Survival and the City

What does it take to get through a day in Addis with its bombs and trigger-happy soldiers without investing in a panic room? This may not be Israel, Iraq or DR Congo but a bomb has the same indiscriminate maiming/ killing power whether in Baghdad or Addis.

Am I overreacting?

Maybe, maybe not- depends on where you're living and how you're spending your days... So for the paranoid bordering on the schizoid I've devised a strategic survical plan for when it kicks off:

On days when I'm forced to leave my Mercedes SLK behind I take minibuses... ;-p, so this is the plan-


1. Wear solid shoes such as trainers or steel toe-capped boots
2. Wear all my clothes at once- the poor-man's body armour, the more denim the better
3. Say goodbye to everyone as if its the last time, might make you look like a clingy moron, but hey...
4. Walk behind any military/ police types- NEVER overtake
5. Check out taxi interior, get in the front next to the driver
6. Carry emergency goggles, helmet and Personal GPS device in case it gets really smoky and you loose your way
7. Qolo, Besso and some quanTa for sustenance in the event of urban war
8. Invest in some high-power super mobile phone with encrypted e-mailing service (to keep on blogging wherever I am)
9. First Aid kit of mini casualty department dimensions
10. Camouflage paint
11. Wooden stakes, garlic and crucifix for the event that the blue boys show their true nature
12. Valium

Top up on different moves, manoeuvers and survival tactics by watching The Net, X-Files, Matrix, Terminator, Enemy of the State, The Pelican Brief etc (this should also help you have an excuse for staying at home).

Good luck, don't forget to write your memoirs