“Oh the places you’ll go.” -Dr. Seuss
Most people don’t think about a checklist to prepare your home for travel. I believe a checklist is essential to prevent waking up in the middle of the night and thinking about something you should have done before you left on your fabulous travel adventure!
Some tasks to think about before you head for the airport (so you can sleep well on your travels):
📷 Set up an email auto-responder (unless you plan to be connected). This seems like a no brainer, but I am always surprised when a coworkers travels abroad thinking they will be able to timely respond to emails and they are unable too. And who wants to worry about it on your vacation. I know, I don't. I do try to limit my email check-in's to once a day with an email autoresponder taking care of the rest.
📷 Stop newspaper delivery (you don’t want those papers piling up on the driveway letting everyone know you are away. Most newspapers will allow you to stop deliver during specific travel time).
📷 Plan for the care of pets, lawn, and plants. Obviously, you want to come home with everything alive and well after your time away.
📷 Empty the refrigerator of things that will expire. I am not kidding. I have come home to some interesting (and smelly) science experiments in my refrigerator when I have not taken care of this before going out of a great adventure gal trip.
📷 If you have children, be sure and arrange school absences for children and get any home study assignments required.
📷 Turn off or down heater/air conditioner. I turn air up and heat down for the same reasons that I unplug appliances. I don’t turn these off completely as I have a pet. I don’t want either my pet sitter or my sweet kitty, Pearl, to be too hot or too cold.
📷 Unplug appliances. This saves energy and your pocket book. Who wants to spend money on energy (when away) when you can spend it on your travel.
📷 Turn down water heater. Same reason as the two items above.
📷 Set up timed light system. You can actually get light timers (like the kind you use at Christmas time) at any hardware or home improvement stores. I always have one or two set during my travels.
📷 Store valuables in a safe place
📷 Lock all doors and windows
📷 Have the post office hold your mail, if you are gone for a long time.
📷 Leave house key and trip itinerary with a trusted friend, family member or neighbor. I always let my supervisor know my itinerary, but I also let family members know my plans. This is really about your own personal safety. If you don’t come home as planned, you want someone to notice!
📷 Leave your contact information while traveling with a relative (hotel, cell phone, etc). Family should know how to reach you if there is an emergency. This is also about your safety.
📷 Reconfirm/check-in online with airline before you Uber, train, or shuttle to the airport. You don’t want to miss out on your awesome adventure. Reconfirming and rechecking information before you leave can save you a lot of time and heartbreak in your travels.
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