Getting where you need to go

For those of you who are new, I live in Canada.  It has many charms including it's natural beauty.  Its vast natural beauty.  Canada is the second largest country in the world and in certain areas is sparsely populated.  Unfortunately this can make emergency planning a bit more difficult when it comes to seeing to your transportation needs.

When I had a vehicle I had a rule, the gas tank always had to be at least half full.  This covered 2 possible emergency situations that I may have faced.  First off it was enough gas to get me and my sister where we needed to be for at least 2 weeks in the event of a fuel shortage.  If it looked like the shortage was going to last for a while we probably could have made it last a month or longer since we lived right down town.  Secondly, it was enough gas to get us to our closest relatives in case the area had to be evacuated or if our apartment burnt down.

Currently I depend on public transit to get to work and could handle a hike in price if there was a fuel shortage, in a pinch I could work from home 75% of the time.  If I needed to get out of the area due to natural disaster or because my house burnt down I have my panic bag.  A panic bag is also commonly referred to as a go bag.  I will talk about it in detail in another post, but the general idea is that it is a pre-packed bag of essentials that you grab if you need to get out of your house/area quickly.  To cover transportation I have enough cash in my panic bag to buy myself a train ticket to my parent's house (who are currently my closest relatives).

The arrangements that you make for emergency transportation are highly individual.  I would suggest that you make sure you can answer the following questions comfortable:

-If there is a sudden fuel shortage how will you get to the places you need to be for the next 2 weeks?  The next month?
-If you lose your house can you get yourself and family to a safe place to stay that you will be able to afford (friend's or family's house perhaps) in the light of the emergency?
-In the case of a natural disaster could you get yourself an appropriate distance away?