You’ve booked your hotels, paid for your plane tickets, & packed your bags, now what?
In all the excitement to get out the door don’t forget to take a few necessary steps to ready your home for your separation before you leave. By exerting a little extra effort prior to a trip you can ensure that you will return to a clean, safe, & happy home once your travels are over. You have to admit, that does sound pretty incredible, right?
Traveling should be relaxing; don’t dampen the vacation vibe by adding unnecessary worry about the safety of your home or the mess you left behind. Give these tips a try & end your trip with on a positive note by returning to a put together home.
Tips To Ready Your Home For Your Separation:
- Empty your kitchen pantries & fridge of all perishables.
- Unplug all unnecessary electronics (tv, microwave, toaster, etc, NOT your fridge).
- Close all your windows & blinds.
- Pay all your upcoming bills.
- Lock your doors.
- Clean all surfaces (toilets, floors, counters, etc).
- Run your garbage disposal.
- Do laundry & put fresh linens on your bed. Who doesn’t love coming home to fresh sheets?
- Secure valuable possessions in a safe or safety deposit box.
- Leave a key with someone you trust. Just to be safe.
- Talk to your mailman to let them know you will be gone. Arrange for someone to pick up your daily deliveries or hold your mail & newspapers.
- Make sure your lawn & plants will be cared for & put indoor plants outdoor to be watered.
- Arrange for someone to care for your pets.
- Turn off all the lights & consider putting some lights on a timer.
- Set your alarm-if you have one.
- Take out the garbage
- Run your dishwasher one final time
- Sprinkle baking soda down your sinks & toilets to avoid coming home to a funky smell or unwanted growth
- Depending on the length & season of your trip consider turning off all your water or only turn off the water supply to your to washing machines, dishwashers, ice-makers and toilets, just to be safe.
- Prep your schedule for the week after your return.
- Spritz some air freshener.
I keep this list of tips on how to ready your home for your separation saved to my travel board on Pinterest & I refer to it prior to every departure.
We like to maximize our travel time which often means coming home at the very end of a Sunday. Which also means, I have no time to prep before another busy week begins. I’m usually packing school lunches before I’ve even started the first load of travel laundry. I’ve found that having everything put together for my return before I leave makes my entire trip a little more relaxing. Vacations are wonderful but coming home to a well-prepped house is unbeatable. Actually, all this vacation talk has me craving another getaway.
Happy Travels!
Preparing for your travels is an important part of making your trip go as smoothly as possible. Isn’t that what we all want? Here are a few more travel tips you might be interested in:
10 Travel Tips From a New Traveler
Around the World – Top 10 Tips for Traveling with Kids
Beauty AND Travel…Made Easy!
Katrin@TravelGearDepot says
That’s is one extensive list of tips! Thanks 🙂 I had to laugh a little tough when I read #13, hard to imagine you would stand on the threshold ready to go and suddenly realise you had you forgotten to make sure your cat was going to be looked after. But who knows, maybe more common than you’d think.
Totally agree that the whole vacation will feel more relaxed if you know that you will return to a home that is well-prepped. It’s just that sometimes the time just isn’t there before you leave. Or could that be me not being organised enough? Lol
Sara Watkins says
It’s definitely easier said than done. I always start off with high hopes but come the day of travel I’m almost always scrambling to get out the door.
pnr status says
Thanks for wonderful travel blog. I am enjoy your article to read.
Khari says
This is a must. Traveling is not going to be fun if you keep on thinking what is happening back home.