Community Forums

sirpurrcival · 11-02-2020, 02:19 AM

There have been a couple of suggestions here that kind of touch on one of the most easy solutions. Keep in regular touch with your trustees. That may mean a once a month email letting them know where you are and where you are planning next. If you go too long without being in touch with them, that is the signal to them that something catastrophic may have happened and they should start searching. You could also be a little inventive by setting up a timed email that goes out if you don't reset the timing in an orderly fashion. Something that says something simple like. "If you are receiving this email, then something may have happened".... A bit less useful but definitely guaranteed to get some attention if for some reason you were unable to attend to business. You might be able to set something up with your bank as well. Presumably, you have a credit card and have a bill that needs to be paid. Same goes for your cell phone provider. You can probably have a notation put on your accounts directing them who to contact in the event that they cannot reach you (presumably when the bill goes unpaid). Those would all eventually send up a flare should the worst happen. Might not be super speedy but if the scenario is what we are describing, that won't be an issue for you. The nice part of that is that if you happen to be in Yellowstone when the super volcano erupts destroying everything to bits for 150 miles, your message will eventually make it out because it doesn't rely on something physical on your person or in your coach.

rebelsun · 11-02-2020, 05:39 AM

This seems to be a case of, if you have no home base, fly by the seat of your pants, no roots in any community, don't stay close to family and friends, or make travel plans known to other people, then the price you pay, is leaving yourself out there, all alone, in the event of an emergency or disaster.
Pilots don't fly, without filing a flight plan.
Captains don't go out to sea, without charting a course, and making others aware of their plans.
Divers don't dive alone.
If you are concerned about your ultimate demise, and dying alone, with nobody the wiser that you are missing, then stay close to people, let them know where you are, and where you're going. Then if they don't hear from you for a couple of days, they will get concerned, and begin looking for you, or alert the authorities that you are missing. If you don't want to be found, you are going about it the right way now. If you do want to be found, then you need to stay in contact with people who are close to you. But you can't have it both ways!

Mongobird · 11-02-2020, 05:49 AM

Dog tags, even placed in a purse. A document filed in the county in SD would eventually be found. If your vehicle is a total burn, someone will get the info and backtrack.
Unless your vehicle happens to be in an anonymous trust. That would slow the investigation down.

This would be a good discussion to have with a forensics person.

Rollergirl · 11-02-2020, 11:21 AM

I have a 3x5 card taped to the dash that says in case of emergency contact...with name and number. It just lives there. Also in your phone’s contact list enter your contact person’s name preceded by ICE (stands for In Case of Emergency). If your list is accessible (not password protected) often times Emergency response people look for that designation. So you would need it so that it lists the name as “ICE John Smith.”

Linda Bohr · 11-02-2020, 07:58 PM

I suggest you have a card or phone number posted on your fridge or dash with a number for ICE. Also, this number should be with your banker, your lawyer, or maybe your doctor, and your trustees should know exactly what you want done in case of accident or funeral planning. If you are really concerned, your funeral planning should be done with the director you want to handle your services. Even if you are somewhere else in an accident, they can handle it from there if they know your plans. As you can see, you can take this as far as you need to go from simply leaving a phone number for authorities. I keep one in my purse, a small safe, and in the glove box of my car. It is in my phone and my address book. I have my funeral plans on my home computer. My daughters and sons know how to get into my computer and can pull up my plans for the service. Good luck, I wish you many years of not having to use the ICE number.