Traveling is fun. You get to see new places and experience new things. What is not fun, however, is all the preparation you need to do beforehand. And these preparations take more than one form; you need to prepare for the travel per se, but you also need to prepare for what happens to your home while you’re out and about, traveling.
What you don’t want to feel while traveling is suddenly wondering if you’ve turned the gas off, or forgetting if you’ve set your laundry aside. And the worst thing to see once you’ve gone home is a dirty house, especially if you’re traveling for quite some time. Nature can take its course and make your house look a bit different. So how should you prepare to prevent this from happening?
Clean Your House Before Leaving
As mentioned before, it feels rather terrible to come home to a dirty home. The last thing you want is feeling tired and arriving to a place that needs immediate cleaning. So do it before you leave! Get to cleaning your bathroom, put stuff you don’t need in their storage, have your patio pressure washed, or organize your bedroom. You’ll thank yourself later when you finally get home feeling tired, and the number one thing on your mind is to kick back, relax, and soak your memories in.
Stop Regular Deliveries or Services
If you use regular services, such as landscaping, or weekly cleaning, don’t forget to inform your service provider that you’ll be out. They might knock on your door to receive no answer- that’s quite rude, isn’t it? It’s also good practice to stop mail deliveries like newspapers or magazines. Making sure you’ve checked all your services can prevent you from incurring penalties.
Arrange Pet Care
Your pets don’t always go where you go, and if you’re planning to travel alone, it’s best to arrange where your pet will be staying long before your trip. If you don’t have a friend or a relative who can temporarily take your pet in, there’s a lot of professional pet sitters to help you out. Don’t forget to leave vital pet information too; such as necessary medicines (if any), or the contact number of their vet- just to be safe.
Empty Your Fridge
Especially for long trips, emptying your fridge is necessary. You might have to turn off your electricity, spoiling the food you’ve stored in your fridge. Even if you plan to keep your electricity running (for two or three days travels), it’s best to throw out food that might spoil soon. The smell of rotting food spreading in your fridge is never a welcome experience.
Contact Your Bank
Most banks would flag your account for fraud if it’s used overseas without prior notice. Even though it’s for your protection, it can be quite the hassle if it flags when you’re using it. Call your bank as soon as you’ve finalized your plans, this will save you from an easily preventable mess later. Or you can check if your online banking interface allows for submitting a travel notification.
It’s important to be completely ready for your trip so that you can avoid any problem. You can focus on enjoying every moment.
