because of, say, a nearby fire? or some other time-sensitive reason?
so my Evacuation Bag was born. (and yes, I know there’s a chance we still couldn’t even grab it in a true emergency situation, but I feel better knowing it’s there just in case.)
our evacuation bag
basically it’s a big ol rolling suitcase, and it’s packed as though KK, Brett, the dogs, and I had to get in the car and stay somewhere else for a hot minute.
(and it could even be that we’re going to my parents overnight due to some small inconvenience OR it could be that we’re having to actual evacuate our home for whatever serious reason. it works for either scenario and regardless it has everything we need - either way it’s easier than packing from scratch.)
maybe when KK’s older we’ll change to backpacks - but right now we just used an old suitcase we already had on hand, and to me that seemed better than nothing - done is better than perfect.
here’s what we keep in the suitcase
keep in mind my car has a few things already that could prove handy - here’s what I keep in my car. so the suitcase has:
a duffel bag each for brett and me with three days’ worth of clothes
a reminder I also keep spare clothes for everyone in my car
a small tote bag each for KK and Joey:
a big resealable bag of three days’ worth of clothes for KK and Joey
I try to do 1-2 sizes too big in case I don’t remember to change them out other than in January
quiet activities for KK: crayons, colored pencils, coloring books, reusable sticker pad, reusable water wow activity pads, puffy sticker activity book, card game, etc
if time/space allowed, we may grab our Bag O Emergency Toys, but otherwise we are plenty set with the above activities. see more about our Bag O Emergency Toys here.
fleece jackets in Brett’s size (so that any of us could wear them, layer them, sit on them, or use them as dog blankies)
this hanging toiletry bag with a set of our toiletries:
and some samples from my skincare
an old cosmetic bag with kids’ toiletries + aquaphor + baby bum brush
extra diapers + pack of baby wipes + portable changing pad
a reminder I also have plentyyy of changing stuff in my car
a gallon ziploc bag with travel-sized shampoo, conditioner, brett’s soap, and random samples of baby soap/shampoo I’ve acquired.
two ten-foot iphone charging cords + extra plugs, stored in a ziploc bag
and I keep this travel one in our car
one fleece blanket + one towel
a gallon-sized ziploc bag of sunscreen, bug spray, hand sanitizer, antibacterial wipes, scissors, sharpie, pen, notepad, some cash
small bag of dog food
extra dog collars with our phone numbers
we keep spare leashes in the car
spare house key + spare lockbox key
first aid kit with bandaids, some medicine (tylenol, etc)
a box of tampons + a box of pads
spare toddler cup
spare baby bottle, spare ready made formula, spare powder formula, spare portable baby bottle warmer (if applicable)
ziploc bag of snacks, applesauce pouches, toddler pouches
a few notes about how I packed:
I chose - for now - to have our things separated into bags. so that way there is some flexibility. (whether that be it keeps things organized, so it’s nice that I have the option of just grabbing, say, KK’s bag if the situation called for such, or so we could easily ditch the suitcase for whatever reason.) so I used some of my vera bradley bags from my middle school volleyball days and they worked beautifully.
also, tried to separate things into ziploc gallon bags and big resealable bags to keep things separated and from leaking, but also because these bags could be reused for other reasons.
in January I check all of our emergency things. I see what is expiring in the next year and I move it to our pantry to be used. I check sizes, I make sure nothing is leaking, I see if anything needs to be added due to any recent changes, etc etc.
I also have a note on my monthly routines to spot check everything, but since I don’t always do that, I know that it definitely gets done in January. Because what’s the point of having an emergency stash if the snacks are expired and the clothes in the Evacuation Bag are way too small? This routine gives me another huge dose of peace.
disclaimer: this is just what we have currently. with time (and additional income) I’ll add other things we think would be helpful.
what about emergency stuff?
you do whatever works for you. here’s what works best for me.
i keep a separate, portable tub of emergency supplies, because realistically speaking, if we were in an evacuation situation, it most likely would be that we are having to leave our home and either seek refuge at my parents’ home, my sister’s apartment, or a hotel. and should that occur and we were able to gather the bag I had prepacked, I would be awfully peeved if I found that the aforementioned bag had only survival, outdoorsy things like waterproof matches, a utility knife, a poncho. because like, hi, I’m sitting in another person’s home, not the middle of a forest. give me a comfy change of clothes and a phone charger and a blankie, please and thank you.
so the tub of emergency stuff stays portable, yet separate - we can grab it if we need, but we can also leave it behind. (we can also easily access it while at home. which, realistically speaking again, is the more likely place we’ll be using the contents.)
read more about our stash of emergency supplies here.
where do you keep your evacuation bag? emergency supplies?
the Evacuation Bag sits right next to the Emergency Tub in the area of our home we’d gather for an emergency situation - like sheltering for a tornado. I also have peace knowing our evacuation bag and tub of emergency supplies are kept here to access while sheltering
and the hope is that by having it all corralled into one spot in the same spot, they’d be easiest to grab in a time sensitive situation. and so that we have more energy coercing dogs and babies into the car.
things we also keep near our Evacuation Bag
a note reminding me what else I need to grab (if time allowed)
my purse, my laptop, shoes, etc.
our Tub o Emergency Supplies (including our Bag o Flashlights, our emergency water stash)
read more about these things here
extra blankets + extra pillow
extra towels
our lockbox
we also keep our travel things together in this area of the home too because while it’s handy to have everything gathered together for trips, it also would be reallyyyy handy (and easy to grab) in an evacuation situation.
our huuuge travel kennel (we intentionally got it huge because our poodles can all fit in there if need be)
our travel highchair
and even if we wouldn’t have the chance to grab these in an evacuation, I like having these things conveniently corralled together regardless.
Bag O Emergency Toys
we have a bag of toys that I keep near the evacuation stuff, which means it’s kept where we shelter for tornados. which means if I need to occupy/distract KK in either of these situations - sheltering or evacuating - I have easy access to some special toys. (even if evacuating just means going to a hotel for a few nights, having some special toys would be so handy.)
see more about our Bag O Emergency Toys here.
and that’s it! a few emergency things corralled into one place.
again, you do whatever works best for you - having all this organized just brings me an incredible amount of peace. and know that brett makes fun of me endlessly…until we need these things. :)
preparing for emergencies is one of the best ways to take care of Future You.
curious what else we keep on hand to be prepared? read all about my prepared-ish home!
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
