“Leave No Trace”: A movie every Prepper should watch

“Leave No Trace” (yes, its available in Amazon) is a genuinely good movie. You may like it more or less but it is certainly good, enjoying a Rotten Tomato rating of 100% critic and 86% audience at the moment.

It is family friendly, not violent in any way, so feel free to drop it in the list for this weekend.

The movie starts with a father and his teen daughter living in the woods, away from society. That’s as far as I will go, no point in ruining a good movie.

What I will say though is that the main point of the movie is one that many preppers and survivalists can certainly relate to. One I’ve seen somewhat regularly when meeting with other survivalists: The desire to escape society, escape people. It is a recurring topic and it is found to a greater or lesser degree but it is there quite often. Its folks that don’t mind or actually enjoy being alone (most of us in this community are a bit like that) most prefer avoiding crowded, big cities, some avoid even small towns and live a bit away from them, others try to live as far from anyone else as they can possibly get. Some people have real problems having friends, basic neighbourly interactions or even having a family. It is a topic brought up every now and then in the forums, about preppers and survivalists that are alone, and yes, at times feel lonely.

This is one of the main topics of the movie and it is somewhat of a real concern for some folks in our community. Personally, I don’t think that in my case it is that bad. My family helps a lot. I always knew I wanted to get married and have kids, and at least that part comes naturally to me. I honestly don’t have to “work” at making my marriage work like I sometimes read that you’re supposed to. So I guess I’m lucky in that regard. But I also see how with that particularly screw in my head tightened another half a turn or so, I could have easily ended up being that guy alone in a cabin in the woods.

“No man is an island” according to John Donne and I agree. In my opinion a modern survivalist, the way I conceive survivalism, is both capable of going at it alone or working in a group, being part of society, not escaping from it. In fact, I’d say building up relations and a network of people is one of your greatest assets. And why not, having friends is not only a tactical choice but also a way of enjoying life more.

Is it always easy? No, not always. And the lone wolf thing comes much easier to most of us than it does to most people, but I think its something we do have to work in keeping at check, stay reasonable. I know of cases in which survivalism turned into doom worshiping, paranoia and ended up consuming people’s lives.

We have to stay reasonable, balanced, understand what’s good for us and work in those things that may not come to some of us as naturally.

Take care

FerFAL

Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”