I have to actually do everything myself. And not just do it, but truly understand what could go wrong, and how to fix it.

I need to do my best to design preps as if the world was in total collapse. Not necessarily 'Mad Max' collapse, but nothing is coming in or out... deal with what you have now. Learning about bokashi, and having a supply of bokashi grains is useless unless you truly understand every part. Once the grains run out, how do make more? Do you already have the 2 buckets and lid needed? If you have the buckets, can you drill holes without a power drill?

I can cheat with time.
If it's a multi stage activity I can work on all parts simultaneously with outside inputs. Trying different recipes using food from the pantry would take forever if I had to grow them all, dry them with a solar dehydrator and grind them by hand.

I can cheat with equipment.
As long as I have the equipment and skills needed to perform a task without electricity, I can use power tools and still consider it done right. For example: if I have a mortar and pestle (and have actually used it correctly), I can use a food processor.

If I don't have the correct hand tools, I can still work on acquiring skills, but have to look into acquiring them. (this is an expensive hobby! Just like you I'm taking it one step at a time.)

Living in an austere environment for the most part is pretty detrimental to survival. Canada can be brutally cold, the U.S. has a huge desert that are not only hot, but also cold and dry. For levels 0-2 these hardships will be a net negative to survival for everyone. Even people who have planned for it are going to be impacted.

Once you hit level 3 however, these austere environments are going to work for people who have prepared.

In Canada very few people are going to die of exposure if the heat goes out for 3 days, even in the dead of winter.

If however a disaster lasts months or years a large portion of the population is going to die or leave if they can. Most people who survive the first winter are not going to be able to put away enough food to last a second one. At some point the population is going to crash hard and fast. All you have to do is get past this point.

Any country or state where you can grow food year round will become overpopulated as people desperately try to find a place to survive. These places will become very dangerous as people fight for limited resources. Given the propensity of gun ownership in the states it would be a very dangerous place to live.

People who can survive the harsh Canadian winter, or the punishing dryness of the U.S. desert will have much less competition once the majority of people die or leave.

One of the major considerations when we set up a new location is how much competition there will be when things collapse. Constant gun battles are much harder to survive than the cold or heat.