When you think of planning for a vacation, you tend to think of things like choosing a destination, booking a flight and hotel, and packing your bags. Of course, you’ll need to do all of those things before traveling, but they’re not the only things you need to add to your plans. When going away, especially for long periods of time, it is imperative to make sure that things are in order at home. All too often, travelers have left these precautions off their list, and end up coming back to chaos. To make sure this doesn’t happen to you, make sure you’ve dotted your eyes and crossed your tees.
Stop Mail and Deliveries
One of the clearest signs to outside parties that you’re not home is the buildup of mail and packages outside the door. Before going on vacation, it is important to notify your post office. They can temporarily halt deliveries to your home. The same is true for any automatic deliveries you may have. If you can’t stop mail deliveries altogether, ask a friend, family member, or neighbor to pick it up for you periodically.
Check Your Insurance (or Get it)
The hope is that nothing happens to your home or apartment while you’re away, but as life would have it, that’s when things tend to go wrong. A burglary, fire, or flood could happen while you’re away causing your belongings to be stolen or damaged. You may not be able to prevent the event from occurring, however, you can protect yourself with homeowners insurance for houses and renters insurance for apartments. Should something go wrong, your insurance company will pay to have the matter resolved and your belongings replaced.
Notify Alarm Company
If you have a home security system with monitoring services, it is recommended that you notify the alarm company of your whereabouts. Should something trip an alarm while you’re away, they won’t hesitate to contact the authorities for faster service.
Pay Your Bills
Nothing worse than checking your account while on vacation to find a huge chunk of what you thought was your spending money used for an unforgotten bill. It would also be a pain to come back from a fun-filled trip to find out that your television services, gas, electric, or water have been shut-off because you forgot to pay them. Therefore, its probably best to pay your bills before you travel.
Get Your Meds
If you’re going to be traveling abroad or gone for awhile and take medications daily, it is imperative that you look into getting a prescription filled prior to leaving for vacation. This way you don’t end up in a foreign country trying to figure out how to get the proper medication.
Clean Up
Probably not something you’d think to include in travel planning, however, it is beneficial for providing peace of mind. Cleaning up before you go allows you to come back home from vacation without walking into madness.
Traveling is meant to be a fun experience that allows you to get away from the madness of everyday life. If you’re going to enjoy yourself on vacation, it is important to make sure that home is taken care of. Now, when you return from your trip, you can transition back into your day to day, without feeling stressed.
