[CanisLupusArctos]

Aside from the popular debate ("is it right or is it wrong?") ...

...the most important thing to remember if you ARE going to travel into NH from anywhere else, is do us all a favor and reduce the chances of bringing he disease in. You can do that by thinking and planning ahead, "how to reduce the spread of a virus."

1. Plan to drive nonstop from the NH border (farther away is better, if you can) to your NH property and stay on that property for 2 weeks without having outsiders in. (Having takeout meals delivered doesn't count if you tell them to deliver to your doorstep and don't open the door until they're gone.)

2. Don't panic; just plan for 2 weeks. It's no different from a 2-week vacation. That's clothing for 14 days (whatever that means to you) and your usual meals... for 14 days. Consider that you're going to be bumming around the house for 2 weeks, not hiking Mount Washington. Remind yourself of human psychology and your own personal habits as you plan what to shop for. That's because many panic-buyers are now publicly admitting they "prepared" for a month of being completely marooned, ate everything in 2 days, are now 15 pounds heavier and constipated from sitting around, and they just realized the stay-home order doesn't prevent essential activities like outdoor exercise and food shopping. The idea of staying in for a month is a good idea for everyone who knows how to throw a mental switch and make it happen ("if only...." but that's not the majority) and it's only critical for people who really shouldn't risk exposure even a little bit. There are volunteer services set up for delivering food & supplies to those people.

For everyone else, your weekly shopping's not interrupted; the virus threat just means "go out at little as possible to minimize virus spread." HOWEVER, mankind has never been able to stop disease spread, so that's unrealistic to attempt, and mimimizing is the next best option. That relies on realistic psychology. Human psychology says stocking up for longer periods of time than your usual budget period requires great personal discipline in order to work, or else it makes the overall problem worse.

People are stocking up for a month, consuming everything in 2 days because it's there ("Christmas dinner mentality") becoming tempted into stress-eating and boredom eating (two very unhealthy, often-deadly habits) they've helped strip the supermarket bare (making the crisis worse for everyone), and they end up having to go back out for more food. The irony is, according to the World Health Organization heart disease and stroke are the world's #1 and #2 killers by a long shot. Right now a large number of people are throwing themselves in front of the frieght train to avoid the oncoming passenger train.

They go back to the supermarket (risking more virus spread) and repeat process, telling themselves "I'll stock up for a month again but I really will discipline myself this time..." and of course it doesn't happen. Back to the supermarket. It's New Year's Resolution mentality -- same thing every year -- "I'll get it right this time."

Better idea: Be realistic. All things considered, it's probably better for everyone if we all just did our usual weekly food shopping and replace "stock up" with "do all you can to prevent disease transmission while you're out." Will it be good enough to stop the disease spread? NO. But that's never happened since the beginning of time.

New habits can't be learned or broken overnight -- remind yourself of that. Many in the psych field aren't sure why 10-day addiction programs exist because it's not enough time to break one habit and form a new one -- and we're only 2 weeks into "the new normal." NO ONE has had enough time to learn new habits and it's a very stressful setting, which makes the learning take longer. All you can do is be realistic about yourself when you shop and remember if they don't have what you want, you can get creative with what they have. In times like this new recipes get invented that become favorites when it's over. They do it on Mount Washington all the time, because they're under a weather-imposed stay-indoors order frequently during the winter and taking the snowcat down from the summit to go pick up a depleted ingredient in North Conway is ridiculously impractical. The MWO crew are NH's champions at what everyone else needs to be doing now.

3. Consider what's already in your NH property. You may already have "lakewear" in your closet or a few cans of soup and some pasta in your kitchen. I just found some 2013 canned veggies in a forgotten storage cabinet and tried them. They were past the "best by" date and they were no longer "best" but they were fine to eat. Garlic powder, oregano, basil and salt made them enjoyable.

4. Do all your shopping BEFORE coming into NH (ideally in your own area). It'll save supplies from getting depleted "here" and help keep your germs "there." Remember, you're isolating for 2 weeks upon arrival just in case.

In planning your shopping, remember sitting around doesn't take a lot of calories. Your general activity determines what you need more or less of, and if you get sick you'll need more water than anything. You probably won't be in the mood for a 10-course turkey dinner if you're lying in bed with a fever. If you stay healthy the whole 2 weeks, getting lots of housework done might lead you to drink more coffee than usual while eating less than your usual, of certain foods. I, personally, tend to get more done around the house on a light breakfast with extra coffee, than I do on a full breakfast and 1-2 cups of coffee. Whatever your personal thing is, that's what you plan and shop for (not the panic mode in the air.)

Consider all you ever wanted to get done but have been putting off. NH's Stay-At-Home Until May 4 order means "zero excuses; there's never been a more perfect time to get stuff done at home!" Hearing the order made me a bit restless at first but when I got that idea and started writing my list of things I've procrastinated, it quickly grew to more than a month's worth of chores I still don't want to do, but it beats lying in bed getting constipated and I feel good about accomplishing the first couple items ("Man, that looks a lot neater. Why didn't I do that sooner?") Buy whatever hardware you need before you leave for NH and use online shopping after you arrive.

5. Once you've shopped, packed, and start driving, stop as little as possible and avoid densely populated areas if you can, especially virus hotspots like NYC. Choose less populated routes like I-81 instead, to minimize chance of contact with another person. Stop for gas only - (use automated pumps) and avoid others -- a good safety policy on a road trip, anyway. Before the virus came, it was wise to avoid strangers on a road trip in case they were thugs or white collar con artists fleeing from arrest warrants. Put the focus on getting here as quickly and directly as possible, to minimize spread of the virus to NH.