My girlfriend and I were in San Diego over the long Independence Day weekend.  It felt great to get out of the heat and relax just a few blocks from the ocean.  What made the trip even better is I had a chance to apply preparation in practice during non-emergency situations.  Doing so made the four days even more enjoyable and stress-free for both of us.  Here’s what happened:

My girlfriend has a iPhone and needed to charge her battery.  Her charger cable was getting frayed and she did not have a backup.  Before we left, I got one from my stash of cables and gave it to her.  Not only did this enable her to recharge her phone, it built additional goodwill between us.  I had an extra cable because the dual-mode USB charger I purchased came with both a micro-USB and iPhone cable.  My DroidX uses the micro-USB cable so I had a spare one.

Not only did I have a spare cable, I had a spare charger too!  I brought my Go Bag with me and amongst its contents is…a dual-mode USB charger and cable.  Since I already had another one in my automobile, we could both charge our phones at the same time!

While I have a first aid kit in my car, I also have one in the Go Bag as well.  After a busy day walking around, my girlfriend got a blister on one of her toes.  Since I had several extra bandages in my first aid kit, she was able to apply one and not have any more problems with her toes.

Remember how I wrote a while back about redundancy and dual-use?  Well, I was able to do some of that while in San Diego as well.  One night my girlfriend surprised me with some treats from a wonderful Italian cafe downstairs from where we were staying.  However, we needed a knife to cut the cannoli and the brownie she brought so we could share them.  Enter my Gerber folding knife.  In no time both treats were cut cleanly and we could enjoy both of them.  After a quick clean, the knife was back on the outside of my Go Bag.

You see, preparation is not just about getting ready for the next disaster.  Everyday life can become much more enjoyable when you have the products and tools you need nearby.  So put your preparations to work for you whenever the need arises, its good practice.