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How to get your House Fully Prepared before Vacation

Make a Detailed To-Do List

By lovely tolentinoPublished 3 years ago 4 min read
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How to get your House Fully Prepared before Vacation
Photo by Brian Babb on Unsplash

When going on vacation, there is a lot to think about. You'll need to book a hotel, a flight, pack, and organize your itinerary, among other things. When planning a vacation, one item that is often overlooked is what you need to accomplish at home. There is a lot of work to be done to get your house in the best shape possible before you depart.

While the focus of this post will be on vacations, it may also apply to situations in which you will be away from home for a lengthy amount of time. This could involve work travel, hospital stays, and other situations.

Make a to-do list. Make a list of everything you need to do to prepare your home for your trip. While many of the tips in this article may be on the list, there may be some that are unique to your home.

  • Hold your mail. This is something you should always do. Hold your mail starting the day you leave until the day after you will be back. Even if you plan to be back early, something may happen and you may not be back until after all of that mail is delivered. If you are flying, you may want to push the return date out even further.
  • Thoroughly clean the area. What is the worst thing you can do when you get back from a vacation? It's clean! Even after a wonderful trip, I am exhausted and the last thing I want to do is clean my house. You can come home to a tidy house with no work to do if you clean carefully a day or two before going on vacation.

Secure Your Property

One of the things that always added to the stress of my vacation was leaving my house unoccupied for days or even weeks at a time. Get a security system if you have an empty house.

This may be costly, but it is definitely worth the money for peace of mind. If someone tries to break in, a security system can notify you and the security firm. I would only buy this if you intend to utilize it once your vacation is over.

  • Install surveillance cameras. This is the first line of defense for me. Throughout my home, I have various cameras that stream into an app on my phone. This allows me to view what's going on at any given time, as well as snap screenshots and record video. They even include motion and noise sensors to notify me if something unusual occurs.
  • Inspect the exterior of your home. Trim any bushes, lock any windows, and pick up any personal belongings that have been left lying around. Burglars will be deterred by your home's well-kept appearance.
  • Consult your neighbors. Tell them you'll be gone for a while and ask them to keep an eye on your residence while you're gone. Obviously, you should only share this information with neighbors you trust. You can even offer them a key to go inside if you truly trust them. However, I only recommend this if you have total trust in them not to steal or damage your property.
  • Keep a car parked in your driveway. This creates the impression that someone is at home. Make sure the car is locked and that nothing visible that someone may want to steal is visible, and that you would be okay if someone broke into it.
  • Don't use social media to promote your business. Don't tell anyone you're going on vacation before you leave. Even if you're on vacation, don't tell anyone. You may discuss the details afterwards. You never know who is keeping an eye on your account, waiting for you to leave so they may break into your house.

When it comes to vacation preparation, pets are yet another tricky battle. While what to do with children is usually obvious, what to do with pets might be more difficult.

Determine where your pets will be while you are away. You can leave them at home if the trip is short, but if it is longer, you may need to kennel them. I'm hesitant about kennels since I've heard so many horror stories about how pets are treated. As a result, you can leave them at home while someone keeps an eye on them. In fact, I prefer to leave my pets at home since they generate noise, which could scare your intruders.

Leave twice as much food and water as you think you'll need. Leave enough food and water for six days if you'll be gone for a few days. This guarantees that your pets have plenty to eat. If you are gone for an extended period of time, they will be carefully cared after. Toys, litter boxes, and other items are in the same category.

Make your home animal-proof. My dog enjoys closing doors, which results in her being shut in the room sometimes. I place a door stop on each door when I go on trips so she can't seal herself in. I do the same thing with cabinets and other places where pets might get into.

Make sure everything is settled before leaving!

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About the Creator

lovely tolentino

Hi ! My name is Lovely, I am 23 yrs old, Avid reader.

I love to inspire & help other people through my writing.

This journey & passion is uniquely my happiness, One read makes difference. Thank you!

You can follow me on Instagram

@xx_lovelyvien

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