Worried about WORRYING?

Prepping for a daily catastrophe can be exhausting, but it's a hard habit to quit, says Faye M Smith

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At the back of my wardrobe is a brown leather rucksack. Inside, you'll find a wind-up radio and torch, set of screwdrivers, wrench, Allen keys in every size imaginable and a special straw to filter ‘poisoned’ water so it’s safe to drink. I packed this bag about four years ago after watching yet another end-of-the-world movie on Netflix, where civilisation is no more and survivors have to, well, survive. After the film whirred around my mind for days (longer than it did for those I watched it with, it seems), I decided the best thing I could do was prepare for such an eventuality.

You'd think this ‘apocalypse prepping’ would bring me peace of mind. Yet I can't shake the niggling feeling that I don't know how to use half the tools I've packed, and the zip on the rucksack can be temperamental (do I really want to spend the nuclear fallout constantly having to fiddle with it?). Plus, I hadn't accounted for all the paraphernalia my cat would need to survive just one day away from her usual cosy spot in the kitchen, let alone a lifetime of living ‘off-grid and on the run’ with me. Her veterinary-specific food, special water bowls, collection of rugs and portable heater would certainly weigh me down if I was chased through bombed-out streets by aliens.

Although, perhaps I could - just about outrun slower-moving zombies, if I had the right trainers on my feet.

A way of life