HJL,
I always assumed that as long as I was somewhere far far away with a one year supply of food and water, if you just wait it out, then you could have your pick of relocation areas and homes as most of the population would be gone. Am I missing something here? Why go to all the trouble NOW of relocating and setting up the BOL that you might in fact have to abandon, when you can just hunker down with some good paperbacks and videos and wait it out?
HJL’s Comment: The concept of relocating now is designed to improve not just the ability to survive, but your quality of life while surviving. Many of us live in urban/suburban areas because of a job, family, or other reasons. Having a BOL prepped allows you to stay in that location as long as possible (perhaps working a job or caring for family members) and then relocating to your BOL when needed. Permanently relocating to a BOL or just a remote rural area gives you the opportunity to begin the process of growing/providing your own food and practicing those skills needed for survival now rather than adjusting to the learning curve when it is critical. There can be a huge learning cure in even the simple things like starting a garden. If you have a failure of your garden now, you just buy more seed, but in TEOTWAWKI, the lack of a garden can be the difference between life or death.
Having a BOL, even if it is just a friend or relatives house is prudent. If you have to relocate for any reason, be it natural or man made, if you have a BOL, you are simply a traveler on your way there. Without that, you are a refuge at the mercy of whatever authority is in power at the time.