Top 5 Things to Take Care of Before You Go On a Long Vacation

27.07.2023 WELLNESS 0.0 0

things to take care of before long vacation

Preparing to take a long vacation is always exciting, but before you leave it’s important to make sure your home is ready for your extended absence. We all know about lowering the thermostat and throwing out any food that’s about to go bad, but there are a few key tasks you should do before you head out to your villa, hotel, or cruise ship that will make your trip less stressful.

If your vacation is going to be longer than just a few days, you need to be prepared. After all, the last thing you want to do when you’re away from home for a long time is worry about how your house is doing.

To make sure you don’t forget anything important, we’ve developed a list of the top 5 things you should do if you have a long vacation coming up soon.

1. Let the Alarm Company Know You’ll Be Away

Many people don’t think about this step, but it’s an important one. The alarm company needs to be alerted to your travel plans and have your current contact information, including your cell phone and the number of someone local who they can contact if the alarm is triggered. Alarms can go off occasionally even if no one is attempting to break into your house, so the alarm company needs this information, and it needs to be current.

Notifying your alarm company is so important because if the alarm happens to go off more than once while you’re away, they will need someone else to contact when they cannot get in touch with you. Having the contact information for a friend or neighbor you trust will help your security company to protect your home while you are away.

2. Contact the Post Office and Stop Your Mail

If you plan to be away from home for less than thirty days, it’s a good idea to stop your mail from coming. This can be done with a simple form that you fill out and give to the post office. The post office will hold your mail for a minimum of three days and a maximum of thirty days, so keep in mind that this won’t be needed for stints of 2 days or less. This step is really important because nothing screams, “We’re not home, so you can break into our house now,” louder to potential thieves than an overstuffed mailbox filled with your letters and junk mail.

While you’re at it, you should consider pausing your newspaper deliveries as well. After all, if your mailbox looks empty, but there are tons of newspapers piled up on your front door, criminals may still realize that you’re not home and try to break in, which could be disastrous. For this reason, you should consider pausing deliveries for your mail and anything else you regularly receive at home.

3. Consider Using a Soaker Hose for Your Plants

If you have plants or flowers in your yard and you’re planning to be away for a long time, consider buying a soaker hose. These hoses attach directly to the tap in your outdoor area, but instead of a stream of water gushing out of them, they utilize lots of tiny holes to allow for a much slower form of watering plants. Because of this, a soaker hose will not flood the plants or flowers with too much water and risk drowning them. Traveling gardeners rejoice!

If you want to be sure the soaker hose gives your plants the exact amount of water they need and no more, consider installing a timer so that it only runs twice a day — preferably in the early morning and early evening hours. With these methods, it’s much easier for your plants to get what they need while you’re gone without being overwatered.

4. Check Your Water Heater

It’s never a good idea to completely turn off your water heater, but check if your unit has a vacation mode, and if it does, make sure you use it. If it doesn’t, all you have to do is lower the temperature of the water heater by several degrees. If you do this, it will not turn on and off nearly as much as it normally would, which means you’ll save a lot of money on your water bill and reduce the amount of water wasted.

5. Unplug Electronics That Are Plugged Directly Into the Wall

If any of your electronics are plugged directly into the wall – meaning they are not plugged into a surge protector – go ahead and unplug them. If they are plugged into a surge protector, you can simply turn off the surge protector itself. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, families spend an average of $100 each year simply powering devices that are either in standby mode or turned off completely.

There is no reason to keep your electronics plugged in and in use when you’re planning to be on vacation. You can think of a lot better ways to spend a hundred dollars!

Other Tips and Suggestions

Naturally, there are numerous tips you can consider when preparing for that long vacation. For instance, you should turn off the main water line to your house to prevent damages from any leaks that might occur, and even though you’ll want to lower your thermostat, never turn it off completely. You should also check out hotel and rental car prices in advance, and reserve them online in order to find the best price.

You can also decide to go minimalist and concentrate on just the basics when you’re getting ready for a long vacation, including packing light and shipping your souvenirs to your house before you leave to come back home. If you plan to do this before you leave to go on vacation, it can make things a lot easier as you travel. The more you plan ahead of time, the easier the trip will be when you get there.

The greater you prepare your home for being away for a while, the better you’ll feel during the trip. If you ask yourself, “What is the worst thing that could happen to my house while I’m away,” you may be able to think of a few other tips to make your vacation more worry-free. If you’re going on a long cruise or trip that will last a weeks or more, these tips are especially helpful.

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