This Changes Everything

Something I saw on YouTube today changes my thinking on bugging out.
I've been thinking that I would prospect for gold for when we go back to the barter system.
It turns out that people may not be accepting gold and silver for 5 years after the breakdown.
That means that what I'll be accumulating won't have much value for about 5 years. I could just as well barter for gold and silver which I'll get very cheaply and accumulate it during the period that most people won't have much use for it.
I need to get into a position where I'll have a lot of what people really need during a currency collapse. I guess that means I need to be raising or harvesting food on a big scale. Homesteading would make more sense than prospecting. Maybe I can combine the two, somehow.
I really don't have much to barter with. Maybe I could get canned goods for installing Linux on laptops. A usable skill might go farther than gold or silver for the short term. Car maintenance, welding, or hair cutting might be more valuable than gold. Trading stocks and options will probably be a useless skill. I don't think there will be a place for people who don't have truly usable skills in the near future.
Maybe I'll get back to Jim and see about buying his acreage, near Harper's Ferry. It would be near the Mississippi and I could start a homestead there. It has electricity and access to a road. The price is a bit high but maybe Jim could write the mortgage. That means he'll sell it straight to me and act like the bank.
One of the disadvantages of buying land right now is that it might go down in value due to the depression. There are people who are predicting real estate to go to 30% of it's value, now. If I wait, I might be able to find a better place at a fraction of the price, now.
Maybe I'll find an acreage near the gold fields in California. I would rather live in a more hospitable climate anyhow. On other topics:

1. My motor home is in the shop and things are getting fixed.
2. I bought the options for silver and silver is going up. I haven't bet against gold, yet; I ran out of money.
3. The news about Ebola is being suppressed. I'm going to bug out as soon as I see an obvious Ebola victim. 

That's all I have for now; I'm sorry I haven't been posting much lately.
Later