7 Things to Do Before Leaving for Vacation

The time is drawing closer to your trip and you’re so excited, right? Well, here are some tips on what to do before leaving for vacation that you may not have thought about.

1. Clean Your Place

When you get home from vacation, the last thing you want to do is chores. Laundry will probably be something you can’t avoid – unless you were able to do laundry or use a laundry service on your trip – but at least everything else will be done.

Nothing is more satisfying to me than coming home to a clean house and collapsing in a made bed. I don’t know. It’s just something about coming home to a mess that feels so deflating. Do you know what else is deflating? Coming home to a fridge and pantry with no food. Which brings me to tip#2.

2. Stock Up on Non-Perishable or Frozen Goods

Or plan to have groceries delivered.

I suggest this if you’re going a on a week-long trip or longer. I’m writing this before two weeks before I leave for my 9-day New Orleans/Mexico Trip and instantly thought of adding this tip.I plan my meals by the week and go grocery shopping accordingly. Because the trip is longer than a week, I plan to buy some frozen items. These are things I can either make with rice or noodles or are already pre-made meals. I choose items that are quick and easy to make since I’ll probably still be in vacation mode the days following the trip. Focusing mainly on what to eat on the day I get back, I know I’ll be hungry. Better  to have food already at home.

You could buy fast food to eat. That’s the easiest option. However, you’ve just spent a lot of money on food, attractions, and hotels. I’d suggest trying to curb the spending once you’re back home.

Placing a grocery order would count as spending I guess, but you’ll get more meals out of your grocery purchase than a single meal at a restaurant.

Depending on when you’re flight lands and you’re able to schedule a grocery delivery that day or the day after, you can avoid the energy of going to the grocery store.

It may just be me but I hate having to go anywhere when I come home from vacation. I loved the vacation but sometimes you just miss your bed, you know?

3. Hold Your Mail

This is something that you can do depending on how long your trip is. It also depends on how much mail you normally receive. If you barely get mail like me, you may not need to hold your mail. I’ve nearly gone two weeks not having mail in my mailbox before (including junk mail).
Holding mail also includes packages specifically being delivered USPS. If you pre-ordered something and you suspect it’ll try to deliver to your house, holding your mail would be a good thing to do. You can also have a family member, friend, or neighbor you trust, grab the package for you.If you choose to hold your mail, submit the hold request at your local post office from the day you leave on your trip to the day you come back. Once you’re home, you can either pick up the mail at the post office or have the carrier bring it to your mailbox.
Visit the USPS website for more information on hold mail requests.

4. Pay Any Bills Ahead of Time

If your vacation starts right before any bills are due, make sure to pay those before you leave. You don’t want to be on vacation and then come home to your water turned off because you were having too much fun to remember.  My upcoming trip is right before half of my bills are due so I’m making sure to pay them the night before.

5. Leave a Light On

This tip is one I’ve been told to do by my mom. While I trust what my mom says, this tip is one I’m always anxious about. I don’t like thinking my electric bill could get too high but the point of this is to prevent someone from trying to break in. If a light it on, it usually means someone is home. With that being said, I would rather have a slightly higher electric bill than have the possibility of coming home with all of my things gone. Leave a hallway light or a lamp light. Make sure it’s a light near a window (and close the blind or curtains).

You can have someone keep an eye on the house for you if you’d prefer. When my mother and I were in Alabama for a month during her kidney transplant, we had a family friend go over to the house to check on it and bring non-USPS packages inside…but we still had a light on (well, she left multiple lights on). You can never be too safe.
This reminds me of another tip.

6. Turn Your Alarm On

If you have an alarm system, make sure to set it to “Away” while you’re gone. If you’re alarm system comes with an app where you can control turning it on or off remotely, it can be helpful just in case you do forget to turn it on before you leave.

7. For International Trips: Make a Copy of your Passport and ID

If you are going out of the country it is important to make a photo copy of your passport and ID. This is in case you lose the original while traveling and you have way to get home or get new ones since they’ll have a copy to go off of.

You can also make multiple copies and place one in each piece of luggage you have. If you’re luggage is lost that copy can help your bag get back to you.

There other things to do as well like printing any confirmations, boarding passes, or tickets, or figuring out how to navigate the airport ahead of time. What are some things you do before you go on vacation? Even if it’s more of a ritual, share it in the comments below!