Travel Preparedness:

What Happens When the Trip Goes Wrong?

By Tom Neal
Bigfoot Trails Basecamp | Independent Adventure Media

I love to travel.

Not the airport-security-and-rental-car part of it, because those suck. I mean the actual traveling. Getting somewhere I've never been. Walking around a place where I don't know the streets. Finding some little restaurant because it smells good. Talking to people. Seeing how other people live. Taking the long way because the long way looked more interesting.

That's why we travel.

You leave the familiar stuff behind for a little while and go see what's on the other side of it. Sometimes that's another state. Sometimes it's another country. Sometimes it's a motorcycle pointed down a road you've never ridden before. Sometimes it's sitting on a ship in the middle of the Atlantic headed toward Greenland and Iceland, wondering what the hell you're going to see when you get there.

And sometimes you come home with a story that couldn't have happened anywhere else.

I've never wanted preparedness to take any of that away. If anything, I think the opposite is true. A little preparation can make it easier to say yes to the trip.

I've become more conscious of that over the years, partly because I've seen what happens when travel suddenly stops being a vacation.

A family member's family was in Lahaina during the wildfire while my wife and I were on a cruise ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean traveling toward Greenland and Iceland. They were on vacation. They had vacation clothes. They had a rental car that barely had enough fuel to be useful. They were doing exactly what people do when they're on vacation.

Then the situation changed incredibly fast.

Communications became nearly impossible. They couldn't simply call somebody and ask what they were supposed to do next. They couldn't count on being able to get fuel. Roads were becoming unusable. Eventually, they were looking at the ocean as a possible escape route.

They hadn't done anything stupid.

They were traveling.

That stuck with me.

Not because it made me afraid to travel. Quite the opposite. It made me think about how little it actually takes to give yourself some additional options when the normal plan suddenly isn't normal anymore.

I don't travel expecting a disaster. I travel expecting to have a good time.

But I also want to know where the exits are.

Travel is supposed to take you out of your comfort zone

That's one of the best things about it. You don't know exactly what you're going to see. You might end up eating something you've never tried. You might discover a town you didn't know existed. You might spend an afternoon talking with somebody whose life looks completely different from yours. You might take the wrong road and find something better than whatever you were originally looking for.

That's adventure.

And I don't want preparedness to turn that into a checklist of everything that could possibly go wrong. There are already enough people on the internet willing to convince you that leaving your house without a tactical backpack is basically a death sentence. That's not what this is. I'm talking about something much simpler.

What happens if your normal plan stops working?

That's it.

A big part of answering that question doesn't involve gear at all. It involves paying attention.

Situational awareness sounds like one of those official terms that belongs in an emergency-management classroom, but most of the time it's pretty damn simple. Look around. Know where you are. Pay attention to what's happening around you. Notice when something changes.

If I'm walking around a city I've never visited, I don't want my face buried in my phone the entire time. I want to see the buildings. I want to see the people. I want to know which direction I'm walking. I want to have some idea where the hotel is in relation to where I'm standing.

And I'm still going to look at my phone.

I'm going to use the map. I'm going to find the restaurant. I'm going to figure out how to get back.

But then I'm going to put the damn thing away and look around again.

That's not paranoia. That's traveling.

The same thing applies when I walk into a hotel, restaurant, theater, cruise ship, airport, or anywhere else unfamiliar. I'm not walking through the door thinking about everything that could go wrong. I'm simply noticing the place. Where did I come in? Is there another way out? What's happening around me?

Most of the time, the answer is nothing.

Good.

I notice it, file it away somewhere in the back of my head, and go back to enjoying myself.

That's what good situational awareness should do. It shouldn't make you suspicious of every person you see or every unfamiliar street you walk down. It should make you more comfortable because you're actually paying attention to the place you're visiting.

Sometimes, though, something changes.

Maybe a street that was busy a few minutes ago suddenly isn't. Maybe people start moving in one direction. Maybe a local tells you something is happening. Maybe the atmosphere of a place changes and you can't quite put your finger on why.

You don't necessarily need to figure out what's wrong.

You can just change direction.

You can go back to the hotel.

You can walk into a store or restaurant.

You can call the trip for the day.

You can leave.

You don't have to prove that something is dangerous before you decide you don't want to be there anymore.

That's one of the best things about having options.

And that is a hell of a lot different than being afraid to travel.

The best preparation is often boring

Once you get past paying attention to where you are, most of the rest is pretty simple.

If I'm traveling somewhere I've never been, I want to have a general idea of where I am. I want my important documents accessible. I want my phone charged. I want some way to get directions if the internet disappears. I want to know how I'm getting back to where I'm staying. I want enough money and flexibility to deal with an unexpected problem.

And if I'm staying in a hotel, I want to know where the exits are.

Not because I'm expecting the hotel to burn down. Because it takes about thirty seconds to look.

Then I forget about it and go enjoy the trip.

Before we leave, I'll download maps. I'll make sure I know where we're staying. I'll keep important documents together instead of scattering them through three different bags. I'll think about transportation. I'll know how to contact people back home.

If we're traveling internationally, I'll spend a little time understanding the country we're visiting instead of assuming everything works exactly like it does here.

I'll have the little things that make an unexpected problem less of a problem: a flashlight, a way to keep the phone running, basic first aid, necessary medications, some water and snacks, and whatever else makes sense for the trip.

Not a bug-out bag.

Not a tactical loadout.

Just a small layer of insurance against ordinary problems.

None of that is particularly exciting.

And that's the point.

The preparation happens before the adventure.

Then you go have the adventure.

You don't have to travel like you're expecting trouble

I've traveled with people who can pack everything they own into something barely bigger than a lunchbox. I've also seen people prepare for a three-day vacation like they're crossing Antarctica.

I'm somewhere in between these days.

I used to be much more of a minimalist traveler. Throw some clothes in a bag, grab the important stuff, and go. I've added a few things over time, but not because I suddenly expect disaster around every corner.

I've just learned that a few small things can make a big difference when the normal plan gets interrupted.

Dead phone? I've got a way to deal with that.

Lost wallet? I've got a backup plan.

Can't get directions? I don't want to be completely dependent on a cell signal.

Flight delayed? We'll figure it out.

Rental car problem? We'll figure it out.

Hotel changes? We'll figure it out.

Something bigger happens? Hopefully we've been paying enough attention to recognize that something is changing before we're standing in the middle of it wondering what happened.

That's really what preparedness means to me.

Options.

The more options you have, the less likely one unexpected problem is going to ruin the entire trip.

And sometimes the unexpected problem doesn't ruin anything at all.

Sometimes you end up taking a different road.

Sometimes the restaurant you planned on is closed and you find a better one.

Sometimes the weather changes your plans and you discover something you never would have seen otherwise.

That's part of travel too.

You don't need to control every variable.

You just need to be able to adapt.

Go see something

I don't want anybody reading this and thinking they need to become an expert in emergency management before they book a plane ticket.

You don't.

Go.

Go see the place you've been thinking about.

Take the motorcycle trip.

Visit the national park.

Go to Mexico.

Walk around a city you've never seen.

Eat the food.

Talk to people.

Experience another culture.

Take the road that looks interesting.

Travel with your family.

Travel with your friends.

Travel by yourself if that's your thing.

That's why we do this.

The world is a pretty damn interesting place, and there's a lot of it.

Preparedness shouldn't make that world seem smaller.

It should make it feel more accessible.

You don't have to travel like you're expecting disaster. You just need to think about what happens if your normal plan stops working.

Where are you?

How do you get back?

How do you contact somebody?

What do you absolutely need to have with you?

What's happening around you?

And if something doesn't feel right, what are you going to do about it?

You don't need a perfect answer to every question.

You just need to have thought about them before you need them.

I still pack for the trip.

I still want to have a good time.

I'm not sitting in a hotel room wondering which disaster is going to find me next.

I'm thinking about where we're going tomorrow.

What we're going to see.

Who we're going to meet.

What we're going to eat.

What road we're going to take.

And what story we're going to bring home.

That's travel.

That's adventure.

And a little preparedness gives you a better chance of getting back to it when something doesn't go according to plan.

Adventure isn't about expecting things to go wrong. It's about being ready when they do.

So pack the passport.

Charge the phone.

Look around.

Pay attention.

And then go see something.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tom Neal is the founder of Bigfoot Trails Basecamp, an independent adventure media project built around real-world travel, motorcycles, vehicles, preparedness, and the stories that come from actually getting out there. His background includes formal emergency-management and public-safety training, along with First Aid, CPR/AED, and Wilderness First Aid training.

He doesn't believe preparedness means expecting the worst.

He believes it means being ready enough that the unexpected doesn't automatically end the adventure.